Boonton mayor lays out 2025 priorities, including rental inspections, transit-village pre-application and veterans banner program

The mayor opened Boontons annual reorganization meeting by reviewing 2024 accomplishments and laying out the towns priorities for 2025, including a rental-license inspection program, a pending transit-village pre-application meeting, a new green team and a veterans banner program.

The mayor said the council aims to limit tax increases and cited last years budget result as evidence of that approach. "It has been our practice during my time on the board to always try to deliver a tax increase under 2%. And under the leadership of finance personnel administration chair Weissman, we did that last year," the mayor said.

Why it matters: the priorities cover both ongoing operational steps (employee performance reviews and stepped-up code enforcement) and multi-year planning (a transit-village designation that could affect development and transportation planning). The mayor described the rental-license inspection program as intended to address safety concerns and reduce burdens on town services.

Details the mayor highlighted include: instituting employee performance reviews, forming a green team to advise on environmental policy, and moving forward on transit-village work with a scheduled pre-application meeting. The mayor also said the council initiated a rental-license inspection program to respond to safety issues and persistent complaints about certain rental properties.

The mayor described an ongoing banner program to honor veterans and said the town has raised funds to deploy banners for 73 veterans killed in action; officials asked residents to help by confirming missing details (dates of birth and ranks) for some names so banners can be completed by Memorial Day.

On a contentious local item, the mayor said the town hired a consultant with experience in more than 500 community theaters nationwide to analyze whether a local theater can be economically self-sustaining. "The consultant will be presenting their initial facts shortly, sometime in January. It's not going to be a sales pitch. It's going to be facts so we can all make informed decisions," the mayor said.

The mayor also announced that a planned proclamation recognizing lifelong resident Edith Petta on her 100th birthday was canceled after her death; the council observed a moment of silence.

Next steps: the consultants initial presentation on the theater is expected in January; the town will continue work on the transit-village pre-application and expects to implement the rental-inspection program and green-team recommendations during 2025.