HOBOKEN – The city may have some trouble paying its bills after a temporary budget appropriation was not passed at the Jan. 5 City Council meeting.
Until a town can pass a budget, it usually passes temporary appropriation amounts for a portion of the year. But at Wednesday’s meeting, a critic of Mayor Dawn Zimmer said that passing a smaller amount might push the administration to come up with its budget faster.
The administration proposed an appropriation of approximately 25 percent of last year’s budget total, around $19 million, which would cover the city’s finances through March. Then, Councilman Michael Russo proposed an amendment to the resolution at the meeting, which would cut the temporary appropriation to 11.5 percent of last year’s budget, or $8.5 million, and “put the feet to the fire” of the administration to present the 2011 budget to the City Council in February, something the council had hoped would happen.
However, the council failed to approve either 25 percent or 11.5 percent. Thus, the city may not be able to pay all of its bills until they pass an appropriation at another meeting. – Ray Smith