Salary, Wage Increases For Hillsborough Employees Debated By Township Committee

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — There was much discussion at the Tuesday night Township Committee meeting surrounding a resolution to establish the 2026 salaries and wages for municipal employees.

Committeeman Robert Britting noted that the resolution was specific to directors of various township departments, including engineering, parks, finance, and others.

"As it relates to the overall budget for Hillsborough Township, this accounts for about $3.20 per resident over an entire year. So this is a very small number for the overall Township of our budget," said Britting at the meeting. "It helps us keep good talent, and we have some great directors here, and we really appreciate all the work that you do."

Committeewoman Jill Gomez was not as enthusiastic about the resolution, citing her concerns with the Township's budget.

"As I've begun to dig into our finances, I'm increasingly concerned about the state of our budget," said Gomez. "As we look ahead to 2026, I've met with our CFO several times to review our debt levels, our depleted fund balance, and we share serious concerns about how we will continue to fund the day-to-day operations of this town."

Gomez questioned how the Township Committee could approve the raises and be confident that the Township could cover these increases before the 2026 budget was established.

"I was told that layoffs might be necessary. I do not want to be in a position where we need to lay people off," said Gomez. "I think that would be very unfortunate. I want to ensure that we are being fiscally responsible in every decision that we make so that we do not have to cut personnel or the essential services that our residents rely on."

Township Administrator Anthony Ferrera noted that "the last thing we want to do is obviously lay employees off."

Ferrera said the Township has been working with all of the unions and contracts to try to maintain employees, "knowing that the insurance went up about 29 percent this year."

"So no matter what increase my employees receive this year, they will receive less money in their salary this year versus last year because of that. So everybody's working together so we can avoid layoffs. That's the goal," said Ferrera.

Committeewoman Samantha Hand echoed Gomez's concerns and suggested changing the timeline on when salaries were approved.

"I know this is the third year in a row I feel like I've said this from the dais. It is still amazing to me that we are making decisions, providing raises, and spending money before we know what our budget will be for the year," said Hand. "I would encourage, as we move forward, we should absolutely consider a slightly different schedule. We could do March to March something to where we actually know what we have from a revenue standpoint before we spend money."

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lipani noted that most of the salary increases are contractual based on unions.

"This increase, which you can't control, is based on union contracts. The part that is discretionary, if you want to say, is very minute, I think," said Lipani. "It's roughly less than $100,000."

"The Township runs because of the quality of the people in this building. So if you start taking away services, parks, DPW, police, engineering, which does our roads, tax assessors, planning. So you're actually hurting the residents of the township, which to me is shortsighted," said Lipani.

"So yes, money is money. But this building, the people in this building are doing the essential services that this community needs and deserves, and what makes people come to Hillsborough," said Lipani. "So in my opinion, the return on investment in our people far exceeds what I think what most people in the audience want. They like to come here and have a nice park that they can take their children to. Safe roads."

For reference, Ferrera also noted that Somerset County had also given its employees the same raise on Jan. 1 as Hillsborough has in its resolution.

"Every town except two that responded in Somerset County has already given their employees the same or higher raise as of Jan. 1. So, I just want to make sure that it's not like we're just doing this, and nobody else is. This is very common," said Ferrera.

Hand suggested that if they were going to compare Hillsborough to other towns, they should look at what surplus they have.

"I think when we look at our town... the piggy bank is empty, right? So, we are running very thin," said Hand. "I think that's where the concern and the discomfort is coming from."

Ultimately, the resolution passed. Hand voted in favor of the resolution with the comment of "unfortunately." Gomez also approved the resolution stating that these raises were established before she took office.

See the resolution establishing the 2026 salaries and wages for municipal employees below:

2026 Salary Resolution by Alexis Tarrazi

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.