Hoboken City Council Passes Amendment to $106M Budget

The Hoboken City Council re-instated a $5 million cash surplus into its 2011 budget in a 5-4 vote on Wednesday night.

The municipal tax, compared to last year, will go down by 3.6 percent, according to Finance Director Nick Trasente. The total budget, he said, is roughly $106 million.

The municipal tax levy for the 2011 budget is $54,948,951.50. In the last budget it was roughly $57 million.

Last month, the Council—then lead by mayoral critic Second Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason—voted to zero out the cash surplus and to return that money to the taxpayers. On Wednesday night, the city council——amended the budget to put the cash surplus back in.

While the council majority lauded this budget as honest, gimmick-free and fiscally conservative, the minority begs to differ.

"I think this is a travesty and a slap in the face of every tax payer in the city," said First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano.

Fifth Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham said he was proud of Wednesday's accomplishment. "I see this as a fair budget," he said.

"This is not a fair budget," said Mason, . Mason also reminded Mayor Dawn Zimmer of her 2009 campaign promise to reduce taxes by 25 percent. 

Former Fourth Ward Councilman Michael Lenz attended Wednesday's meeting, saying that "this budget doesn’t have any one shot revenues." Lenz added that the budget doesn't include any "gimmicks."

Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo, a staunch critic of the Zimmer administration, said he disagrees. He said that there are "gimmicks" in the budget, saying that part of the city's reserve is being used to cover expenses.

"I am really disappointed," Russo said. "(The mayor) had an opportunity to give money back to tax payers and we’re not doing that."