Montclair Town Council Holds Budget Hearing, But Postpones Vote

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Town Council held a public hearing for the proposed 2021 municipal budget on Tuesday, but no vote was taken.

Due to multiple amendments to the $93.79 million draft budget, including a $100,000 expenditure increase for the public library, the council postponed a vote. The council is slated to resume discussion on the municipal budget at their meeting on Tuesday, May 18.

Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller said that with the modifications, the municipal tax rate comes in at “just under 2 percent.”

See the 2021 full draft budget here. See a "user-friendly" version here.

Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Councilman Peter Yacobellis said he would have voted in favor of the budget after having voted against it during the first reading on April 6.

“Voting for a tax increase isn't something that sits well with any of us,” Yacobellis stated. “But I'm proud of the work that we've been able to do and the compromise we've been able to achieve to reduce spending in a number of categories.”

“These reductions also enabled us to increase the library budget by an additional $100,000,” Yacobellis continued. “Collectively, the changes … will result in a tax increase of less than 2 percent versus the 2.5 percent previously floated.”

Yacobellis said he was excited the budget will also include a “down payment to accompany a bond ordinance for significant improvements to Nishuane and Essex Parks and to a lesser extent, Edgemont and Canterbury.”

A town's municipal budget makes up one part of a local homeowner's property taxes, in addition to school and county levies.

• See related article: Montclair School Budget Would Mean Tax Increase For Homeowners
• See related article: $770M Proposed Budget In Essex County Would Mean Small Tax Hike

Watch footage of the May 4 council meeting below.

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