The big event this week, of course, is Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping related events that follow. But before that happens, there is a public hearing and a meeting that merit attention.
- On Monday, November 24, Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a public hearing on the law extending the lodging tax. The hearing takes place at 4:00 p.m., in person only, at City Hall.
- On Wednesday, November 26, at 6:00 p.m., on the eve of a holiday, the Common Council holds a special meeting to vote on the proposed budget for 2026. There are those in the community who don't want the Council to approve the budget because it eliminates two full-time positions in the Youth Department, and there are others who don't want the budget approved because it is not a balanced budget: there is a gap of close to $400,000 between anticipated revenues and expenses. Also, it raises property taxes by 3.9 percent. It will be interesting to see how members of the Council vote. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
- On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 28, 29, and 30, it is Basilica Farm & Flea Holiday Market. The market is open from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. each day at Basilica Hudson, 110 South Front Street. Click here for more information.
- On Saturday, November 29--Small Business Saturday--the Hudson Farmers' Market opens at its winter location in the Hudson Elks Lodge, 201 Harry Howard Avenue. The market is open from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Click here for more information.
If the Common Council votes down the Mayor’s 2026 budget it is not he end of the world.
ReplyDeleteState law is simple (though defer to Friedman and other legal eagles). Doesn't the 2025 budget simply roll over. No 3.9% tax hike on taxpayers. No new spending spree. Police, fire, DPW, City Hall and debt service stay funded at current levels.
Everything else sits on ice.
That is not chaos. That is clarity.
A contingency budget would finally force City Hall to do the boring, grown-up work the mayor has dodged for years, like collecting the millions in unpaid taxes, parking tickets and other receivables. Collect the money before you spend it. Old school.
It would stop the habit of raiding reserves to paper over permanent gaps.
It would give the next administration a clean balance sheet instead of another “one-time fix” duct-taped over a structural deficit.
Hudson does not need more can kicking down Warren Street. Until City Hall / BEA is willing to make trade-offs, there will be no cure.
https://www.hudsoncommonsense.com/2025budgetdeficit
Friendly reminder that under Kamal and Tom Hudson spent:
~ $125k unbudgeted on Oakdale matching grant
~ $225k on the Michelle Tullo managed and now unusable "Comprehensive Survey"
~ $100k plus on the unused parking kiosks
The deficit could have been covered by avoiding these expense errors, or A) collecting parking tickets or B) collecting millions in delinquent and late taxes.
If City of Hudson taxpayers to have to pay a 3.9% increase in taxes, because Mayor Johnson and the Common Council could not balance the City budget, the burden will impact renters, property owners and businesses. For those owners, who have had to take out loans, put in hundreds of hours of sweat, blood and tears to renovate a derelict property, while working to materialize vision as small business owners, with no generational wealth, no special treatment granted to non profits and corporations: it hurts. What also hurts, is the rampant disengagement of city government from its tax payers: the recent example is Planning Board head, T Joyner’s willful disregard for public input, to safeguard public health by limiting Colarusso’s mining operations within our City limits. No need to bring in any experts before making a major change to how Colarusso is going to be operating, i.e. without limitations to increase polluting truck and dock operations. This is Mayor Kamal Johnson’s legacy. His Planning Board has all the answers, since they have Colarusso’s lawyer to direct their every move. It is our health, with zero monitoring, that will bear the burden. We can thank Mayor Kamal for increased taxation without representation, and for increasing harm to our community from environmental pollution. Rents will rise to cover taxes. We will bear the burden of the trust we put in him. I agree the budget should not be passed unless it is balanced.
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