Divided Hillsborough Committee Reduces, Approves Emergency Funds

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Second time is the charm. After much discussion and some reductions, the Hillsborough Township Committee approved its emergency temporary appropriation on Wednesday night.

"We made amendments reducing the appropriations by almost a quarter of a million dollars. And even today, we are still making further amendments to make sure that we had enough funds to pay for the snow plowing payments that would be due soon," said Committeewoman Jill Gomez at the Special Township Committee meeting. "Our residents and taxpayers in Hillsborough have the right to full accounting and to make sure there is discussion on how their taxpayer dollars are being spent."

The resolution approved unanimously by the Township Committee called for $5.1 million in emergency temporary appropriations. This is a reduction from the $5.3 million proposed last week and failed in a vote.

Committeewomen Samantha Hand and Gomez, both Democrats, voted against the resolution, while Mayor Catherine Payne, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lipani, and Committeeman Robert Britting, all Republicans, voted for authorizing emergency temporary appropriations before the adoption of the 2026 Budget.

The resolution required a two-thirds vote to pass.

Britting questioned why out of the $250,000 cut in the temporary funding, $200,000 came from police operating expenses.

Gomez said that the line item for police was initially $400,000, and when she spoke to the Township CFO, she was told that $290,000 was left in as a buffer, but it is not needed now.

Britting asked if Gomez spoke with Police Chief Michael McMahon before deciding to cut funding, and she replied she had not.

"The reality is the chief should determine what he needs, and as the committeewoman just stated that she didn't even talk to him before taking this out of the budget. That is irresponsible. So that's defunding the police," said Britting.

Lipani agreed that the Township should always look prudently at what the line items are included in the emergency appropriations, however, he added that "these are not, and I think the mayor just said, these aren't additional taxes. This isn't discretionary spending. This is basically keeping our line items funded in an appropriate way that we don't have to come back and do this every other week or every three weeks."

Lipani added that "the CFO added monies to the line items that would allow us to get through the budgeting process... Though we have taken some of these light items out today, I am more than confident probably we may have to be back and revisit this in a week to two weeks to reappropriate some of the things that come out."

Gomez argued that the Township Committee should be taking the time to look closely at what is being spent and "not simply rubber-stamping without having all the information needed to make an informed vote."

"We also believe that our taxpayers should have more opportunity to fully understand and ask questions about these temporary emergency appropriations," said Gomez. "Right now, our Township Committee agendas and the documentation that supports it is only available a few hours before our Township Committee meetings. This is just simply not enough time to review, especially something as important and as detailed as this last resolution."

Resident Jodi Green thanked Gomez and Hand for voting no to the resolution last week and "demanding on the public's behalf that greater transparency become the norm for approval of these temporary emergency funds. While ultimately these appropriations may be found to be necessary, it would be impossible to know with the limited information provided at the last meeting, with just two hours to review and digest their potential impact."

Hand was not present at the meeting due to being overseas in a different time zone for work. However, she did request to be able to attend virtually through Zoom, which the Township said was not possible.

"We don't have a precedent for it, and we felt that it would be better off if we had some kind of like rigor around that and ruling. We don't have any of that today," said Payne.

Township Clerk Sarah Brake also added that Hillsborough doesn't "actually have the technology in this room to have a two-way Zoom."

While some residents sided with Gomez and Hand, former Committeeman John Ciccarelli accused Gomez and Hand of politicizing their no vote.

"I think it was a bit of a charade. The township is an open book. I know there's a discussion about transparency and whatnot. The Township Committee is an award-winning township committee for transparency," said Ciccarelli.

Ciccarelli added that the committee should have a unified front instead of "the divisive actions and innuendos of mismanagement that have attempted to undermine the township committee and the administration and the staff who does all the work... I think this no-vote is an example of misinformed and gross mismanagement of municipal leadership."

Assemblyman Roy Freiman and a Hillsborough resident also spoke during the public comment, saying that while everyone has the same goals to better the Township, there will be differing opinions.

"I think that's part of the process and I think disagreement can be healthy and can be a part of the process as well," said Freiman.

He added his disappointment over a video shared by Payne last week.

"Taking Township resources to produce a video about the process seems reasonable. It seems appropriate, educated. But condemning votes is outside the scope and inappropriate and wrong to condemn because that's opinion," said Freiman. "That's inappropriate, and that's where it's outside and abusing the role of what a mayor can do."

Payne noted the Committee's primary responsibility as a governing body is to ensure the contiguous and effective operation of the Township.

"To do that, we must fulfill our financial obligations ranging from payroll to our for our employees to paying the vendors who keep our infrastructure running. At our last meeting, the CFO provided an emergency temporary appropriation that he deems necessary to run our township. Two votes were against it. This is not an authorization for new spending, nor is it a request for a loan or a tax increase. This vote is to bridge from the temporary budget appropriations to the final budget adoption, which has yet to be determined," said Payne.

"Tonight, we vote again, and my hope is that we can move forward with a unified voice to ensure that our township stays on track, our employees are paid, our essential services remain uninterrupted, and our bills stay paid until the full budget is finalized," continued Payne. "This is about responsible fiscal management, plain and simple."

The resolution was ultimately passed by Payne, Lipani, Britting and Gomez.

Previous Reporting:

• Political Divisiveness Erupts In Hillsborough Over $5.3M Temporary Budget Increase
• Hillsborough Committee To Try Approving Emergency Temporary Funds For A Second Time

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