PARSIPPANY, NJ — After several residents expressed concerns about Parsippany’s 2026 municipal budget, specifically with regard to a whopping 9.59 percent tax hike, town officials are reevaluating their options.
During Tuesday night’s council meeting, Mayor Pulkit Desai said that “after careful review,” an amended budget will reflect a reduced tax hike.
The town’s finance team evaluated several different options for lowering the tax hike, ranging from as little as a 2.5 percent hike to an 8.25 percent hike, the latter of which the administration recommends. However, the reduced tax hike options come with varying cuts to programs and positions.
“My responsibility is not just to get through this year, it’s to fix the problem, and to build a strong foundation,” Desai said. “I anticipate that next year the conversation will be ‘how we move forward because we corrected the problem this year’ and how we are fixing problems that were never fixed or ignored.”
The 8.25 percent hike, which the township will likely adopt, would cut the following (it should be noted that the positions listed are currently vacant):
"What I'm proposing is only eliminating the current (vacant) positions and the improvement fund going down to $500,000 from $1 million,” Desai said. “Everything else stays. You will have the services. We have a huge plan to fix all the roads, you know, parks, uh, every service that you're getting, garbage collection, sanitation, coming here to town hall...everything continues. We're not sacrificing services."
Another option, which would reflect a 7.78 percent tax hike, would not only slash what’s listed above, but also all of Parsippany’s summer programs. This would mean that layoffs take place due to the lack of need for summer employees, such as camp managers and counselors.
“I’m personally very against cutting the summer programs, partially because, if we’re going to speak about affordability, our summer camp is a major affordability point for parents in the summer when you’re looking at child care,” said Council Vice President Diya Patel. “Our summer camp is about $875 to $900 for the eight-week period, versus private summer camps in the area, which range about $300 to $400 per week. So parents save a lot with our summer camp.”
Patel added that the cuts to summer recreation programs would include some of the town’s favorite celebrations (including the July 4th celebration), which help “create such a Parsippany that we have, that’s so diverse, and so open, and welcoming.”
The last two options, which would reflect a 4.64 percent hike and a 2.98 percent hike, respectively, would result in “major” layoffs to full-time employees and slashes to dozens of programs.
“Let me be clear, I’m human. No mayor walks into the office and wants to raise taxes. Not me. Not anyone sitting here,” Desai said. “Leadership is making the hard calls now, so this town is stronger, more stable, and more predictable in the years ahead. I’m not doing this because it’s easy, I’m doing it because it’s right.”
The budget was not adopted during the Tuesday meeting, only unanimously amended to reflect the tax hike reduction. The budget will be adopted officially on a later date.
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