The Hoboken Girl Team 
The Hoboken City Council has preliminarily approved an amended budget for 2026. The budget reduces the municipal tax increase from the original 18.9% that was proposed in April to 11.5%. There will be a special meeting for the public on June 11th to ask questions and learn more about the budget. Read on for more about the 2026 Hoboken municipal budget.
TLDR: What You Need to Know
– the Hoboken City Council approved an amended budget on Wednesday, June 3rd
– the proposed budget would result in an 11.5% increase in municipal taxes
– there is a special meeting on June 11th about the budget
June Budget Update
On Wednesday, June 3rd, the Hoboken City Council voted to approve a new, amended budget on its first reading. This budget comes in at $161,250,498.68 and will result in an 11.5% tax increase. The budget first proposed in April 2026 came in at $152,128,410.25 and would have resulted in an 18.9% tax increase. According to a statement in the Hudson County View, the amended budget was the result of significant collaboration, per Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. “We have been laboring, and I say we, the entire City Council, the administration has been laboring over this for the last … [several] months. Since the last council meeting, we increased the pace of conversations,” she said.
The vote was 6 in favor, 3 against. The three votes against the budget were councilmembers Dr. Michael Russo, Paul Presinzano, and Phil Cohen.
On Thursday, June 11th, the City Council will hold a special meeting about the budget. The meeting will be held virtually and residents are invited to participate. The meeting will be held virtually.
Road to the Budget
In February 2026, S&P Global Ratings assigned a negative outlook to Hoboken’s bond rating. The City’s bond rating itself remained unchanged, but the negative outlook indicated that the credit rating agency sees risks ahead that could negatively impact things within the next 12-24 months. At that time, Hoboken Mayor Emily Jabbour announced a new budget process that would begin with increased public participation, in the form of workshops, surveys, and public conversations.
In March, Mayor Jabbour shared the details of the budget deficit the city of Hoboken is facing. Later, Mayor Jabbour released a public survey, asking for feedback on the budget planning process from Hoboken residents.
In April, Hoboken City Hall announced a hiring freeze to try to reduce the budget deficit. This hiring freeze is expected to lower the budget by around $600,000, according to the City. It could bring the deficit down from $17 million to nearly $13 million. In her remarks, Mayor Jabbour pointed out that while Hoboken has some of the highest home values in the state, it also has some of the lowest taxes, dollar-for-dollar. “While these are difficult decisions, they will help ensure Hoboken is on a fiscally responsible path forward,” said Mayor Jabbour in an online statement. “This hiring freeze reflects our commitment to reducing the burden on taxpayers while limiting the impact on core services. We will continue working collaboratively to deliver a balanced budget that protects residents and preserves the City’s long-term financial stability.”
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The budget was introduced at the Council’s April 22nd meeting. The budget was a $152,128,410.25 municipal budget with a nearly 19% tax increase for residents. The council voted 6-3 to approve the budget, with Councilmembers Presinzano, Fisher, and Russo voting no.
Response
Since the budget’s initial approval in April, there have been significant conversations about whether this is the right direction for Hoboken. Residents have pointed out that there is already a cost-of-living crisis.
Last year, the Hoboken City Council voted to approve a $150.26 million municipal budget, resulting in a 4.5% tax increase for residents. In Hoboken, your total property tax bill is usually divided into three roughly equal parts: municipality, the public school district, and Hudson County. Municipal taxes go towards city services, like paving roads, making up around one-third of the total property tax bill.
If there were a 19% municipal tax increase as the Mayor proposed, it does not mean your total property taxes go up 19%. The municipal tax increase would only apply to the city portion of a property tax bill, which typically makes up about 25–30% of the total in Hoboken. Assuming the school and county portions would remain unchanged, the overall impact would likely result in roughly a 5–7% increase in the total property tax bill.
The majority of residents in Hoboken rent their homes. It equates to nearly 63% of Hoboken locals. If there were an increase in property taxes, it would most likely trickle down and impact those renters. Landlords often pass those costs through rent hikes or tax surcharges.
