Jersey City Council Preview: $620M Budget, Pompidou Center Costs

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Jersey City's next City Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 15 at 6 p.m. and the agenda is full of ordinances, resolutions and letter readings.

There are six ordinances on the agenda for a first reading, four for a second reading and 46 resolutions that will be voted on.

The Council meeting can be viewed online and is open to the public. Residents can speak during the public speak portion of the meeting, but must sign up before the meeting. A form can be submitted online to sign-up for public speak.

On the agenda for a first reading is an ordinance that would make all single-stall bathrooms gender-neutral in an effort to make Jersey City even more inclusive and welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. The ordinance is being introduced by Councilman James Solomon.

If passed, existing businesses with single-use bathrooms would have sixty days from the time the ordinance goes into effect to change the signage on bathroom doors to reflect gender-neutral bathrooms. The ordinance was drafted to mirror Hoboken's 2018 ordinance. The ordinance also

The full ordinance can be viewed online.

On the agenda for resolutions to be voted on is the introduction of Mayor Steven Fulop's preliminary $620 million budget. The proposed budget would come with a $967 annual tax decrease per household. The budget is backed and helped by $69 million the city received from the American Rescue Plan.

The budget also includes $5 million to fully fund the Department of Recreation and Youth Development and ensure all recreational programs are fully reinstated, with all safety protocols in place and a new, fully funded Jersey City Police Department De-escalation Training Facility.

The full resolution can be viewed online.

Another resolution on the agenda is the authorization of a memorandum of understanding for the new Pompidou Center in Jersey City. The project would turn the iconic Pathside building in Journal Square into Pompidou's Jersey City satellite site, part of the Paris-based center's plan to roll out satellite museums in hundreds of cities around the world.

According to the memorandum of understanding, Jersey City would pay nearly $6 million for the first three phases of the project alone. After the museum opens, the city will pay another $6 million in fees to the main Pompidou Center. The fee breakdown includes the permissions to use "Centre Pompidou" in the name and costs for artwork and exhibits. The annual fees could decrease over time, according to the memorandum of understanding.

The full resolution can be viewed online.

The full City Council agenda is available online, all links to documents relating to ordinances and resolutions and other agenda items are located in links on the right side of the document.