The 2018 Amended Municipal Budget passed with a 0% increase.
The vote was 9-0 for the 3rd year in a row and 3rd time since 2010. I have chaired the Finance Subcommittee and have made it my mission to work collaboratively with the administration and the entire council to ensure that the municipal budget weighs and balances the burden on taxpayers while still addressing as many priorities within our city as possible.
Some takeaway points:
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Total budgeted appropriations (expenditures) actually went up by $4.1M (3.8%) to $112.1M.
- Like we are seeing across the country, this was mainly driven by $2.9M in increased healthcare costs. Group health insurance alone costs $22.8M or 19% of our total municipal budget. Other large increases include salary and pension ($2.7M) and Debt Service ($600k).
- Taxes remained flat primarily due offsetting impact of a 2.5% expansion of tax base ($1.3M), increased use of surplus/parking surplus ($1.7M), a reduction in deferred Hurricane Sandy costs ($1.4M) and increased building permit revenues ($900k).
The entire City Council has provided input to the budget since prior to it being introduced by the Mayor, as such the budget now includes the following (and more) because of this input:
- City Engineer and Construction Manager added to better and more efficiently manage all of our public works, construction projects and technical requirements (including intersection safety) and done so with a better eye on what is best for Hoboken. These roles will pay for themselves with the reduction in third party engineering costs and IMHO are justified for the next decade given the demands within our community (in original).
- IT resources to improve, upgrade and automate the Recreation Program and Rent Control records for better access and transparency (in amendment).
- Traffic and transportation resources for warrant studies for intersection safety, consistent signage at all of our schools, and an analysis for the potential expansion/improvement of the HOP (in amendment).
- Historic Preservation Design Guidelines that Hoboken has been without and is necessary so we can ensure we are best protecting and preserving our Historic character and properties (in amendment).
- Expanded park landscaping and incorporation of dog facilities at two parks (in amendment)
- Restoration of the cobbles for safety and historical purposes on both Court Street and Castlepoint Terrace (in amendment).
- Expansion of constituent services. There is city-wide consensus on the need for improvements in this area. In recent history, it was addressed via the Mayor’s staff and Hoboken 311, but currently there are three additional heads in the budget including the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor and two people who will work in a new department of constituent services. There remains outstanding clarification on how this will be addressed across the new hires. (in original)
In my opinion, this is a tight budget with little room for cuts and has some positive, necessary changes that will make our city run more efficiently. That being said, there will be pressure next year given the reliance on some meaningful yet non-recurring savings/revenues that are in this year’s budget. We need to continue to focus on efficiencies and revenue expansion this year so we can keep the burden on taxpayers as low as possible while improving the quality of life of our residents.
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