In a video posted to social media late Friday night, Mayor Emily Jabbour told residents that municipal departments have cut over $1 million in spending, but a tax increase is still unavoidable given the city’s $17 million deficit. Jabbour, who served two terms as a councilwoman at-large before being sworn in as mayor on January 15th, revealed the deficit last month, as HCV first reported. Initial projections pointed to an over 20 percent tax increase.
Key Takeaways:
- Hoboken’s municipal departments have identified over $1 million in budget cuts, but the city’s $17 million deficit still requires a tax increase, according to Mayor Emily Jabbour.
- The city’s population has grown 20% since 2010, adding over 10,000 residents, while its municipal workforce has decreased by 10% and departments dropped from 8 to 6. About 69% of the budget goes to police and fire salaries.
- The Hoboken Board of Education approved a preliminary $104,848,035 budget with a 27% tax hike, and the City Council passed first-reading ordinances to increase parking fees and metered permit costs.
Over $1 Million Cut, But the Deficit Demands More
Jabbour said she asked every single one of her directors from day one to do more with less and to make their departments leaner and more efficient. “We have identified over $1 million in cuts already,” she said in the video. “Across the board, our departments stepped up and found ways to cut their spending from last year by over a million dollars. But here’s the honest truth, even with those cuts, a tax increase is still unavoidable.”
#Hoboken Budget update:
We cut $1M+, but a tax increase is still unavoidable.
Demand is up, and core services won’t be cut.
More soon. pic.twitter.com/dzc1VzDteV
— City of Hoboken (@CityofHoboken) April 11, 2026
She said her team has worked hard to keep the increase as low as possible without cutting the core services that people rely on every day. “Because when you cut core services, you feel it immediately,” Jabbour said. “And let me be clear, we are not going to cut core services. Hard stop.”
Why Layoffs Are Off the Table
Jabbour addressed why the Mile Square City is not looking into layoffs. Since 2010, Hoboken’s population has grown by about 20 percent, an increase of over 10,000 residents. Over that same period, the municipal workforce has decreased by 10 percent, and the city went from eight departments to six. The majority of the current budget, about 69 percent, is related to public safety, specifically police and fire department salaries. Residents, she said, have consistently told the city they want to maintain those services.
“We are serving more residents with fewer people,” Jabbour said. “We are not overstaffed and we are not top heavy. We are not going to lay off our hardworking staff who plow our streets, who clean our parks, who help our children cross the street safely in the morning, and who check our restaurants to make sure they meet all of our health standards.”
“Frankly, we would be in a much worse place without them,” she added. “Our city is growing. Expectations are increasing. And we need to step up to meet the needs of our community. Hoboken is still in the position to have one of the lowest tax rates in all of Hudson County.”
How Hoboken Has Changed Since 2010
Jabbour walked viewers through what Hoboken looked like in 2010 to illustrate how much the city has grown. At that time, Pier C had just opened, and the HOP shuttle had just launched. There was no 1600 Park, no Resilient City Park, no Southwest Park, no Damon Murray Gym, no city bike program, and no pickleball courts. “Today those are real assets that our families rely on every single day,” she said.
Since 2010, Hoboken’s park space has grown by 29 percent, adding 12 acres. Calls for police have gone up 17 percent since 2017. Despite all of that growth, Jabbour said the city’s staff is more streamlined and leaner than ever before.
Board of Education Approves $104.8 Million Budget
The Hoboken Board of Education approved a preliminary budget of $104,848,035 with a 27 percent tax hike at the end of March. That increase would come on top of whatever municipal tax adjustment the City Council passes.
City Council Votes to Raise Parking and Permit Fees
The City Council is also mulling options to raise revenues. At Wednesday’s meeting, the governing body approved several ordinances on first reading to increase parking fees and metered permit costs, among other things.
Jabbour Criticizes Prior Administration’s Budgeting
Jabbour placed part of the responsibility on how the city’s finances were handled before she took office. “For years under the previous administration, the budgets were balanced in a way that was not sustainable,” she said. “Those days are over.”
She said she promised residents transparency from the start and that she would continue to overcommunicate about every aspect of the budget process. “I promised you transparency about how all of this was going to come together, and that’s why I’m continuing to overcommunicate about every aspect of this budget process,” Jabbour said.
She told viewers to be on the lookout for another video the following week, when her administration would share the dates for the budget introduction and her official budget address.
