Councilman Ravi Bhalla noted that he was disappointed that there were not enough cuts present in the intial draft. I can assure you he wasn't the only one disappointed. The budget presented doesn't cover potential bonding costs should the HUMC fail or cover the capital funding for the failing pier at Sinatra Park. I think in order to stay under $100 million operating expenses will have to be trimmed further in order to allow for more appropriate capital funding. Something has to give. Time will tell as this process sorts itself out.
I also thought that Michael Lenz did a good job framing the presentation in his remarks that stated that at least this presented budget reflects the costs of what is being shown. He added that it gives the City Council a starting point and is not by any means the final product. Perhaps an obvious statement but shortly after he spoke the council promptly voted the introduction of the budget 9-0.
The photo below shows the expense numbers for the 2010 budget as shown in the slide show:
Thus, the total preliminary budget is $98,766,211 that still has some gaps to be filled and addtional cuts to be made in my opinion. Total taxes for the municipal portion to be raised for 2010 are $55,611,213 or a reduction of 8% from 2009. That is still way short of the 25% percent decrease oft cited as a Zimmer campaign promise. Looks like it won't happen in 2010 but the photo below shows it possible for 2011. However, the problem with projecting out that far is we still don't know the real numbers from the union negotiations, the HUMC is an ever looming issue and we don't know what other infrastructure issues may come up.
Explanation of 2010 and Projection of 2011 Budgets:
Below is the first part of the City Council Meeting on 12/2/2009 where Nick Tresente gives his presentation:
Original Post: Here is the live streaming for tonight's Hoboken City Council meeting. You will be able to watch the meeting from within this blog tonight starting around 7PM. The presentation of the 2010 budget will be the first topic.
To see the entire agenda please click here:
http://hobokennj.org/docs/council/agenda09/ccm-12-02-09.pdf
To see the entire resolution pack please click here:
http://hobokennj.org/docs/council/respack09/respac_revised-12-02-09.pdf
City Council Meeting 12/2/2009 at 7PM - Live! Tonight!:
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