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Northfield mayor says city remained financially stable despite 6-cent tax increase in 2025
Summary
Mayor Chau told the City of Northfield’s reorganization meeting that rising costs led to a 6-cent increase in the local purpose tax in 2025 but highlighted a Double A Minus bond rating, a 98.93% tax collection rate and $377,000 in grant awards supporting local infrastructure and services.
Mayor Chau delivered the City of Northfield’s State of the City at the council’s Jan. 6 reorganization meeting, saying 2025 was "the most difficult budget cycle I can remember, resulting in a 6-cent increase in the local purpose tax." He said officials worked to limit the impact on taxpayers while preserving services.
Chau listed financial metrics to support his assessment: the city operates at "just shy of 29 cents of every tax dollar collected," maintained a Double A Minus bond rating, reported a 98.93% tax collection rate and said total assessed valuation rose by $5.5 million to $885.5 million in 2025. He also reported $377,000 in grant funding for roadway improvements, public safety, recreation, recycling and education.
The mayor highlighted capital and grant-funded projects completed in 2025, including paving of Wabash Avenue and part of Ridgewood Drive, upgrades to the Zion Road sanitary sewer pump station, ADA improvements at the Birch Grove Park bandstand and a replaced roof on the covered bridge at Birch Grove Park funded through the Elliot Krevens Foundation and the Clean Communities Grant. He noted eight new commercial locations opened in 2025 while building-department revenue increased by about 1% over 2024.
Chau emphasized shared services as a cost-saving strategy: Northfield continued shared arrangements for a chief financial officer with the Boro of Folsom, dispatch services with Egg Harbor Township, emergency medical services with the City of Linwood and municipal court with the Town of Hammonton. He said the city also entered shared-service agreements with Atlantic County for speed feedback signs, updated geospatial data for the tax assessor and county-hosted municipal website hosting.
Looking ahead to 2026, Chau outlined objectives including added parking at Birch Grove Park to accommodate potential future courts, rollout of the county-hosted municipal website, new recycled-material trash receptacles along the bike path and continued slip-lining work on sanitary sewers to improve service lines and financial outcomes.
