This is the amount Paterson property taxes will rise to support the city's new budget

Joe Malinconico
·3 min read

PATERSON — City homeowners would pay an average increase of $131 per year under the 2% hike in Paterson’s $321 million municipal budget approved Tuesday night.

In voting 5-0 in favor of Mayor Andre Sayegh’s budget, several council members said the spending plan would invest a substantial amount on fixing Paterson’s roads and park improvements.

Council President Shahin Khalique cited $5.8 million going toward renovations of Westside Park, which is in the ward he represents.

“It will be a different 2nd Ward after this year,” Khalique said.

Councilman Al Abdelaziz, who represents the 6th Ward, said he already has heard from residents happy about planned street paving in that part of the city.

“I’m glad this budget is going to help me get things done for the 6th Ward,” he said.

Also voting in favor of the budget were Maritza Davila, Md Forid Uddin and Luis Velez. Four members of the council did not participate in the special budget meeting — Ruby Cotton, Michael Jackson, Alex Mendez and Lilisa Mimms — a group that includes Sayegh’s main critics on the governing body.

Drone image of Paterson City Hall on March 26, 2020. Residents in New Jersey have been asked to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Drone image of Paterson City Hall on March 26, 2020. Residents in New Jersey have been asked to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

The budget includes about $46 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, money that administration officials said will mostly be used for one-time and pilot projects, including $10 million for sewer improvements, $2 million toward the proposed Great Falls visitor center and various amounts to buy new Public Works Department trucks and police cars.

The budget also represents the ongoing reduction in Paterson’s longtime reliance on state funding to cover its expenses. Paterson will get $17.8 million from what once was called the state’s “distressed cities aid,” which provided the city $33 million for its 2019 budget.

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Municipal government property taxes for the owner of a house assessed at about $196,800 — the average in Paterson — would rise from $5,170 in 2021 to $5,301, under this budget.

In voting for Sayegh’s budget, Uddin noted that the Paterson school district, where he works as a teacher, imposed a larger average tax increase this year. The average Paterson homeowner will see annual school taxes climb from $1,864 to $2,079, a 12% increase, according to city budget documents.

Uddin encouraged Paterson homeowners to go to school board meetings to register their displeasure with the increase.

Mendez said he missed the budget vote because he attended a neighborhood meeting in the 3rd Ward, which he represents. In an interview on Wednesday morning, Mendez expressed his opposition to the Sayegh budget, saying Paterson residents should be getting better services for all the money being spent.

Jackson, meanwhile, said he was unsure how he would have voted on the budget. Cotton and Mimms did not respond to messages seeking their positions on the Sayegh spending plan.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ property taxes to rise with city budget increase