Newark Council OKs Revised Budget, Boosting Library Funding

NEWARK — A revised budget approved by City Council on Friday includes additional funding for public safety buildings and the public library, bringing total spending to $968.151 million, according to the business administrator, and will mean a tax increase of $216.68 for a home at the average assessed value.

The updated spending plan, approved by a unanimous vote, followed an outpouring of public support earlier this month, including a rally that drew over 100 people seeking added library funding.

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The budget increases public safety dollars by about $20 million and provides about $1.066 million in additional funding for the public library, Business Administrator Eric Pennington told the council. Total spending has increased 14.1% over last year’s budget , which put spending at $848.279 million.

“The police buildings are now online and so, as reflected in this budget, there are rents now that we’re going to have to pay for those,” Pennington said. “We also got a $22 million interest-free loan from the state to offset some unanticipated expenses with respect to monies that we have to pay to the county.”

The public safety buildings include the newly constructed police and fire training facility called the William Mobile Ashby Community Care and Training Center, along with a ballistics lab, evidence and storage facility and a traffic facility housing horses and motorcycles, according to Pennington.

The budget benefits from an increase of about $200 million from assessments of new development – such as warehouses and other buildings, according to Pennington. Under the new budget, the average assessed home value has increased to $190,335 from $189,640, according to budget records.

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COST PER HOME: The tax rate rises 2.31% to $3.814 per $100 of assessed valuation, budget documents show. Based on this rate, a home assessed at the new average value of $190,335 will pay $7,259.38 in taxes to the city, which is an increase of $216.68. This does not include taxes paid to the county or school district, which in March raised its taxes for the first time in three years.

City spending on the Newark Public Library increased to $11.975 million, records show. The increase of $1.066 million is less than the $2.5 million the library initially requested but is more than the flat funding the administration proposed in the introduced spending plan .

“The city was in opposition to giving the $2.5 million,” Councilman Carlos Gonzalez, chairman of the budget committee, said following the meeting. “We fought to try to give them something, not what they requested, but something that we could afford and that’s what we gave them.”

In spending for police and fire services, Gonzalez discussed care.

“Those two areas we need to be very, very careful with in terms of providing the necessary funding,” he said. “The city’s growing and the city may stop growing if the crime rate is not controlled, so we have to be careful that we provide enough funding.”

Approval of the additional dollars for the Newark Public Library met with the approval of the Newark Public Library’s workers union, AFSCME Local 2298, which had urged the council to support the public library after historic funding cuts.

“We really thank you for taking our concerns seriously,” Beth Zak-Cohen, president of Local 2298 said. “The library benefits the community in a whole lot of ways.”

This includes programming for immigrants, including classes for English as a second language, Zak-Cohen said.

“The historic archives, which is where I work, are unique to the entire country,” she said. “There are so many benefits to the whole community, and we appreciate that you found money to put toward the library this year.”

Previous Coverage

• 6 Months Behind, Newark Council Gives First OK to $914.5M Budget
• Crumbling Buildings, Understaffing Prompt Newark Library’s $2.5M Ask
• Newark Public Safety Spending Increases, Staffing Flat

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