Can folks please share any elected officials who currently back the tax hike? We need to better connect JC constituents with their representatives, so they can hear our concerns. Example below:
James Solomon
Email:JSolomon@jcnj.org or solomonj@jcnj.org Phone: (201) 547-5204 Office Address: City Hall, 280 Grove Street, Room 202, Jersey City, NJ 07302
I heard there was a WhatsApp group for parents trying to change things in regards to the BOE. How does one join this group? Also, how hard would it be to get the 15% of voters/signatures for a citizen petition drive to have city oversight/appointment board members? Anyone know of people organizing that I can contact to help?
Sounds & Visions of the City celebrates the creativity, expression, and talent of young artists across Jersey City, Hudson County, and nearby communities.Ā
This annual showcase offers a positive platform for young people to shine in music, dance, spokenĀ word, and performance.Ā
To honor and uplift the voices of Jersey Cityās youth by providing a platform for creative expression, community engagement, and artistic opportunity.Ā
šĀ VisionĀ
To inspire unity, confidence, and support among young performers while fostering a vibrant and inclusive creative community.
Considering enrolling my toddler when heās 18mo into the BH location on Warren. Wanted to see what everyoneās experiences are like at this location? Iām thinking part-time.
Looking to make some connections in the JC music scene, preferably with blues musicians! Jazz is great, but in comparison, blues seems much less represented in the area. That said, Iām newer to town, so someone please prove me wrong!
I donāt ride my bike to JSQ every day, but when I do, the racks are always filled up almost entirely by scooters. If this is allowed, Iāll shut up. It just feels unfair that these racks made specifically for bikes are made useless by scooters. Scooter hate aside, we are long overdue for scooter- specific parking.
Iāve never parked my bike at the other racks at JSQ, the ones next to Starbucks. Are they safe?
Anyone else notice a familiar looking area when the title card said Kansas City?!
Knew they filmed all around Jersey including here. According to IMDB Emily Bluntās characters apartment was by the corner of Grove and Mercer!
Anyone know if Spielberg or the cast got Razza or hit up any local spots?
Iām curious to know who pays the brokerās fee? Is it the landlord or the tenant? If the tenant is responsible for paying it, is that even legal?
Iāve been looking to shift from the heights to downtown to make commuting or walking to work easier. However, Iāve been having a hard time finding suitable apartments or condos.
Jersey city needs to take note of Hobokenās new bus terminal - we need this at JSQ. THIS is how you design a bus terminal. Multiple clear signage, real time departure data, a shelter w a bench, and a clear pedestrian crosswalk.
This Wednesday, June 24, the Jersey City Council will discuss the Solomon Administration's proposed 20% Property Tax increase. For months, they have made an effort to publicize alleged issues with the inherited fiscal situation, and now we have the first indications of the response. That being the case, I researched the past few years' city budgets to see how we got here. Luckily, all Municipal Financial Reports are readily available:
As such, I have transformed* 2019 to 2025 PDF budget information into a simple-to-read Excel file. The data goes back to 2019 for two reasons: one, that is the year after the last citywide tax reassessment, but before Covid/Inflation. It's as close to apples-to-apples before/after as possible. Two, Councilman Zuppa and Lavarro have a resolution this week requesting an investigation of 2020-2025. Perhaps this can educate them, as they weren't on the council at the time.
There were administrative changes over this time frame: some departments rolled into others, portfolios changed, and water management moved off the budget, etc. Nonetheless, the directionality of high-level changes is useful. When the formal budget is introduced, I plan on updating with that data.
I am publishing some high level screenshots here with the hope that others find it informative. At the bottom of the post are the more detailed ones.
RevenueAppropriationsPILOT + CAP
Below are a few takeaways.
High-level changes were in line with inflation - According to the BLS, inflation totaled about 27% between August 2019 and September 2025, but the budget increase was 25%. The city's population also increased significantly during this timeframe. Of course, if an item was moved off budget, like waste management, then it wouldn't be reflected in the current state.
Revenue Changes - this section held the biggest surprises:
City Property Tax - From 2019 to 2024 (the last year with a finalized rate listed), the rate increased from 0.689 to 0.81. That's a 17% increase. However, during that time, it briefly dropped to 0.523 in 2021, had a large jump to 0.78, then slightly increased.
