Hoboken City Council To Adopt 2011 Budget

The Hoboken City Council will cast its final vote in what has been a series of back-and-forths with the state, public meetings and changed amendments.

On the agenda for Wednesday's meeting is a resolution to adopt the 2011 budget. There will be a public hearing before the vote.

The biggest point of contention in the roughly $106 million budget is the amount of the cash surplus.

Last month, Councilwoman Beth Mason—then serving as council president—introduced a resolution, zeroing out the cash surplus, with the goal of returning that money to the tax payers.

The state, however, , leaving the amendment to the budget meaningless (a budget can't be adopted or amended by a city council before the state approves it).

In the meantime, power shifted on the city council, returning the majority to the hands of Mayor Dawn Zimmer. Zimmer has said that the city needs a cash surplus for unexpected costs. One such cost will likely be the back pay to Hoboken's fire fighters, whose contracts expired three years ago.

During the last council meeting, the new majority . The municipal tax levy in this budget went down by 3.6 percent, according to Finance Director Nick Trasente.

A final vote, adopting the budget, will be held on Wednesday. It's expected to pass, with at least the five majority council members voting in favor.