City Council introduced a $56.7-million budget for 2020 that projects an average tax increase of $49, or about 1.37 percent.

Under the plan introduced at the governing body’s March 9 regular meeting, the average municipal tax bill would rise to $3,611, according to an estimate from the finance office, up from $3,562. The municipal tax rate would rise from $2.68 to $2.72 per $100 of assessed value.

The municipal tax levy for 2020 would be almost $38 million, up 1.56 percent from the $37.4 million raised through taxes in the 2019 budget. Municipal taxes make up only a portion of the overall property tax bill, along with school taxes (which are set by the Board of Education) and county taxes (set by the Union County Board Chosen Freeholders).

The budget already has been reviewed and approved by the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA). A public hearing and final adoption of the spending plan is set for the City Council‘s next regular meeting, scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. UPDATED, 4/23: The budget was adopted by an 8-0 vote with no questions or comments from the public or council members. The complete, 82-page budget, obtained via Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request, can be accessed here.

That meeting will in effect be held remotely, with only a couple of people in Council Chambers and the everyone else calling along with a livestream of some kind, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Robert Landolfi. The city clerk’s offce was expected to post a public legal notice for the meeting today. For the public hearing on the budget, there will be a dedicated phone line that citizens can call to comment or question. For the remainder of the public portion of the regular meeting, there will be a dedicated email address.

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, City Hall is closed until May 4 but available by appointment. Landolfi doesn’t expect the response to COVID-19 to impact the municipal budget increase, anticipating that state and federal funds could be made available. “It makes more sense at this time to adopt an operating budget, commence operations against that, and see what transpires in terms of relief,” he said. Reimbursements would be ideal, he added, but “let’s wait and see how it plays out.”

There will be increased expenses related to COVID-19 and may get significant, Landolfi said, but it’s nothing like the response to Hurricane Sandy in 2013 or any emergency he’s be associated with. Much of the added expenses at this point are buying cleaning and sanitizing supplies, personal protective equipment, and some overtime or hiring replacements for employees who are out. “In a traditional sense, the model where government masses resources, equipment and people, and throws it at a problem — that isn’t the model that you’re following here,” Landolfi said in a telephone interview today.