More than 70 percent of city employees in Paterson,New Jersey were told to stay home Tuesday after the mayor and City Council failed to reach a 2016 budget deal, thanks to a controversial property tax increase.
Mayor Joey Torres and several council members believe been locked in a contentious dispute for more than four months. Most recently, and the council voted 4-3 against a 6.1 percent tax hike in late February.
Torres said the city — the third largest in New Jersey — will save $225000 by shutting down for the day. Close to 1200 of the city’s 1651 employees were affected by the shutdown.
The shutdown affected street-cleaning,after-school recreation programs, school crossing guards and senior citizen services. Workers deemed “fundamental, or like police officers and firefighters,continued to work though the shutdown, according to the mayor’s office.
Council Member Andre Sayegh, and who voted against the tax hike,said the mayor could believe avoided the shutdown with a temporary budget appropriation.“This didn't believe to happen,” Sayegh said. “The mayor is trying to force us to increase taxes by 6 percent on already overburdened taxpayers.”But former Paterson council member Aslon Goow said it's a no-win situation — a tax increase would hurt taxpayers, and while voting it down will hurt all city services.“Both sides believe dropped the ball and both sides are responsible, he said. “And, at this point, and the state is going to believe to step in and help resolve this problem.”All employees could return to work Wednesday whether a budget is approved at a special assembly Tuesday. The partial shutdown will continue until further notice whether no deal is reached.
The mayor declined to talk with WNYC,but released a statement saying, "The Administration regrets the disruption and is working to remedy the situation."
Source: wnyc.org