The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to table its $54 million 2002 fiscal budget until the council and the Hoboken Parking Authority have a better idea about how much money the HPA can give the city during the current 2001-2002 fiscal year.
The city included in its recently introduced budget $2 million in payments from the Parking Authority as a revenue item. But members of the HPA’s autonomous seven-member board of commissioners have told the city that they don’t have the money to fill the gap.
Business administrator and budget architect Laurie Cotter said recently that she and HPA commissioners had a series of meetings to come up with an amicable solution, but HPA Commissioner Alan Cohen said that a proposal was never made and that the HPA has not voted on the issue.
At Wednesday night’s City Council meeting, the council amended the budget, lowering the amount expected from the HPA from $2 million to $1.5 million. “The state has given the city the option to adopt this budget if it wishes,” said Cotter during the beginning of the caucus before the regular council meeting. “With this budget we have enough money to cover what we are spending.”
There were two amendments in the budget before the City Council Wednesday. In addition to the recalculation of the Parking Authority money, the city recalculated tax-collected revenues from $16.6 million to $17.4 million. While the tax rate stays the same, the amendment is a result of increased overall assessed valuation, meaning that more properties are paying taxes this year than last. According to Cotter, the new valuation had not yet been released at the time the budget was announced.
But all of that became a moot point when HPA Alan Cohen took the microphone before the council. “There is no agreement with the Parking Authority,” Cohen said. “Nothing. You absolutely can’t vote on this budget tonight. [The city’s] request was irresponsible and if this is approved, that will create a structural debt that will go on forever and forever. If I had to make a guess at it I would say that there isn’t going to be a penny.”
Cohen has pointed to several reasons that the Parking Authority doesn’t have the money. The biggest drain on the HPA is the bond and interest payments on the HPA’s large construction project at the 916 Garden St. garage and the St. Mary garage on Clinton Street, officials said. The garage at 916 Garden St. alone is costing the HPA $21,000 a month to pay for the non-revenue producing entity, and the debt service for St. Mary will be $2.12 million for the next year. Both garages are scheduled to become workable in the next six months.
After Cohen’s speech, 5th Ward Councilman Michael Cricco said that there was no way that the council could vote on the budget.
“I don’t see how we can vote on this,” Cricco said. “It’s ludicrous, I’m insulted that we would be presented with a budget that we know isn’t funded.”
Cotter, the business administrator, said that the city will not go into a deficit, and made a “read my lips” type proclamation before the council to persuade them to vote on the budget. “I promise that this year the city will not end up in a financial deficit,” she said. “We have spoken with the state and they have given their approval to adopt this budget.”
Cohen said he would not know how much money the HPA could give until they complete its budget; Cohen is the chairman of the HPA’s Finance Committee. He said the budget should be completed in the next couple of weeks.
First Ward Councilman Theresa Castellano also expressed her concern. “It scares me that taxes may have to go up next year because we have to recover from a deficit,” she said. “We need to table this and send it to the financial sub-committee until we have a better idea about those funds.”
Council President Tony Soares said Friday that he will introduce a resolution to cut the budget by $1.5 million if the city can’t come up with the funds. “I’m not going to suggest where to make the cuts,” he said. “If we’re not getting it, it has to come from somewhere, and the last person it should come from is the taxpayer.”
Budget approval should be up before the council again at its next meeting on Feb. 6. MAKING CENTS – The City Council, above, voted Wednesday to ask the Parking Authority for $1.5 million for its budget instead of $2 million, but at least one Parking commissioner believes they might end up contributing $0.00.
The new rules will not include restrictions on how far from their homes residents can park, as erroneously reported last week. They will include restrictions on business and visitor parking.
The most significant change is that one side of most Hoboken streets will be zoned for resident parking only, with no grace period for non-resident permit holders. The other side of the street will be zoned for any permit, residential, temporary, business and visitor parking. The non-resident side will have a four-hour grace period for cars without any permits. The alternate-side designations will not apply to Washington Street and portions of Hudson and Bloomfield streets, in order to spare the business district.
Businesses will only be allowed 15 permits for their employees, and those will only be valid within four blocks of the business.
Each household will only be given up to 45 visitor permits per year, and those permits will not be renewable for more than seven days.
Support for the amendment was mixed at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
Resident Lucile Haack supported giving residents more options at the expense of those who choose to drive to Hoboken to work. “[Those who drive to work] come here and work here while we live here and pay taxes. We should have the first priorities to the city’s parking spaces,” she said.
But she complained about the price of visitor parking permits. “I pay $9,000 a year in taxes, and I have to pay for someone to visit my house?” she asked.
Beth Leggiere, the owner of a small business on Willow Avenue, was not pleased with the changes to business parking regulations.
“I can’t survive on Hoboken business alone,” said Leggiere. “I need people to come from out of town to support my business, and I’m not near the business district. Where are those cars going to park?”
The changes will be up for a final vote at the council’s Feb. 6 meeting.
The Parking Authority also is expected to announce increased fees for resident, business and visitor permits at the Feb. 6 City Council meeting. City officials have not yet announced how much those fees will rise. – Tom Jennemann