JERSEY CITY, NJ —
July 24, 2026 |
By DailyHudson Staff
Governing body questions staffing and spending as they comb through the municipal budget.
Jersey City council members spent Thursday morning doing what they do best: asking tough questions about where your tax dollars are going. This time, the spotlight was on Mayor James Solomon’s office budget.
The mayor’s chief of staff, Laura Bustamante, presented a proposed 2026 budget of $2,517,915 for the mayor’s office. That’s down about $128,000 from the previous year. She told the council the administration has been cutting costs on cable, office supplies, food, and petty cash. Seven out of ten possible aide positions are filled.
“We are being very vigilant with taxpayer dollars: We are committed to ensuring we do more for Jersey City residents with less,” Bustamante said.
But the council wanted specifics. Councilman-at-Large Rolando Lavarro asked about construction projects happening across all six wards. He wanted to know who’s at the negotiating table, especially when it comes to affordable housing.
Bustamante named Deputy Mayor Keshav Poddar and Anissia Cialone, the city’s HEDC director, as the two leaders always present. She said they typically start negotiations asking for 20 percent affordable housing, though they consider other public benefits like new schools, parks, or community centers.
Lavarro pushed back. He said he likes leading with 20 percent and feels the administration should “hold the line there” unless there are truly extenuating circumstances.
Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore asked about the $40 million saved by canceling the Pompidou project. Bustamante explained that money was a specific bond, and now it’s being saved for other uses. She said the public benefit would be affordable housing, though details haven’t been announced since the project was canceled in March.
Councilwoman-at-Large Mamta Singh wanted to know how many deputy mayors there were under previous administrations. Bustamante said two under Mayor Fulop, then zero. The current administration has two, which is allowed under the Faulkner Act, the law that governs Jersey City’s government structure.
The council’s questions got more pointed when it came to the budget itself. Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros noticed a council staffer was transferred to the mayor’s office, but that wasn’t reflected in the budget proposal. Bustamante said that’s because the transfer happened after the budget was introduced. Ephros asked for an updated worksheet, and she agreed to provide one.
Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little questioned why the mayor’s office recently hired a scheduler, a position that had been open most of the year. “I would just like to see an accurate budget spreadsheet,” Little said.
Gilmore pressed further. He was glad the mayor’s office budget is down about five percent, but said the tax rate should reflect those cuts. “I just feel like when you put emphasis on asking people to give and you’re willing to make sacrifices, I just think it’s a good precedence for good government. So I mean five percent is good, but you know the tax rate is 15 percent,” he said.
“I was always of the opinion that we can find common ground between the rate and then a cut in municipal government. I think that we need more of a fair approach. People are just irate.”
Singh agreed. “Public safety has five million cut. That’s a 1.1 percent, I believe, tax reduction. So when we talk like that, our mayor’s office is cutting one person, just making it up. When people read or see this, because there has been misinformation – ‘this person is getting half a million [dollar] salary’ … That is not,” she said.
What does all this mean for you? If you live in Jersey City, your property tax bill is still climbing. The council is trying to figure out if the mayor’s office is doing enough to cut costs before asking residents to pay more. The budget process isn’t over yet. The council will keep holding hearings and asking questions. You can watch the meetings on the city’s website or attend in person.
In the end, the council’s message seemed clear: show us the numbers. Bustamante promised to deliver an updated budget workbook. We’ll see if that satisfies the council’s appetite for transparency.
Source: Hudson County View
