How Does The Hoboken City Budget Work?

The mayor doesn’t reign full control over the budget: there is a lengthy process that revises and reviews the proposal. First, the budget process starts with a proposal from the mayor which includes a draft of the specific departments the money will be allocated to like healthcare, infrastructure improvements, public safety, and housing. Based on which issues are most pressing at a given time, there may be a necessity for more funds to be allocated to one sector over another. During my time working for the Dini for Hoboken campaign, a big problem was that there was too much money going into public safety: $66 million dollars specifically, which is 45% of the overall budget. Because of this, less funds can be put into basic services such as cleaning the streets, trash hauling, and park maintenance. However, because these services are necessities, the city can go over budget if they allocate too much money into one sector which, in Hoboken, would be expected to raise taxes by 40% over the next eight years. Therefore, it is crucial for the mayor to put more money into the sectors that need it, but not overestimate that value to prevent tax rates from going up. 

After the mayor proposes the budget, the city department directors get to present on why a certain amount of the budget is allocated to their respective departments. These departments could include Community Development, Public Safety, Water Utility, and Transportation. These presentations - also known as budget workshops - are crucial as they open up the budget to both the city council and individuals from the general public. Here, all individuals present at the meetings can ask questions and voice their concerns which can shape any possible amendments the city council makes to the proposal. After spending much time analyzing the budget to make sure it reflects the city’s concerns, the city council either votes to adopt or abandon the proposal. 

Even with this lengthy process, the budget can still fail to reflect the general public’s needs. One reason why this could happen is if the administration withholds the budget proposal from the council and general public until the last minute. For the 2025 Hoboken budget this happened, and this limits the time there is available for public review. This could also be due to the fact that each department and each council member has different priorities. This can be demonstrated through the fact that the 2025 budget was a 5-3 vote which is incredibly tight, reflecting how not all of the council members agreed with the budget proposal. Finally, the administration can put forward a budget proposal that looks impressive rather than emphasizing sound financial policy. The budget could outline many building projects that would be beneficial for the city, but require loans that can put the city into debt later on. This mindset of “get it now, pay later” may make the budget proposal appear beneficial to the city and can conceal the detrimental economic effects of investing in too many projects and areas.