Jersey City Mayor James Solomon has unveiled his 2026 budget proposal — a roughly $886.5 million plan that pairs a 15.5% increase to the city’s property tax rate with $58 million in spending cuts. The plan, released after 11 p.m. Friday, seeks to close a $255 million deficit Solomon blames on former Mayor Steve Fulop. The budget comes just over a week after the city council rejected a 15% property tax hike. Councilmembers said at the time that they wanted to see a full, line-item budget before they vote to raise taxes. “We didn't create this hole,” Solomon said in a statement Friday. “But it is our job to climb out of it — honestly, and without the gimmicks that got us here.” Solomon, who took office this year, said his predecessor skipped paying more than $100 million in bills to avoid raising taxes while he ran for governor. Gov. Mikie Sherrill has also placed blame on the previous mayor, though Fulop — who now heads the pro-business Partnership for New York City — has dismissed his critics as politically motivated. Earlier this month, state leaders approved $120 million in aid — a $105 million low-interest loan paired with a $15 million grant — to help Jersey City stabilize its budget. As a condition of the aid, the city has agreed to work with a state fiscal monitor to oversee the city’s spending. The newly elected mayor and city council have faced angry town halls and council meetings over the budget shortfall during their first months in office. Several council members publicly said they would support a larger tax hike in June, but after withering criticism from residents they rejected the smaller, 15% tax hike last week. Councilmember Frank Gilmore said he welcomed the mayor’s budget, though he wanted to spend some time looking through it to see if he could find any additional cuts. “I still want to do my … due diligence and just go through all of it, go through each department to see if there's room for additional savings,” he said in a phone interview Saturday morning. He added that having a detailed budget would help him and other councilmembers as they consider taking on the 15.5% property tax increase. Solomon had asked the council to approve the tax increase in early July before the budget was official, in order to spread out the pain to taxpayers over two quarters. Gilmore was one of Solomon’s closest allies during their time on the Council together and through last year’s municipal election. He was also among the most vocal councilmembers in opposing the mayor's request. “ This makes things drastically easier,” he said Saturday. “Now you have the ability to actually see numbers, versus speculative numbers.” Councilmember Joel Brooks likewise said his office would be poring through the numbers before approving the budget. Brooks, a labor organizer, pointed out that the city’s fiscal woes come as it’s renegotiating many of its public employee contracts. “Apart from the debt we are burdened with from past years, we have an operating deficit and 7 of 9 municipal unions who are working without a contract,” he said in an emailed statement. “We have really tough choices to make.” Solomon’s budget proposes a series of reductions, including $2.8 million to the Department of Health & Human Services, $2.1 million to Public Works and $1.2 million to Recreation & Youth Development. The Solomon administration said it will be able to patch a larger part of the fiscal hole by switching the city’s health insurance provider, cutting the city’s subsidized taxi program and drawing down some reserves. The third piece of Solomon’s plan is the 15.5 percent property tax hike, which the city estimates would mean a $614 annual increase for the average homeowner, with a property assessed at $480,000. The city’s increase is significantly less than the Jersey City school board tax hike, which increases average bills by $750, according to the mayor’s office. The board, which has been beset by dysfunction and mismanagement for years, has been the key driver of a 40 percent increase in Jersey City property taxes over the last 5 years. Combined with increases from schools and Hudson County, Solomon’s budget estimates the average residential tax bill will grow by nearly $1,700 – from $11,670 in 2025 to $13,360 at the end of this year. And it’s still possible state authorities may push for an increase closer to 20%. While the budget cuts almost every city department, public safety gets a 3.7% increase, or roughly $7.8 million in new spending. The city’s law department would also get a smaller 4.5% bump for an increase of $200,000. The city council is also raising its own budget by more than 20% for a $400,000 boost, according to Solomon's budget. The mayor plans to formally introduce his budget at the July 15 City Council meeting. David Giambusso contributed reporting.