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Councilmembers Paul Presinzano + Dr Michael Russo have proposed an amendment that would tweak the budget. According to the Hudson County View, their proposal identifies between $9.5 and $11 million in reductions in spending that would not require layoffs. They also proposed a thorough review of the City’s healthcare plan, municipal salaries, and overtime, among other things. As for additional revenue streams, some of the suggestions proposed include selling naming rights to Hoboken’s parks and piers and organizing corporate sponsorship of City vehicles.
From the Mayor
The Hoboken Girl had the chance to connect with Mayor Jabbour about the budgeting process, what residents should know, and how they can participate.
The Hoboken Girl: What’s something you want residents to know about creating the budget, and ultimately passing it?
Mayor Emily Jabbour: One of the biggest challenges is that municipal budgets can feel abstract. People understandably focus on their tax bill, but don’t always see where those dollars actually go day to day. That’s something I’ve tried to change.
I started talking about this budget earlier than any administration in recent memory because I have felt that this process should not be behind closed doors, or a last-minute discussion. The budget is about how your local government operates the services you rely on every day. That’s why when I came into office, I introduced a budget within my first 100 days. That is not typical.
My administration also made a point to involve both the public and the City Council early, before a formal budget was even introduced. We held subcommittee meetings, public workshops, launched a survey, and worked closely with department directors to identify new cost-saving measures and new revenue options.
This has really been a more transparent, more collaborative approach to the budget, which I hope will help make adopting the budget a smoother process, and I hope that by doing so we have given people a real understanding of how decisions are made, not just the final number.
HG: What opportunities will residents have to provide feedback or ask questions about the budget?
EJ: We have already created several opportunities for residents to get involved. We launched a public survey, hosted workshops, and have been actively engaging with people on social media by answering questions in comments and through direct messages.
At this stage, the budget is now in the City Council’s hands, so I strongly encourage residents to reach out to their council members directly. They are the ones who can propose and vote on amendments, which we expect will happen at the City Council meeting on Wednesday, May 20.
Residents can also attend council meetings to provide public comment. Input at this stage is still very important, so I encourage people to stay informed and engaged.
HG: Where/how can residents get more information about the budget?
EJ: We have tried to make information available in a few different formats. I have shared a number of videos explaining the budget and our challenges this year in more accessible terms, and the full introductory budget document is available online.
I will be honest that the state-required format is not the most user-friendly. It does include a detailed breakdown of where every dollar is going, so it is still worth reviewing if you want a deeper understanding.
We also have a video presentation from Business Administrator Jennifer Gonzalez available online, which walks through the key points in a more digestible way. You can find that on YouTube, at about the 8:55 mark.
HG: How do you compare Hoboken’s current + proposed tax rates with NJ cities of similar population density?
EJ: The reality is that municipalities across New Jersey are facing very similar pressures right now. Costs are going up across the board, including inflation and healthcare.
Some cities are in more difficult positions, while others are in slightly better shape, but my focus is on Hoboken. The goal is to make sure we are on the strongest possible financial footing while continuing to deliver the services residents expect.
HG: Residents have increasing needs for city services, but the budget could/would reduce that both in terms of actual funding and city staff to service programs. How do you explain this to residents?
EJ: The budget we introduced maintains core services and existing personnel. If there are additional cuts beyond what is currently proposed, residents will start to see and feel the impact.
The reality is that we are already doing more with less. If the direction is to cut further, then we need to have an honest conversation about trade-offs. That is why some of the survey questions were very specific, because these are very real decisions that we may have to make. Are we talking about fewer nights of trash pickup, fewer inspections, or fewer public safety resources? These are real choices with real consequences. So far, that is not the kind of feedback we have heard from the community, but it is the reality of what deeper cuts would mean.
One thing I think is important for residents to understand is that these financial challenges did not appear overnight. Sometimes, low taxes can feel like a win in the short term, but if they do not keep pace with the actual cost of services, they create significant gaps over time. Those gaps show up in ways people experience every day, whether that be stretched City services, delayed improvements, or slower response times.
What we are trying to do now is connect those dots. A budget reflects what a City can realistically deliver. My goal is to make sure we are being honest about those realities while putting Hoboken on a more sustainable path forward.
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