City Council Meeting Excerpt Report for March 19, 2008: City Budget FY2008

The March 19, 2008 Hoboken City Council meeting lasted almost 5 hours. The hot topic of the night was the $ 93M AMENDED FY2008 BUDGET, a $ 16M INCREASE over last year's $ 78M budget.

City administrators are awaiting State approval of several revenue items, including a $ 7M upfront cash loan against the proceeds of the $ 25.5 M Municipal Garage sale. To date, the City currently owes a finance company $ 13.5M that was used to offset previous year's budget deficits.

If the State approves the loan to balance this year's budget, the total loan balance will be $ 20.5 leaving just $ 5.5M left from the garage sale. Between consultant fees, interest payments, and anticipated future expenses for building demolition / environmental site remediation, the City will no doubt spend more than the $ 25.5M selling price.

To complicate matters, a developer and a private citizen have filed a Superior Court lawsuit attempting to overturn the December 13, 2007 Municipal Garage sale. If successful, the City may find itself starting off the new budget year with an additional $ 20.5M deficit in additon to the anticipitated $ 9M shortfall.

Here is a 20 minute excerpt of citizens comments with respect to the budget.

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