Proposed 15.5% tax hike in Jersey City, N.J., has angry residents contemplating leaving
There was a pair of protests Monday in Jersey City, New Jersey, including one against Mayor James Solomon's proposed 15.5% tax hike due to a deficit he blames on the past administration.
A final vote on the city's budget will happen on Wednesday, with some residents telling CBS News New York an increase would only push them out of the city.
Potential tax hike upsets longtime Jersey City residents
A group of upset people tried to steal the spotlight at a prescheduled rally Solomon attended Monday to discuss climate change.
"What this means to me is that I'm not gonna be able to live in Jersey City, not because I don't want to be here. I can't afford to live here. Economically, it doesn't make sense for me to live here," resident Dmetriotis Van De Mark said.
Van De Mark said she feels she's being pushed out of her city of 31 years because of Solomon's proposed tax increase.
That 15.5% increase was lowered from the original proposal of 20%.
The mayor was at the unrelated "Make Polluters Pay" rally in support of environmental legislation, and those demonstrators upset about the potential tax hike used it as a chance to voice their outrage.
"I mean, we're being held hostage and this is absurd. Might as well live in New York City at this point, because of the cost of living, the quality of life, they don't balance out," resident Stephanie Startz said. "It's a question of fiscal responsibility with this city. It's that they ran as advocates and champions of the working class and they are turning their backs on the working class."
For now, with the city months late on passing a budget, residents are making their demands clear, while having budgets of their own to figure out.
"So do I choose between taking a couple dollars out of the rent, or getting my insulin? I'm getting my insulin because I want to live," Van De Mark said. "This is a tale of the haves, and the have-nots."
What Jersey City's audit reveals
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor referenced an audit published last week that said the proposed hike is in response to former Mayor Steven Fulop's "...track record of pushing spending off to the future for his political benefit." The spokesperson also said that on top of the cuts, the city is reducing spending by nearly $58 million and securing $120 million in state aid.
The mid-August audit found a $94.1 million deficit from payments due in years past. Jersey City shared a chart showing rising expenses since 2021 and the city falling short in passing a budget to pay for them.
Fulop released a statement attacking Solomon.
"James Solomon's entire argument relies on an auditor he called political and untrustworthy in 2022. It's ironic that he now treats their audit as gospel," Fulop said. "More importantly, the audit confirms what we said all along: there was no $250 million deficit as nowhere in the audit is that mentioned. James spent eight years on the City Council with responsibility for these budgets and never raised these concerns. This is politics, not a financial crisis from a political auditor."
