Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budget And Ordinances topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mayor and council adopt three ordinances and introduce 2025 budget with 3.3% municipal tax increase
Summary
Emerson's governing body on April 1 adopted three ordinances on second reading — covering pay ranges, auxiliary police and tree-removal standards — and introduced the 2025 municipal budget, which proposes a $143 annual increase (about $12/month), funded in part with $2,045,252 in grants; all measures passed by 5–0 roll calls.
Mayor presided over the April 1 meeting and the council adopted three ordinances on second reading and introduced the 2025 municipal budget.
The council voted 5–0 to adopt Ordinance 1698-25 (establishing salary, wage and compensation ranges for borough employees for 2025), Ordinance 1699-25 (establishing chapter 77, article 4 for auxiliary police) and Ordinance 1700-25 (amending chapter 266 on tree removal standards, replacement trees and the tree planting fund). Each ordinance was opened for public comment and closed with no speakers before the roll-call votes.
“This year’s budget continues to focus on improving our borough infrastructure, which includes the annual road paving program and utilizes over $2,045,252 in grants to offset taxes on the borough’s two largest projects,” the mayor said during the budget presentation. The introduced 2025 municipal budget proposes a municipal tax increase of $143 per year — roughly $12 per month on the average home assessed at $440,760 — representing a 3.3% municipal tax increase. Council approved Resolution 115-25 to introduce the budget by a 5–0 roll call. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 6 at 7:30 p.m., and the borough auditor and CFO are expected to attend to answer questions.
The council also introduced an ordinance to exceed municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a cap bank (NJSA 40:44-5-14) on first reading and scheduled its public hearing for April 22.
Consent agenda resolutions (116-25 through 122-25) were adopted by one motion and a 5–0 roll call. The mayor noted that the Ackerman basketball-court contractor corrected construction errors and completed additional work free of charge, bringing the project in several thousand dollars under contract.
What’s next: The budget public hearing on May 6 is the next formal chance for public input on the spending plan. The ordinances adopted are effective per the borough’s ordinance-adoption rules unless otherwise noted in the municipal code.
