LIVINGSTON, NJ — A vote on Livingston’s 2026 municipal budget has been delayed due to some new information from the state, officials say.
The budget was introduced at the town council meeting on April 6, with plans to hold a public hearing on May 12.
A brief public hearing took place Tuesday as previously scheduled. However, the hearing will be continued at the town council meeting on May 26.
“We got some late feedback from the state, and we have to incorporate that feedback into the budget,” Mayor Shawn Klein explained.
Town manager Barry Lewis said Livingston introduced its budget on time and sent it to state officials for review. However, the town didn’t get their comments back until late last week – leaving administers without enough time to respond.
“Once we do resolve the issues and comments with the state, we’ll then be in a position to either adopt the budget as introduced, or if the state comments require any amendments, we would do so – and if necessary, would provide additional notice if required by law,” Lewis said.
Watch meeting footage here, or view it below.
HOMEOWNER IMPACT, PROPERTY VALUES
The town’s latest spending plan was brought up again at the council’s April 27 meeting.
Lewis said there are no plans to exceed the 2 percent state cap on a tax levy increase this budget cycle.
“Astronomical” increases to health insurance – a complaint that many other local government officials have been making in New Jersey – are among the rising expenditures that Livingston has had to cope with this year, Lewis said.
Exact figures on the expected tax impact for local homeowners weren’t given at the meeting. Patch recently reached out to Livingston township administrators seeking more details; we will update this article with any reply we receive.
During public comment, a speaker said that some Livingston homeowners have recently seen large jumps in their property values. Councilman Edward Meinhardt spoke to this concern, saying that rising home values can be a positive development.
“I think that a lot of people would be very much upset in this town if the housing values had decreased by 50 percent instead of increasing by 50 percent,” Meinhardt said.
“I think one of the reasons why you see the housing values go so far is because of the great school systems that we have,” he said, adding that Livingston’s reputation as a “safe town” that is “great to live in” are also factors.
“I personally am glad that my housing values have gone up,” he said.
A longtime Livingston resident also commented on rising local home values at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“Every time you see a house, you turn around the next day and it’s being torn down and being rebuilt twice the size – which means your tax revenue is twice the revenue,” she told the council. “So I would like to think that the council could manage to live within its means and to not raise the tax rate.”
The town’s mayor replied that her comments were a “wonderful sentiment,” but there are fiscal realities that Livingston has been forced to struggle with – including a 30 percent year-over-year increase in the cost of health care insurance.
“There are always genuine struggles in trying to keep taxes down as much as we have,” Klein said.
“I think for every year that I've been on the council… any tax increase has been below the rate of inflation, which means that in real dollars, the town government has gotten smaller,” he added. “So we have done what you’re saying – even if the number looks like it’s gone up a little bit, it’s not going up as high as inflation almost every year. And that means that actually, we’re spending less money.”
Lewis also replied to the comment, saying that although Livingston does see an increase to ratables every year, every house in town is not “being torn down and replaced.”
“That may only be 5 percent of them in any given year,” he said. “So while there is an increase, it’s not double the taxes.”
Lewis said Livingston has been vigilant in trying to minimize tax increases for homeowners over the eight years he has been town manager.
“I’m always proud to point out that we have the second-lowest municipal tax rate of any of the towns in all of Essex County – and we’re getting closer and closer to being number one,” he said.
TAXES IN LIVINGSTON
Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county.
The Livingston Board of Education unanimously voted to approve the 2026-2027 school budget in April. The spending plan includes several cuts, in addition to a $478 annual tax increase for a homeowner with a property assessed at $738,359.
In 2025, the average Livingston resident paid $18,465 in property taxes on a home valued at $729,727 (not including credits and deductions). Here’s how that broke down last year, according to state data:
>> READ MORE: Average Livingston Property Tax Tops $18K: See Latest 5-Year Breakdown
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