Edison Adopts Its Budget in a Nearly Unanimous Vote
Mayor Sam Joshi and the Edison PBA both praised Monday's budget vote. Neither mentioned what actually happened inside the meeting, where a former council president accused two members of lying, and a councilman gave an emotional account of his own health.
Edison Municipal Building, July 2026. (The Central Jerseyan)
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Chris Howell | August 5, 2026
Edison’s 2026 municipal budget passed Monday night, 6-1. Richard Brescher cast the only no vote. The solid waste budget passed separately, unanimously.
Reaction followed quickly.
Mayor Sam Joshi posted a statement thanking the council members who supported the budget. He called it “far more than a percentage or number,” pointing to public safety, garbage pickup, storm response, senior services, and building safety as services it funds.
“I am proud of the work we have done so far and look forward to continuing it,” he wrote.
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The Edison PBA also weighed in.
The union thanked the council for “completing the budget process” and credited Council President Joseph Coyle’s leadership in resolving it.
“We appreciate the Council coming together to get this done,” PBA President Michael Piperato said in the statement. “Throughout this difficult period, our only priority has been protecting the public and ensuring the men and women who serve this community could continue doing their jobs without unnecessary disruption.”
Piperato thanked Edison PBA members, the New Jersey State PBA, and residents who attended council meetings throughout the standoff. “The overwhelming support shown by our members and by residents demonstrated how much this community values public safety,” he said.
Left: Councilmember Richard Brescher, Right: Council President Joseph Coyle (Source: Edison Television via YouTube) (Illustration by The Central Jerseyan)
The council adopted the budget after a meeting that ran nearly four hours.
Late in the session, Brescher moved to cut $300,000 from the township’s fuel budget, citing figures he said the administration had finally provided him. Coyle asked for a motion and a second.
Nobody seconded it.
Township Attorney Aaron Rainone said a cut of that size, roughly 20 percent of the $1.5 million fuel line, would have triggered a state requirement to renotice and hold an entirely new public hearing. The budget could not have been adopted that night if the amendment passed. The township’s financial consultant, referred to in the meeting only as Mr. De Roberts, said he could not guarantee the township would see $300,000 in savings this year, citing gas prices up 46 percent since January.
With no second, the amendment failed. The council adopted the budget as originally written.
During a later public comment period, former Council President Margot Harris accused two council members of lying about why they missed the July 20 meeting. That was the meeting where a walkout and three absences broke quorum, delaying the budget and ultimately triggering furloughs across the police department and civilian workforce.
“I hated on July 20th that Councilman Kentos, Councilman Patel, and Councilman Patil weren’t here,” Harris said. “But what I hate even more is being lied to as to why they weren’t here.”
She said Council Vice President Robert Kentos told her his flight home from Punta Cana had been delayed. She said she later found photos Kentos posted to Facebook that same day, showing him at home in his garden.
“You chose not to come to the meeting,” she said.
She turned to Councilman Biral Patel next.
“You told me that you were having dental surgery,” Harris said. “What I’m hearing is that it wasn’t really dental surgery; you had cavities filled. Big difference between having a cavity filled and dental surgery. And so that was a lie.”
She contrasted both with Councilman Ajay Patil, who she said told her plainly, in person, that he simply chose not to attend because he was unhappy with the process.
“I respect that you were honest about that,” she said.
Harris’s account of the Facebook photos and her phone conversation with Patel has not been independently verified.
Kentos did not respond, but Patel responded within minutes.
He described going through a serious personal medical situation around the time of the July 20 meeting, including multiple blood tests, cardiology testing, a stress test, and an abdominal ultrasound the previous Thursday. He said Coyle had come to see him during that stretch, and that someone else on the dais had arranged a ride for him when he needed one. He did not detail a diagnosis.
“Should I have known that this would be the repercussions,” Patel said, “no matter what my situation would have been, I would have come and voted on the budget.”
He said being questioned publicly about the nature of his health was “utterly disgraceful.”
“To go through someone coming and saying you have this kind of surgery or that kind of surgery,” he said, “when I have gone through all these medical treatments, very disgraceful.”
One number from the meeting is worth remembering: the municipal portion of the tax increase is 4.42 percent, confirmed on the record by the township’s financial consultant.
A separate figure that had circulated for weeks – that the county tax was rising 18 percent – was corrected during the meeting. Kentos said that number came from an early, since-fixed spreadsheet error. The actual county increase is 12.39 percent. The 18 percent figure was for a different line, the county open space tax.
Adjusted tax bills reflecting the new municipal rate will go out with the fourth-quarter bill, due around November 1.
Editor’s note: The Central Jerseyan is free to read and supported by advertising. If you value this kind of local reporting and want to help sustain it, you can become a citizen supporter on Patreon. Your contribution helps fund continued coverage of local government, schools, and community issues.