Fair Lawn council adopts 2025 municipal budget, introduces multiple ordinances and applies for Avenue of Heroes grant

The Fair Lawn mayor and council on April 22 adopted the borough's 2025 municipal budget after a public hearing and unanimous roll-call vote, and during the same meeting introduced a series of capital and administrative ordinances for public hearing May 20. The council also voted to apply for Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund money for the Avenue of Heroes restoration project.

The budget adoption was preceded by a brief public-comment period during which resident Pamela Coles thanked borough staff and officials for their work compiling the document. "I really want to acknowledge our CFO and auditor and borough manager, because I attended all of the budget meetings, and I know how diligently you worked to have this budget passed," Coles said. The council then voted to adopt Resolution 156b-2025 (the 2025 municipal budget); the roll call recorded all members voting yes.

Why it matters: The municipal budget determines the borough's operating and capital spending for the year and sets the fiscal framework for services residents receive. Council members said the budget process required multiple meetings and close work with finance staff to maintain services in a challenging cost environment.

In other formal actions, the council introduced three Special Improvement District (SID) budgets'Broadway, River Road and Fairlawn Avenue'and set each for public hearing May 20, 2025. The council also introduced multiple ordinances on first reading that, if approved at the May 20…