When the $321 million city budget was introduced in October, Council President Tom DeGise said he hoped it would be adopted by “November, December.”
It wasn’t.
As a result of what the city charges is foot-dragging by the state, Jersey City property owners in the next few weeks will start getting estimated tax bills in the mail.
The city anticipates a need to collect about $105 million in taxes this year.
This newest edition of the budget wars comes after a protracted fight between the city and the state last year over the exact same issue: distressed cities aid.
The $15.5 million the city received last year was anticipated in this year’s budget, which rankled the state.
“We informed the city last spring that they would not be receiving the same amount as they received last year,” said E.J. Miranda, a spokesman for the Division of Local Government Services, last week. “However, they introduced their budget with the same amount.”
But the city said they needed an approximate figure from the state to anticipate in this year’s budget.
“We asked them for a number,” said Tom Gallagher, Mayor Bret Schundler’s chief of staff. “They said, ‘We don’t know.’ We said, ‘When will you know?’ They said, ‘We don’t know.'”
The state provides distressed cities aid to Paterson, Jersey City, East Orange, Irvington and Camden. None of these cities have received a number, either.
“The city has been ready to adopt this budget since October,” said Gallagher. “We have asked weekly since October for a number, and each week are told, ‘We don’t know.'”
That aid, according to outlines created by the state, is to “assist those municipalities facing the most severe fiscal conditions in recovering from fiscal distress and to improve management and financial practices.”
The aid to the city is based on the recommendation of the Director of Local Government Services – Ulrich H. Steinberg – a man the city has clashed with on numerous occasions. In October, Steinberg and the local finance board rejected $10 million out of $22 million the city was looking to borrow. In the wake of that decision, Steinberg attacked the city for its “credit card” mentality.
If the state gives a lower amount of state aid than anticipated, the money will need to be made up by taxpayers on future bills.
Grove Street Station II approved
A redevelopment plan that would bring down a city block near the Grove Street PATH station and clear the way for a proposed high-rise won unanimous council approval last week.
“This area is in need of redevelopment,” said Downtown Coucilman Mariano Vega, who hoped the new building and proposed plaza area would help spur Downtown businesses and restaurants.
The block in question is at the corner of Grove Street and Newark Avenue, right across from the Grove Street PATH station. The recently refurbished Guarini Building will be spared the wrecking ball.
Bridgewater-based developer Schenkman-Kushner had met with Annie Kessler, president of neighborhood group Harsimus Cove Association, the city, planners, and other community groups to try and hammer out a deal to make the project more appealing. The developer plans to pitch a 22- to 26-story building to the board.
Out of those discussions came several compromises. The developer created a step-up in height for the building, gradually working from the low-rise business district on Newark Avenue, up to the tower that would be located on Luis Munoz Marin Blvd.
Vega said he had “reservations” about the pedestrian plaza.
The plaza would block off a stretch of Newark Avenue between Grove Street and Marin Blvd. Planning Board members had previously worried about traffic problems that might stem from the street closing.
The city had conducted traffic studies and said that the closure would actually improve traffic.