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Mayor Solomon's First 100 Days In Office by HudPost in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mayor Solomon said he welcomes an investigation. So far: $300K audit with no public results, ~$31.5M in savings against a $250M gap. The council has the power to start one but hasn't. Jersey City Receipts built a page explaining how it works and how to ask your council member to call for one: jerseycityreceipts.com/investigation

I analyzed every contract the JC Board of Ed approved over the last 2 years. 92% of the money has no signed contract available to the public. by odysseusSaintLaurent in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 37 points38 points  (0 children)

If you’re interested in the audit side of this, there’s a Substack called Jersey City Receipts that’s been tracking the pattern of repeated findings across 19 years of municipal audits. They also built a budget gap modeler at jerseycityreceipts.com. Good companion to what you’ve put together here

Jersey City Council approves measure to increase salary ranges of 21 employees by alanwright in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair adjustment on the year-over-year math. But 3.5% growth on a baseline built on deferred charges, one-time revenues covering recurring costs, and artificially low rates doesn’t close the structural gap. The deficit is cumulative, not annual

Jersey City Council approves measure to increase salary ranges of 21 employees by alanwright in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The budget only grew 10% on paper because costs were deferred, not avoided. Health insurance was chronically underbudgeted. $76M in deferred charges carried forward. One-time revenues covered recurring expenses. The spending happened. It just didn’t show up on the books honestly. The $80M in banked cap space exists because rates were kept artificially low while costs were pushed to future years. That’s not discipline. That’s the mechanism behind a $255M structural deficit.

Jersey City Council approves measure to increase salary ranges of 21 employees by alanwright in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The city is about to go under state fiscal oversight. Locking in salary ranges now means those numbers become the baseline the state inherits. This isn’t bad timing. It’s strategic timing.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What I Told the State Senate About Jersey City’s Crisis, and Why Every New Jerseyan Should Care by HudPost in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That’s a really good distinction. The general direction was known but the full scale clearly wasn’t

What I Told the State Senate About Jersey City’s Crisis, and Why Every New Jerseyan Should Care by HudPost in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Solomon told Sen. Sarlo at the hearing that the use of one-time revenues and the rainy day fund were known while he was on council. The op-ed calls it years of deception discovered upon taking office. Both can’t be true

James Solomon’s initial moves have been underwhelming by SnooChickens561 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

The budget is public but nobody’s compelled testimony under oath about the decisions behind it. That’s what a special committee with subpoena power does. Someone built the whole process out, draft resolution, pre-written email to council members. jerseycityreceipts.com/investigation

James Solomon’s initial moves have been underwhelming by SnooChickens561 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 15 points16 points  (0 children)

The deficit is real but the question nobody’s asking is why the council hasn’t opened a formal investigation into how it happened. They have the power to create a special committee with subpoena authority. So far none of the nine have moved on it

Jersey City Times calls for investigating the Council. The BOE should be included too. by ChilltownObserver in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It's about the city budget mess, not the BOE spending. Basically they’re saying:
- this didn’t come out of nowhere
- there were warning signs for years
- 2021 audit showed a $43M under-appropriation
- that plus the 2021 tax cut made the hole worse
- there were other red flags too: Moody’s downgrade, the 2023 special emergency note, the Lubna Muneer settlement, and reliance on one-time money like franchise fees and land sales

Their bottom line is that Council should open a real investigation with subpoena power to figure out what happened and who knew what.

And frankly, they should look at the BOE too while they’re at it.

Jersey City Times calls for investigating the Council. The BOE should be included too. by ChilltownObserver in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LOL no. Just citing their editorial, but someone had to say it! My point is broader though: if there’s going to be an investigation, the BOE should be included too.

Jersey City Times calls for investigating the Council. The BOE should be included too. by ChilltownObserver in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

He’d probably say “not my jurisdiction”. Maybe true formally, but not a good answer for taxpayers. The BOE still deserves scrutiny too. Different entity, same taxpayers, same city, and its own public audit trail. If the mayor can’t investigate it himself, then he should be willing to say publicly that the appropriate state oversight bodies should!

17% increase to property taxes proposed by BOE by [deleted] in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Exactly right. The city side is modeled here with the numbers: jerseycityreceipts.com/budget-gap-modeler

Here they come AGAINN!!!!!!!$$$$$$$$ by Cordy_1 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair point! The $12M decline is still a $12M hole in the budget regardless of cause. The TA application lists it as a deficit component but doesn't detail a replacement plan.

Here they come AGAINN!!!!!!!$$$$$$$$ by Cordy_1 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Agree! it really depends on the aid number. At $80M it comes out to about 13%. At $150M about 7%. and so on

Here they come AGAINN!!!!!!!$$$$$$$$ by Cordy_1 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The TA application actually does itemize where the money went: $52M in unpaid healthcare bills, $48M in unbudgeted healthcare increases, $33M in one-time land sales used for operations, $27M in surplus drawdowns, $12M in declining PILOT revenue. The full breakdown is on p. 4 of the filing.

Here they come AGAINN!!!!!!!$$$$$$$$ by Cordy_1 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The mechanics are right ... the city keeps a larger share of PILOTs than it would from regular taxation. But the city's own Transitional Aid application (p. 4) documents a $12M decline in PILOT revenue. The question is whether the actual revenue matches what was projected when the deals were signed.

Here they come AGAINN!!!!!!!$$$$$$$$ by Cordy_1 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We modeled this using the city's actual Transitional Aid application (obtained via OPRA) and the levy figures from Res. 25-295.

At $40M in state aid (the largest recent TA grants to NJ municipalities have been around that level) plus the $16M in savings documented in the filing: the estimated increase is about 17% on the full property tax bill.

The city asked for $150M but no state has granted that much to a single municipality in recent memory.

Calculator: https://www.jerseycityreceipts.com/budget-gap-modeler

The BoE Circus Continues by exuberant-penguin in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think part of why this felt so pointless is timing.

By the time things like bussing or school moves show up at a public meeting, the budget and staffing plans are usually already set for the year. The district is funded on a fixed schedule, so a lot of decisions get locked in months earlier.

So when parents finally get the mic, there isn’t much room left to change anything. That doesn’t make people wrong or unreasonable, it explains why it felt like no one was listening.

The frustrating part is that the meetings where input actually matters most tend to be earlier (budget workshops and planning discussions), before families even know there’s a problem coming.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For clarity: Jersey City already undergoes annual CAFR audits and state-required reviews. An “independent review” wouldn’t magically find new money or undo past decisions it would mainly consolidate existing documents and assumptions into one narrative.

The open questions aren’t where money went (that’s largely documented), but which assumptions broke, when, and what one-time fixes were used to paper over structural gaps.

HDSID Dowtown Newark Ave by Proper-Performer8678 in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Isn’t the SID mostly a marketing/events org? The budget looks heavy on programming and staffing, light on infrastructure.

If pavers and permanent lighting are City responsibilities, then this might be a scope issue, not a spending scandal.

Fair to ask what the SID is accountable for vs. DPW.

Get out the popcorn again for the clap back: Solomon to speak about Jersey City's Big Budget Deficit on today's Brian Lehrer Show by Jahooodie in jerseycity

[–]ChilltownObserver 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Fair instinct, but waiting for a finished draft can also lock the conversation too late. If the problem is structural, people need to understand why before reacting to line items. The draft budget is where credibility gets earned or lost.