Newark Mayor Spars With South Jersey Senator Over City's Finances

NEWARK, NJ — A lawmaker from South Jersey says the Garden State needs to pump the brakes on tens of millions of dollars in funding that is headed Newark’s way – a statement that the city’s mayor says is “riddled with falsehoods and mischaracterizations.”

Sen. Michael Testa, a Republican from the 1st district, penned a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday outlining his argument. Read it online here.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat who ran for governor in the primary election, wrote a response to Testa’s letter, which can be seen online here.

Here’s what both elected officials had to say:

TESTA: ‘SHOVELING MONEY AT NEWARK’

Testa said that the Murphy administration should place the city under state oversight, arguing that it was “gifted” $22 million last year by New Jersey to help it “prop up a profligate and unbalanced budget” – and stands to get another $30 million for this fiscal year.

“The grant was disingenuously labeled a ‘loan’ to circumvent a statutory requirement that municipalities receiving grants to address unbalanced budgets must be placed under state oversight,” Testa claimed.

“Not surprisingly, the city is defaulting in its first required repayment of the ‘loan,’” the senator said. “It should be clear they have no intention of ever repaying it.”

Now, the city is being promised another $30 million for its current budget – which would allow Newark to end the year in deficit “without the fiscal restraint or a massive property tax increase,” Testa said.

• See Related: Newark Advances $970M City Budget With Potential Tax Increase

The senator argued that Newark is being “treated with kid gloves” and is “unlawfully being allowed to circumvent the same rules everyone else must follow.”

Meanwhile, other towns and cities are dealing with cuts to state aid, Testa continued.

“In my own district, Millville lost $440,250 and Vineland City lost $644,737,” he wrote. “They made hard decisions to balance their budgets. Other municipalities that sought special assistance were required to apply for transitional aid, await merit-based decisions/awards, and agree to first obtain state approval for hires and contracts.”

“If you look the other way while Newark doesn’t repay its outstanding loan and dole out another $30 million without supervision, the financial mess will worsen for the next governor,” Testa urged in his letter to Murphy. “Unless he or she has made a special deal with Newark to continue the favoritism, the end to slashing everyone else’s municipal aid while shoveling money at Newark will come to an end.”

“I sincerely hope the right thing is done sooner rather than later,” Testa added.

BARAKA: ‘PETTY AND UNINFORMED’

Newark’s mayor disputed Testa’s claims in an op-ed posted to Insider NJ, writing that the senator’s statement was “so filled with falsehoods and mischaracterizations, it’s hard to know where to start.”

“As a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee it’s alarming that Sen. Testa doesn’t know the difference between ‘gifts’ and loans, or how property revaluations can create havoc on municipal finances, especially in Newark where property values have grown astronomically,” Baraka said.

According to Baraka, the money that Newark has been receiving from the state is not a “gift” – they’re loans that the city will use to cover increased costs to Essex County due to increased property assessments.

The mayor said the first agreement is for a six-year, $22 million loan with zero percent interest. The second is a bridge loan for $30 million that will be paid back in six months, also with zero percent interest.

“The reason for these loans is not because Newark finances have ‘run amuck’ as Testa falsely charges in his letter to the governor, but because the city’s county tax levy grew by $30 million since 2023,” Baraka argued.

“Without these loans, we would have to increase taxes on our residential homeowners by 30 percent, impossible in a city where the average annual income is $36,000,” the mayor added.

According to U.S. Census data, the median household income in Millville is $67,190. The median household income in Vineland City is $65,854.

“Sen. Testa has never been a mayor, but he represents a New Jersey district which includes three working class cities of Bridgeton, Millville and Vineland,” Baraka wrote. “He should have a better understanding of our issues in Newark, rather than make claims that our city is guilty of 'notorious waste.'”

“The language throughout the letter is petty and uninformed,” the mayor concluded. “I invite Sen. Testa to help my city and the cities in his district, raise wages, build affordable housing and reduce the tax burden on working families.”

• See Related: Property Tax Revaluation In Newark: Will Your Share Rise Or Fall?

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