hoboken

Mayor Emily B. Jabbour and the City of Hoboken today announced the introduction of the municipal budget, marking a major milestone in a months-long collaborative process aimed at strengthening the City’s financial position, aligning revenues with expenses, and rebuilding reserves.

The introduced $152 million  budget reflects continued efforts by the Jabbour Administration and the Hoboken City Council to address an initial structural deficit of approximately $17 million driven by rising fixed costs, limited revenue growth, and the exhaustion of one-time funding sources.

As a result of this combined effort, the Jabbour Administration narrowed the projected deficit from $17 million to approximately $13 million, while reducing the anticipated municipal tax impact from more than 24 percent to less than 19 percent. For the average assessed property, the projected tax impact decreased by approximately $160 - representing an increase of about $130 per quarter from 2025.  

To reduce the budget deficit, the City has implemented a targeted hiring freeze; eliminated and reduced several consulting and professional services contracts; renegotiated vendor contracts; implemented operational efficiencies; used more grant, utility, and trust funds for eligible expenses; accounted for collection of unpaid taxes; and saved on healthcare costs through a Capital RX Value Program. These measures collectively narrowed the gap by  $3.1 million.

“Introducing the 2026 budget is a critical step toward restoring Hoboken’s financial stability and putting our community on a more sustainable path forward,” said Mayor Jabbour. “We listened to residents and worked collaboratively with the City Council, to make difficult but necessary decisions that reduce the deficit while easing the burden on taxpayers and maintaining the core services the community depends on. I thank the City Council for voting to introduce our budget because this plan is about making responsible choices today so that we can strengthen our financial position and continue to deliver for our residents in the future.”      

“I want to thank Mayor Jabbour and her team for taking a fresh approach by working with the City Council early and keeping us informed throughout the budget process,” said Council President Ruben Ramos. “That openness has helped us identify some tough financial decisions that we will still have to come together to make. In the weeks ahead, the Council will review the budget, consider amendments, and work toward a final vote that will put Hoboken on the right track for a stronger financial future.”

In February, S&P Global Ratings assigned a negative outlook to Hoboken’s AA+ bond rating, citing the City’s reliance on reserves to offset expenses. Over the past decade, adopted budgets relied on short-term solutions such as the use of reserves to artificially limit tax increases and cover recurring expenses. While this approach reduced immediate impacts on taxpayers, it contributed to the budget gap and caused structural gaps between recurring costs and recurring revenues.  

The introduced budget is anticipated to allow the City to rebuild reserves and avoid a credit rating downgrade. If downgraded, it would cost the City $6 million in interest for capital projects, placing additional pressure on future taxpayers, and reducing the City’s financial flexibility.

During the April 22 Council meeting, Mayor Jabbour addressed the council regarding the 2026 budget with brief remarks followed by a presentation by Business Administrator Jennifer Gonzalez.

The City Council will now begin its formal review of the proposed budget, including proposing and considering amendments prior to final adoption.  

The following are Mayor Jabbour’s remarks as prepared for delivery. ‍

Good evening.

First, I wish to thank Council President Ramos for his partnership and for his willingness to embrace a more open and transparent budget process this year. That matters. It sets the tone for how we govern and how we build trust with the public. And I’ll be honest, it would feel disingenuous to stand here, introduce this document, and not share my perspective on where we are, where we are going, and what needs to be done. That’s what I hope to convey to all of you tonight.

As you know, I promised a more open, collaborative, and transparent budgeting process than what we experienced over the last eight years. We have been meeting since February to start these conversations, to work together, and we have implemented much of your feedback, and I thank you for your help.

I especially want to thank Business Administrator Jennifer Gonzalez and our entire senior staff at City Hall. Not only have they embraced that change, they’ve leaned into it. They’ve worked incredibly hard to put forward a budget that puts Hoboken on a path towards long-term fiscal health while continuing to deliver the services our residents rely on every day.

Many of us on the council knew this budget was going to be difficult. But it was not until I was sworn in that I got to see the full picture of what we were all dealing with. Quite simply, Mayor Bhalla left this City far less financially stable than he inherited it. My job is to pick up those pieces and put this City back on solid footing. That is what this budget begins to do.

We are making real changes.  

No longer are we tolerating redundancies in City Hall, and I thank the Council for supporting a reorganization of departments that makes us more efficient and more accountable.

No longer will we be entering into agreements without understanding their long-term impact, and I thank the Council for supporting the effort to revisit and renegotiate the collective bargaining agreements that were negotiated by the Bhalla Administration. On tonight’s agenda I am asking you to continue the progress we have made by appointing Labor Counsel to dive directly into these negotiations.

And no longer are we awarding contracts in a way that ultimately costs taxpayers more, particularly when it comes to health insurance consultants where poor structure and oversight drove up costs.

And no longer will we allow this City to be dragged into unnecessary and costly litigation. Those days are over.

We often say that a budget is a reflection of our values.  

