Faulty reasoning signals

• Confirmation Bias - 9.7% (132 hits)
• Anchoring Bias - 2.5% (34 hits)
• Availability Heuristic - 5.4% (74 hits)
• Representativeness Heuristic - 5.1% (70 hits)
• Hindsight Bias - 0%
• Overconfidence Bias - 2.7% (37 hits)
• Framing Effect - 1% (14 hits)
• Loss Aversion - 7% (95 hits)
• Status Quo Bias - 2% (28 hits)
• Sunk Cost Effect - 0%
• Optimism Bias - 5.7% (78 hits)
• Pessimism Bias - 20.9% (286 hits)

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Jersey City punts on 15% tax increase, but the big bills are still coming

The Jersey City Council rejected a 15% property tax hike Wednesday night, just a day after state leaders awarded the city an unprecedented financial lifeline.

But local leaders say the city’s budget remains in dire straits, and the move almost certainly sets up residents to get hit with a major increase as a lump sum at the end of the year.

The Council’s unanimous decision came amid fierce public outcry from residents against the increase and uncertainty over the legal conditions that will be placed on a $120 million aid package approved by state leaders earlier this week.

The turnabout also came after multiple councilmembers issued public statements saying they planned to vote yes.

Councilmembers warned residents Wednesday’s vote was almost certainly just a delay, with the city still facing a $255 million budget deficit.

All agreed that a tax increase of some amount will come later this year, and residents should prepare now.

The average home in Jersey City had an assessed value of about $480,000 in 2025, according to state data.

A home assessed at that value would have had an estimated tax bill of $11,203 in 2025, according to an online calculator provided by the city.

The proposed 15% property tax hike, combined with a 14% increase in Hudson County taxes and a 14% increase in local school taxes, would increase that home's estimated tax bill by $1,622, to $12,825.

“I urge all of you who have the capacity to save as much as you can, because at some point this increase is going to be upon us,” Councilmember Frank Gilmore said.

Mayor James Solomon had proposed enacting the tax increase now, with the hopes of getting the new rate set in time for third quarter tax bills to be sent.

The Council’s vote blocks that effort, and the city’s third-quarter tax bills will be delayed for months.

Solomon and administration officials warned the third-quarter bills will likely be sent to residents around the same time as fourth-quarter bills in early November, setting up a situation where residents are faced with a major lump-sum expense just before the city deadline to avoid tax liens and as the holiday shopping season starts.

“The consequences of tonight’s vote for the city and taxpayers will be steep,” Solomon said in a statement after the vote.

“This will put the entire increase — the combined [Board of Education], county and city increases — on the year’s final tax bill.

This will be devastating for taxpayers.

This is the epitome of kicking the can down the road and it will only hurt the residents of Jersey City.”

The vote was a surprising defeat for Solomon, who has been closely aligned with Gilmore for years.

Eleana Little, who took over Solomon’s former Council seat, was elected with a lot of support from the mayor and also voted against Solomon when faced with public backlash.

Jersey City’s financial crisis has been compared to that of Atlantic City after the casino industry's collapse, or Detroit at the time of that city’s bankruptcy.

Solomon, who took office this year, has blamed the deficit on financial mismanagement by his predecessor, Steve Fulop — an allegation Gov.

Mikie Sherrill has echoed, and Fulop has dismissed as politically motivated.

Solomon’s administration has cut tens of millions of dollars in city spending since January, and the mayor has said more cuts are on the way.

Those cuts combined with the state aid package project to significantly close the city’s spending gap.

Solomon had originally proposed a 20% tax increase, and a vote on that plan was delayed a week following fierce public outcry.

That 20% proposal was reduced to a 15% proposed increase after the state aid package was approved and the Solomon administration said it made further cuts to city services.

Conditions on state aid

The $120 million state aid package — split between a $105 million loan and a $15 million grant — will come with conditions set by Sherrill's administration.

Those terms are still being negotiated, but will include the loan interest and payback period, as well as oversight requirements.

The grant is coming through the state’s transitional aid program, and as part of that Jersey City has agreed to a state fiscal monitor that will have oversight and final authority on city spending decisions including adopting a budget.

State authorities at the Department of Community Affairs will have the power to set the city’s tax rate if they are not satisfied with the rates adopted by the Council.

“There's no circumventing DCA at the end of the day,” said Bill Viqueira, the city finance director.

“DCA has broad authority to strike that tax rate and to set it where they think it's appropriate.”

Solomon and Viqueira told the council Wednesday that state authorities have indicated they believe the city needs a 20% tax hike.

“The state has been clear, the only other solution is mass layoffs,” Solomon said.

Sherrill’s office declined to comment.

The DCA did not respond to requests for comment.

Gilmore proposed amending the resolution to lower the tax increase to 12% before the final vote, but administration officials said they were unable to do the proper calculations needed to write a legally sufficient resolution at the time.

Waiting for the budget

Jersey City residents have pushed back hard on the tax increase proposal at Council meetings, community town halls and on social media.

Many have raised concerns about the taxes being raised before the city adopts a new budget; they complain doing so robs the public of a chance to scrutinize a line item budget proposal and suggest cuts that could lessen the need for higher taxes.

The council ultimately agreed with that sentiment.

“Without seeing a budget and looking at every single dollar being spent, I cannot responsibly look you in the eye and raise your taxes,” Councilmember Thomas Zuppa said.

“It doesn't mean it'll always be a no — because again, the responsible thing will be to vote for a tax increase — but it's a no today.”

Even a trio of councilmembers — Jake Ephros, Eleana Little and Joel Brooks — who had publicly committed to voting for the tax increase flipped their votes Wednesday night, citing public demand for a full budget process.

“I am skeptical that we are going to be able to get to a place where a quarter-four tax bill for a lot of residents in Jersey City is not just a real death blow,” Ephros said.

“So I say this with a lot of reservation that I'll vote against because it's clear that popular support has come out against it.”

Solomon said his administration was not able to draft a budget proposal until the state aid package was approved, which didn’t happen until Tuesday night.

Solomon expects to introduce a budget proposal to the Council on July 15.

The final budget is expected to be adopted in August.

Councilmembers and residents asked Wednesday night about the possibility of using one-time revenue infusions like land sales or maneuvers to defer some expenses to future years.

Solomon said his administration would explore all options, but he fundamentally did not want to prolong the financial mess.

“ I'm unwilling to continue the practices of the Fulop administration that led to this crisis,” Solomon said.

“I will not repeat what Mayor Fulop did to this city.

Over my dead body will we have that happen.”

Councilmember Rolando Lavarro said the City Council intends to be a good partner with state authorities, and he hoped the DCA would understand the council’s desire to wait for more information before enacting such steep tax increases.

“We're going to be serious and good partners and stewards of their investment in that sense,” Lavarro told Gothamist after the meeting.

“The reality for us is that, at least on the City Council side, at least for me, we haven't seen the budget.

We haven't seen the numbers.

And so while there's definitely difficult decisions to make, we just don't have the information we need to make those tough decisions.”

This story has been updated with more information.