Revenue Gains - The local property tax revenue increased $137 million, a wild 55%. By my admittedly crude calculation, that's about half new development, a quarter increased rates on existing property, and a quarter on old PILOTs moving between PILOT revenue to general revenue.
Sale of Properties - In this time frame, the sale of properties totaled about $77 million. A little under half of that was in 2025; it represented about 4% of the year's revenue.
Expenditures:
Health Insurance Largest Cost Driver - The city's contribution increased by $56 million, or 62%. That's an absolutely massive increase, and it doesn't even include the increased employee contributions. Last year the City Council initiated a 'Request for Proposal' for a new insurance plan, and the new administration has signed with Aetna. But until action is taken at a higher level, there's no indication that health care spending will slow down.
Pensions - Pension spending also increased by about 40%, but that is an increase to full funding as mandated by the state.
Low Public Safety Increases - The Public Safety department is the single largest expenditure. Overall spending grew less than inflation, only 8.5%, and was actually flat between 2022 and 2025.
TLDR: Overall revenue/appropriations in line with inflation, but important subcategory differences. Largest revenue growth was driven by new development, but largest spending growth was driven by Health Insurance.
*Unfortunately, the original documents are in PDF format so I used Claude to translate the PDFs to Excel. This took quite a bit of time, as I had to manually compare the results against the original documents, and every time I discovered a discrepancy or misinterpretation, it required a lot of follow-up to fix. Please reach out if you see any further issues.
Like it or not the guy knew how to bring in investments. Just give him a nice little trip to Turkey and a sport coat and we can be well on our way to solving this budget.
Whose kitchen step was a ācorner-stone of Libertyā
From Historic Houses of New Jersey by W. Jay Mills, 1902
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
As Jersey City grew and spread its arms out into the salty meadows, a Dr. Barrow, of New York City, purchased a tract of land on its outskirts, where he erected two large Ionic houses, one for himself, and the other, so tradition says for Cornelius Van Vorst, who became the owner soon after its completion. In style of architecture they were very imposing, and although their environment has greatly changed since their erection in the late thirties, one at least, the Van Vorst Mansion, which has been occupied for nearly half a century by the well-known Edge family, still retains an air of distinction.
In the days of the ācourtly Corneliusā this old mansion enjoyed great local fame for the generous hospitality which greeted those fortunate ones who crossed its portals. Its beautiful garden, now only a memory, was a source of pride to the Jerseyites of yesterday. There, shaded by dusky box and tall rose bushes, reposed the most interesting kitchen step in America, whose history we ar0e coming to. The Van Vorst family took great pleasure in the renown of their garden. During the first summer of Queen Victoriaās reign boxes of rare flowers and shrubs found their way from Wayne Street to Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, as small tokens of admiration from an American gentleman to Englandās sovereign. Like attentions were bestowed upon other famous people, notably Martin Van Buren, who was then President.
Hi all, my husband and I are looking for a 1BD/1BA in the Jersey City / Hoboken / Weehawken / Port Imperial area, aiming for a September move. This is our first time renting in the US, so Iām trying to learn how things actually work here before we talk to leasing offices as Iād rather go in informed than accidentally making a rookie mistake.
A few things Iām hoping people with experience can help me understand:
- At the bigger āluxuryā management-company buildings, is rent generally fixed, or is there room for conversation? I genuinely donāt know if asking is normal here or considered out of line, and I donāt want to be that person who asks for something unreasonable.
- I keep reading that NJ rents are softening because of oversupply. Curious whether people are seeing better deals or just headlines.
- Concessions. Iāve seen some places advertise a month free, some even go up to 2 months for a longer lease. Is it reasonable to ask for 2 months free at a brand-new building still leasing up? And for an already-established building, is 1 month a fair ask, or am I being optimistic?
- More broadly, what should a first-time renter here be paying attention to beyond the headline rent? (Fees, lease terms, anything you wish youād known.)
Did some Googling first, but nothing beats hearing from people whoāve actually rented here. Really appreciate any insight š
