Passaic council sets reduced rent-cap ordinance for second reading after large public hearing

Passaic City Council voted Aug. 5 to set for second and final reading a proposed amendment to Chapter 2-31 that would reduce the city's allowable annual rent increase from 6% to 3% and address vacancy decontrol, after an extended public hearing that drew dozens of speakers.

The measure, listed as item 44 on the agenda, was put on the Sept. 2 meeting calendar by unanimous roll call after council members said the city and organizers had reached an understanding about details to finalize in the coming days. "What you're going to hear is going to be to set the ordinance down for second and final reading at our meeting of September 2," Council President Schaer said before the roll call.

Tenant advocates, community groups and individual residents told the council that the proposed 3% cap would limit rapid, compounding rent increases that they say are displacing families. "A 3% cap gives people a fighting chance," a representative of Lasos America Unida said, urging the council to "vote yes for decency, justice in a city that values its people." Mitchell Khan of the New Jersey Tenants Organization, who said he helped establish many rent-control laws in the state, called the amendment "long overdue." Antonio Hernandez of Make the Road New Jersey said his family pays about $2,000 a month and asked the council to ensure tenants "live with dignity and respect."

Speakers also described housing conditions and financial strain: a resident said an owner raised her rent from $987 to $2,257, another described mold and flooding that went unrepaired, and several organizers presented figures they said showed eviction filings rising countywide. An organizer and landlord who identified himself as affiliated with Fair Share Housing Center urged the council to act, saying the ordinance "is urgently needed to strengthen Passaic's economic resilience." Several tenants and service providers emphasized that predictable, modest caps help survivors of domestic violence and low-income families maintain access to services and schools.

Not all testimony supported an immediate reduction to 3%. At least one small local owner who identified himself as a landlord urged a "carve out," arguing that taxes and maintenance costs make small, two- or three-unit landlords financially vulnerable. He said some larger apartment complexes generate revenue that allows them to absorb caps more easily. Council members repeatedly reminded speakers to address the ordinance language rather than broader political arguments.

Council members framed the vote taken at the Aug. 5 meeting as scheduling the next step. Council President Schaer said the council had a separate, proposed municipal version of the ordinance "in response to the initiative petition" and that there would be a short period to finalize the bill with the parties involved. The roll-call vote to set item 44 for second and final reading at the Sept. 2 meeting was recorded as: Councilman Monk ' yes; Councilman Love ' yes; Councilwoman Mello ' yes; Councilman Mayer ' yes; Councilman Garcia ' yes; Councilwoman Colombo Montanez ' yes; Council President Schaer ' yes.

The next procedural step is the second and final reading on Sept. 2, when the council may adopt the ordinance, amend it, or send it to a referendum if required by law or by further council action. Supporters said they planned to continue organizing prior to that meeting. Opponents asked the council to consider small-owner carve-outs and to monitor enforcement and maintenance requirements if a lower cap is enacted.