A dispute over the cause of Jersey City’s budget crisis has spilled into public view, with Mayor James Solomon and former Mayor Steven Fulop directly contradicting each other over whether the city ever faced the deficit at the center of this year’s tax increase.
The clash follows the City Council’s adoption of the 2026 budget on August 26, which raised the city’s portion of property taxes by about 15%. Solomon has said the increase was needed to close a $255 million deficit he says he inherited from Fulop’s administration.
In a lengthy statement posted to his Substack, Solomon defended the budget as “the right decision for the long-term health of our city” and said the crisis was “hidden through slick messaging and deceptive budgeting” under his predecessor. He said his finance team identified a $255 million gap between expenses and revenues, and that the figure was confirmed by the city’s independent auditor and by Moody’s, which downgraded the city’s credit in December 2025…