The state has called for the Hoboken City Council to hold an emergency meeting this Monday night at 6 p.m. to pass its $102.1 million budget, which is nearly a year late.
Monday, June 30, is the very last day of the fiscal year.
State Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria, who was appointed to that post last year by Gov. Jon Corzine, said last week that Hoboken’s fourth-quarter tax bills won’t reflect a major tax increase, as feared. But instead, Hoboken’s approximately $10 million budget gap will have to be made up somehow in next year’s city budget.
Tax bills were in the process of being printed last week and should be the same amount as the third quarter bill.
Mayor David Roberts said that this doesn’t necessarily mean that taxes will explode next year.
“Don’t think there will be a catastrophic increase to taxes next year,” he said on Friday. He cited potential revenue increases, spending cuts, and a modest increase in taxes.
Roberts said of the five members of the council who did not pass waivers for the overspent budget, “Their responsibilities were set aside for political posturing.”
His comments were echoed last week by Doria who called the council’s actions “egregious” and said, from what he could tell, “they just sat there and complained.”
Calling the shots
Doria, considered by many to be the second most powerful elected official in the state, admonished the City Council last week for being “recalcitrant” and failing to pass a budget for the city.
However, council members have said that they got incomplete budget information all year, and were startled to learn recently that the budget was underfunded. Five council members voted last month against asking the state for a waiver to increase spending over a certain cap, which forced the state to take over the finances.
“The state wants us all to work together, kumbaya.”
– Beth Mason
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The original city budget was proposed last fall, although it was significantly smaller than it is now.
Michael Russo, 3rd Ward Councilman and chair of the council’s Finance Committee, said last week that he had “no other option” but to not pass a budget.
“When the council tried to use its powers … we were ignored,” Russo said in an interview last week. “I would not have done anything differently.”
Russo also said that is ironic that Doria, who until recently was mayor of Bayonne, oversaw a town budget that was under-funded by $23 million, and now is the person in charge of bailing out Hoboken.
Fourth Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer said last week in an e-mail, “I think the most important thing is that the practices that brought us here be stopped, and I do want to work with the state to ensure that Hoboken becomes the fiscally strong city that it should be.”
Beth Mason, 2nd Ward councilwoman, was not so pleased with the state.
“The state wants us all to work together, kumbaya,” she said. “But they are only talking to the one person who lied to us.”
Meanwhile, the state will provide three options to fill the business administrator’s position – which would be the state monitor.
A majority of the council members are also interested in hiring a forensic auditing firm, but Doria said that the state won’t allow any more extra spending.
For questions or comments on this story, e-mail tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.