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Paterson council approves $94 million bills list amid demands for pension and contract details
Summary
The Paterson Municipal Council approved a $94,069,650.82 payment-of-bills list on May 13 after an hours-long public discussion in which some members demanded detailed breakdowns of large pension and statutory payments and raised concerns about previous audits and project overruns.
The Paterson Municipal Council voted 7–1 with 1 recusal to approve a $94,069,650.82 payment-of-bills list at a special meeting May 13, after council members pressed administration staff for more detail on large pension and statutory disbursements.
The vote came after Councilwoman Davila moved approval and Councilwoman Mims seconded the motion; Councilman Jackson cast the lone no vote and Councilwoman Cotton excused herself from the vote. Council President Alice Mendez recorded the final tally.
Councilman Jackson repeatedly asked for a line-by-line explanation of the $28 million listed for police and fire retirement payments and other large statutory amounts. "I'm expected to vote on the bills list for almost $100,000,000... and it's not presented?" Jackson said during the discussion. He pressed for documentation and said he would not "blindly vote" without details.
Administration officials responded that the $28 million is the city’s 2025 pension payment for police and firefighters — up from $26 million last year — and that staff would provide a breakdown after the meeting. "That's our pension payment for 2025. Our pension payment last year for police and fires was 26,000,000. This year, it was 28,000,000," said Mr. Silva, the city finance official who answered questions on the record.
Councilwoman Davila and others on the dais emphasized that the bills list is reviewed in finance committee prior to the full council vote. "The payment of bills and the summary of disbursements are discussed in a finance committee," Davila said, adding that the committee reviews statutory obligations including payroll, pensions and board-of-education transfers.
Speakers from the public and some council members raised additional concerns about the city’s financial oversight, citing earlier audits and pending litigation. Councilman Jackson referenced a recent arbitration finding related to the firefighters' union and alleged inappropriate spending; he also pressed for transparency about a $40 million PRC fund and overruns tied to a stadium project.
Despite the objections and requests for more documentation, the council approved the bills list. Council members asked that the administration email a detailed breakdown of the pension and statutory payments to the full council; the CFO agreed to provide that documentation.
The approved bills list included $52,993,423.78 in statutory expenditures (which the clerk’s packet said included county and board-of-education payments), two payroll weeks totaling $11,294,705.29, approximately $33,000,000 identified as pension-related sums (including $28,000,000 for police and fire and $5,000,000 for civilian pensions), and a $4,200,000 payment to the sewer utility, according to figures read into the record.
Council members and members of the public concluded the evening pressed for follow-up: several asked the council to place a public review of the PRC funds, stadium overruns and recent third‑party audits on a future agenda. The CFO and administration were asked to provide the requested receipts and a full line-item breakdown to the council by email.
The council adjourned the public portion after 47 speakers and moved to an executive session for pending legal matters later in the night.