Things we all agree on like public safety, our reliable infrastructure, and our youth programming, but that cannot just be something we say when it’s easy. It has to be something we are willing to stand behind when it is time to make hard decisions and pay for the things we have collectively supported.

For years, many of us sat on this dais and agreed that Hoboken needed more police officers. So we voted to add them. That was the right decision. But that decision comes with responsibility.  

Because the alternative is not abstract. It means fewer walking patrols in our parks. It means scaling back e-bike patrols. It means returning to a time when our police presence did not meet the needs of our community. That’s why we added more officers at the start of the year and this budget does not cut a single police officer from our current staff.  

The same is true for our parks.

We have all supported the acquisition, expansion, and improvement of park space across this city. We should be proud of that. But those parks do not maintain themselves. They require staff. They require investment. They require ongoing care so that our residents can actually enjoy them. This budget continues to fund that work.

The same is true for recreation.

A few years ago, we had real challenges with our recreation programs, especially soccer. We made the decision to bring those programs in-house and invest in them. Today, participation has doubled. We now have close to 7,000 participants across all our recreation programs.

We are not going to walk that back. We are not going to cut access to programs that families clearly value.

But we are also going to be fair. This budget asks that participants in our recreation programs pay their fair share, meaning the actual cost of those programs, instead of relying on taxpayers to subsidize their participation. I believe that is the more fair approach. And just to get ahead of the argument that this is a regressive tax, it’s not. Period. This is a fee to participate in a program you choose to opt into, not something that everyone uses. And more importantly, if your family is on free or reduced lunch, your child can still participate at no cost. This budget ensures that everyone has access, while also being responsible to taxpayers.

I recognize this will be a long meeting, but it is an important one, given the decisions in front of you and their long-term impact on our City. With the budget tonight are a number of measures for your consideration that will update certain fees to better reflect the actual costs of providing services and programs. I appreciate the Council’s thoughtful consideration of these proposals, which are an important part of right-sizing our revenues and putting the City on better footing. If they are not supported, then we are choosing to maintain an imbalance that shifts more of the burden onto taxpayers who may not use the services they are being asked to cover. So let’s all be honest about owning that shared responsibility.

I could walk through more line items and more examples, but I am going to turn it over shortly to BA Gonzalez and our auditor, Steve Wielkotz, to go deeper into the detail.  

Before I do, I want to reiterate that unfortunately, there is no magic trick to bail us out. This budget requires the real work that we were all elected to do, including paying for the services that we have all voted for.  

I want to leave you with a few key points.

First, we were handed a very difficult financial situation. That is the reality. On day one, we were looking at a 24 percent increase. Through the work of this team, we have brought that down through smart cuts, a hiring freeze, and other efficiencies, to just below 19 percent. Is that easy to swallow? Of course not. But for years, under the Bhalla Administration, the City’s budgets were artificially lowered through gimmicks, one time fixes, and unstable practices. This budget begins to correct that and puts us on a path toward real, long-term stability.  

Second, this City Hall is not overstaffed.

The nine of you should know that better than anyone. You call our staff. You email them. You text them during all hours, weekends, and holidays. You ask them to do more, faster, and better every single day. And they show up and they deliver. They are the reason this city works.

So, let’s be clear. These are not line items in a spreadsheet. These are the people who keep Hoboken running every single day. We should be supporting them, not undermining them.

And anyone who thinks we can just cut a few staff here and there to make a budget impact without feeling the consequences is simply not living in reality. That kind of thinking ignores what it actually takes to run a city like Hoboken, and it does a disservice to the people who show up every day to serve it.

Third, Hoboken is not alone in facing these challenges.

Jersey City is dealing with a deficit in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Montclair had to go to referendum to support its schools. Paterson is seeking a significant state bailout. And there are dozens more situations just like this across New Jersey. These are the real pressures that municipalities are facing. We are not immune, and we should not pretend that we are.  

Fourth, let’s just speak plainly about where Hoboken stands. Today, we have the lowest municipal taxes in Hudson County, dollar for dollar. At the same time, we have some of the highest home values in the County. That is not something you see very often. This budget does not meaningfully change that. Today, we do not know what our neighbors might adopt, but even if this budget is adopted as introduced, Hoboken will still have one of the lowest tax rates in Hudson County.  That is the reality, and it is important that we keep that in mind as we have this conversation.

And finally, this is a serious moment, and it calls for serious conversations. If the goal is to grandstand to score political points, please don’t waste everyone’s time. That doesn’t help anyone, and it doesn’t save anyone tax dollars. We all know the reality. There is a narrow lane to make adjustments, and much of this budget was set in motion long before this year. So let’s be honest about that. Let’s be realistic. And let’s focus on being constructive.

If you have questions, please ask them. If you have more amendments than what you have already suggested, please bring them forward. But do so with a clear understanding of what you are asking to change and why. I have been open throughout this entire process, and I hope that you all continue that same openness as we move toward adoption.

Thank you, and with that, I will turn it over to the Business Administrator.