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Rutherford council adopts 2025 municipal budget; residents question revaluation and pilot agreements
Summary
Council approved a self-examination and adoption of the CY 2025 municipal budget; residents raised concerns about timing with the school budget, property revaluation status and long-term debt increases; borough administrator said the borough’s assessed value rose $6 million and that a county-ordered revaluation is planned for completion aiming at
The Rutherford Mayor and Council adopted the borough’s CY 2025 municipal budget after voting to authorize a self-examination of the budget and then to adopt it.
Council President McGowan moved resolution 122 authorizing a self-examination and resolution 124 adopting the CY 2025 municipal budget; both motions passed on roll call. “Thank you,” McGowan said after the votes.
Why it matters: Members of the public asked how the municipal budget interacts with school budgeting and raised questions about property valuations, pilot (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) deals and the borough’s debt load.
Resident Frank Wilson questioned the timing of budget hearings, saying he could not attend the separate Board of Education session and asked the borough not to grant additional PILOTs without stricter review. “Please don't give any more pilots out for these reasons,” Wilson said, citing a 2017 Board of Education demographic study he said projected only six students from a prior development and arguing that developer PILOTs do not cover school costs.
Borough Administrator Bob Kekoleski responded that previous owners of 51 Union Avenue had an approved plan but never executed a redeveloper's agreement or a long-term tax-exemption (a PILOT), so the new owner had to restart the process. Kekoleski said, “Those two documents were never executed, never approved by this governing body.”
Kekoleski and CFO Gordon Stettler addressed property valuation and revaluation: Kekoleski said borough assessed values rose by about $6 million since the prior year and that Bergen County Tax Administration has ordered a revaluation to be completed in time for 2027 if possible; he warned staffing and vendor supply constraints could make that schedule challenging.
Residents also raised debt-service concerns. Frank Wilson and others cited figures from public records showing rising debt-service balances from about $22 million in 2020 to figures in the mid‑20 millions in recent years; borough staff said year-end accounting and timing of paydowns affect the headline numbers and offered to provide a detailed debt schedule and an itemized capital breakdown to residents.
Actions recorded: Resolution 122 (self-examination) and resolution 124 (adoption of CY 2025 municipal budget) were moved by Council President McGowan and approved by roll call vote. The council also moved resolution 126 (authorizing the tax collector to prepare and mail estimated tax bills) and 127 (hiring entry-level police officers) during the meeting.
What’s next: Borough staff agreed to provide residents with itemized capital and debt schedules and to continue discussions about PILOTs and the revaluation timeline; no changes to the adopted CY 2025 municipal budget were made during the meeting.
