The budget will cover city spending from last July through this coming June 30.
City officials said recently that the budget is scheduled to be introduced at a City Council meeting by the end of February.
Being late with the municipal budget is nothing new for Jersey City, whose budget for the previous fiscal year was approved in April 2007, nine months into the fiscal year.
Usually, there is a reason why Jersey City's budget is late, such as making late revenue deals that will bring in a substantial amount of money to fill budget gaps.
According to the city's Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly, this year, there is a $15 million reason for the delay.
O'Reilly said recently that the city wanted to reach its legal settlement with Honeywell International Inc. to begin the cleanup and development of 100 acres on the city's west side, much of which was contaminated with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium.
One of the terms of the settlement calls for the city to receive $25 million from Honeywell over the next two years, with the first $15 million to go into the city's coffers by June.
"The expectation of the Honeywell settlement would logically be included in any budget we adopt," O'Reilly said.Why not earlier?
The state and most local cities run on a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30. In Hudson County, only Secaucus runs on a regular calendar year.
According to state law, towns must introduce their budgets at a City Council meeting by Aug. 10 and approve them by Sept. 20 - a far cry from what is seen in a number of Hudson County towns.
Coming in late means that by the time the full City Council gets to see the budget, it's too late to offer budget-cutting measures.
O'Reilly said the $15 million from the Honeywell settlement was "very helpful" in combating expected increases in fire and police department salaries and pension payments, medical insurance payments, and utilities.
O'Reilly said the increase won't be drastic, as the city will see reduced heath care costs as a result of withdrawing from a state plan. Comments on the story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.
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