Jersey City is facing a serious financial crisis. Mayor James Solomon says his administration discovered a $255 million budget deficit after taking office in January — roughly 28% of the city's entire budget. His proposed solution: a 20% property tax increase that would hit homeowners and, inevitably, renters across the city.

We understand that a deficit of this size demands urgent action. But a 20% tax hike is not the only path — and it should not be the first one.

Working-class families in Jersey City are already stretched thin. A 20% jump in property taxes would raise rents, squeeze homeowners, and push some residents out of the city entirely. Before the Jersey City Council votes to approve this increase, we are calling on them to exhaust every other option.

That means demanding a full, transparent accounting of how this deficit was created and by whom. It means aggressively pursuing the approximately $120 million in state aid that Mayor Solomon himself has acknowledged is available. It means identifying budget cuts and efficiencies before passing the bill to residents. And it means, if some tax increase ultimately proves unavoidable, phasing it in gradually — not imposing a 20% shock all at once.

"It's going to be uncomfortable for households on the edge," said political strategist Marc Pfeiffer, who has spent nearly four decades working in New Jersey politics. That discomfort is real, and it falls hardest on the people who can least afford it.

The Jersey City Council has the power to say no — or at least not yet.
Sign this petition to urge the council to reject the 20% property tax hike and demand a fairer, more transparent path to fiscal recovery.