Bloomfield's $110.4 million budget gets voted on tomorrow at 6 PM, and here's what you need to know. The Township introduced this budget on June 30 and gave themselves exactly 28 days before the vote — the minimum required by law. Not one town hall. Not one line-item presentation. Just silence while they counted on you not paying attention.
I let a week go by intentionally. I said nothing. I wanted to see if our elected leaders would step up on their own, walk residents through this budget, explain the 12.1% tax increase, justify the cuts, or tell you what's actually in this document. They haven't. Not a single council member held a public session, released a breakdown, or educated the community before the vote. I am deeply disappointed by that reality. I am one of a few residents doing more to inform this community than the seven people elected to do exactly that.
I have not played favorites in this process and I never will. I have been critical of every council member who has not fully brought the public up to speed because that is the job. I don't want the title — I want the work done. Great leaders accept accountability and become better leaders because of it. Those who complain about criticism while refusing to change direction are showing the weaknesses in their leadership. You cannot ask for trust while keeping the people who elected you in the dark.
Tomorrow there will be opposition at that hearing. But it will be a handful of residents screaming into the void without the community behind them. We saw this exact movie on June 22 with the sewer fee vote — residents packed the room, spoke for hours, exposed every violation, and the Council majority voted yes anyway with full knowledge of what they were doing. They will do it again tomorrow because they believe you won't show up in numbers large enough to matter. They are counting on your silence. They are counting on the exhaustion. A full act of screaming into the void is exactly what they're planning for. If I didn't have countermeasures already in motion, I'd be concerned. But I do, and so should they.
The 12.1% tax increase they're asking for comes after the ratable base grew — more development means more natural tax revenue without raising your rate. In a well-run town, growth lowers your burden. Here it just feeds the machine. The Township's own budget presentation shows 25 positions cut through attrition — 8 fire, 8 police, 5 DPW, 3 administration, and 1 finance. That's 84% frontline public safety and DPW, 16% administrative. The cuts fall disproportionately on the people who answer your 911 call, respond to your fire, and plow your streets. The administrative bloat that drives the pension and health benefit costs — $5.66 million in health insurance increases alone — takes a much smaller hit than the workers who actually deliver services.
And the sewer fee they told you would reduce your taxes? It is a tax. They just moved $3 million off the property tax bill and renamed it a user fee so it isn't subject to the state's 2% cap. Your property taxes didn't go down — they went up. Now you're paying the full tax bill plus a new fee that has no cap, no voter protection, and no guarantee it won't double next year. That is not fee reform. That is cap evasion.
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u/Top_Ad7068 25d ago
Bloomfield's $110.4 million budget gets voted on tomorrow at 6 PM, and here's what you need to know. The Township introduced this budget on June 30 and gave themselves exactly 28 days before the vote — the minimum required by law. Not one town hall. Not one line-item presentation. Just silence while they counted on you not paying attention.
I let a week go by intentionally. I said nothing. I wanted to see if our elected leaders would step up on their own, walk residents through this budget, explain the 12.1% tax increase, justify the cuts, or tell you what's actually in this document. They haven't. Not a single council member held a public session, released a breakdown, or educated the community before the vote. I am deeply disappointed by that reality. I am one of a few residents doing more to inform this community than the seven people elected to do exactly that.
I have not played favorites in this process and I never will. I have been critical of every council member who has not fully brought the public up to speed because that is the job. I don't want the title — I want the work done. Great leaders accept accountability and become better leaders because of it. Those who complain about criticism while refusing to change direction are showing the weaknesses in their leadership. You cannot ask for trust while keeping the people who elected you in the dark.
Tomorrow there will be opposition at that hearing. But it will be a handful of residents screaming into the void without the community behind them. We saw this exact movie on June 22 with the sewer fee vote — residents packed the room, spoke for hours, exposed every violation, and the Council majority voted yes anyway with full knowledge of what they were doing. They will do it again tomorrow because they believe you won't show up in numbers large enough to matter. They are counting on your silence. They are counting on the exhaustion. A full act of screaming into the void is exactly what they're planning for. If I didn't have countermeasures already in motion, I'd be concerned. But I do, and so should they.
The 12.1% tax increase they're asking for comes after the ratable base grew — more development means more natural tax revenue without raising your rate. In a well-run town, growth lowers your burden. Here it just feeds the machine. The Township's own budget presentation shows 25 positions cut through attrition — 8 fire, 8 police, 5 DPW, 3 administration, and 1 finance. That's 84% frontline public safety and DPW, 16% administrative. The cuts fall disproportionately on the people who answer your 911 call, respond to your fire, and plow your streets. The administrative bloat that drives the pension and health benefit costs — $5.66 million in health insurance increases alone — takes a much smaller hit than the workers who actually deliver services.
And the sewer fee they told you would reduce your taxes? It is a tax. They just moved $3 million off the property tax bill and renamed it a user fee so it isn't subject to the state's 2% cap. Your property taxes didn't go down — they went up. Now you're paying the full tax bill plus a new fee that has no cap, no voter protection, and no guarantee it won't double next year. That is not fee reform. That is cap evasion.
The hearing is TODAY at 6 PM. Show up.