Montclair Town Budget Has Potential Tax Hike (See The Latest Numbers)

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Town Council held a public workshop for the proposed 2024 municipal budget on Wednesday evening.

If the budget crosses the finish line as written, it will come with a 2.96 percent tax increase for the municipal portion of a homeowner's tax bill. That would mean an increase of $140 for a property assessed at $635,800, according to figures presented at the meeting.

Watch footage from the May 29 budget hearing below, or view it online here. You can view the proposed budget online here.

Interim town manager Michael Lapolla led a presentation on the town's spending plan, sharing the following figures:

• Revenues and appropriations come to $102.8 million in the proposed budget, up 1.17 percent from last year
• The town, like others across the nation, will no longer get pandemic-era federal American Rescue Plan Act funds (Montclair saw $2.01 million in 2023)
• The budget utilizes $8 million in surplus funds to help lower the tax impact
• Payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) revenue dropped from $6.07 million in 2023 to $5.86 million in 2024

The budget was introduced on May 13. Final adoption of the municipal budget is scheduled for the council meeting on June 11. See Related: Montclair Town Council Introduces Budget, Discusses PILOTs

TAXES IN MONTCLAIR

Property taxes in New Jersey are mainly made up of three parts: school, municipal and county. Here’s how that played out in Montclair for 2023, according to state data:

• School – 56.8%
• Municipal – 26.1%
• County – 17.1%

Earlier this month, the Montclair Board of Education voted to approve the district's 2024-2025 school budget, which keeps the tax increase to the 2 percent cap and doesn't contain any staff cuts. Read More: Montclair School Budget Passes Final Vote From Board

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