Jersey City, N.J. revises proposed property tax increase to 15%. Here’s why.

The anticipated pain of a massive property tax increase in Jersey City has been alleviated somewhat.

Mayor James Solomon announced on Monday a proposed 20% increase has been reduced to a 15% after the city secured $120 million in state aid earlier in the day.

“Solving a deficit this size was never going to be easy”  

The tax increase is necessary because the city is facing a $255 million budget deficit, Solomon said.

“Fifteen percent is better than 20, but I cannot tell you this solves our problem without consequences,” Solomon said in a statement. “We know how difficult these increases are, and in combination with the historic amount of state aid we secured in Trenton, my team went back and cut even more city spending. Solving a deficit this size was never going to be easy, and the Administration and City Council must make hard decisions in the coming weeks and months to make the budgets for 2026 and 2027 work without further large tax increases.”

Solomon, who was elected last fall, has blamed the budget deficit on his predecessor, Steven Fulop. The former mayor, who decided not to run again after serving more than 12 years, has vehemently pushed back against the assertion that he left the finances in disarray.

The proposed 15% increase will be submitted to the City Council on July 15 for its approval.

Residents left in constant state of dread over expected tax increase

Prior to receiving the state aid, Jersey City attempted to take some of the onus off of its residents by enacting some cuts, including daily maintenance at seven parks and eliminating its composting program, saving about $1 million per year.

Obviously, that’s not nearly enough to eliminate the need for a property tax hike, so Solomon had been preparing city residents for more than a week about the likelihood that they were going to have to ante up significantly more. He held a meeting on Sunday that was attended by about 150 residents, who expressed fear and dismay over the city’s dire financial situation.

“It means maybe losing my home,” one resident said. “I’m tired of this. This is happening everywhere and it’s not fair that there’s so many boots on our necks and that people just can’t get ahead right now.”

And even with the aid from Trenton and a 15% property tax hike, the city is going to have to figure out how to generate another $20 million, Solomon said, so more cuts are coming.