Clifton council continues budget review; officials cite $6.8M gap and raise questions on salaries, police hiring, sewer delinquencies and fleet leases

City of Clifton officials continued a line-by-line review of the 2025 budget at a special council meeting, where members pressed administration for clearer salary totals and asked for reconciliations of multiple trust and revenue accounts.

Finance staff said a recent recalculation of the city’s payroll lines produced roughly $1.1–$1.2 million in credits. "I use the black book because the black book shows all of the salaries, including stipends and everything else that the, longevity for some of the employees," said Joe Kunz, who described the step-by-step reconciliation with department tables of organization and payroll records. Kunz told the council that updating position counts and raises reduced previously reported totals.

Council members discussed policing and the budget gap at length. Administration reported there are 18 open police positions; the budget includes a proposal to hire 14 of them in phased groups tied to academy dates. Staff presented three timing options: not hiring the 14 (about $600,000 in salary savings), hiring and sending recruits to a September academy (about $450,000 in savings), or hiring to get recruits into an earlier academy in May (about $300,000–$350,000 in savings). Finance staff said they modeled the budget assuming hires by May,…