Edison Council President Pledges May Budget After Missing State Deadline
Residents invoked state penalties Wednesday night as they pressed the administration to finally introduce the spending plan that was due in February.
Council President Joseph Coyle during the Edison Township Council’s Feb. 25 combined meeting. (Edison Television)
Chris Howell | April 24, 2026 ***Updated: April 27***
Edison’s 2026 municipal budget is months overdue. The council president says it will arrive by May 6. And if it doesn’t, individual council members could face personal fines at the discretion of the state. Residents made the point directly to the dais last Wednesday night.
“Why is it so hard to deliver a budget on time?” asked Sue Malone Barber, of 85 Pleasant Avenue. “Other townships are able to get their budgets in on time.”
Council President Joseph Coyle acknowledged the delay and pledged to fix it. “I’m sorry we did not present it on time,” he said. “It’s going to be presented next month. I’m confident.”
Under state law, the mayor must submit a budget to the council by February 28. The council must introduce it by the first meeting of April. Edison missed both deadlines.
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Resident Joel Bassoff, an attorney, laid out the consequences on Wednesday in precise terms. The state’s Director of Local Government Services, he noted, has the authority to fine each council member $100 personally for every day the budget introduction is late. However, the imposition of such fines is discretionary.
“Is the council concerned that you’ve missed that deadline?” Bassoff asked. He also pressed on whether the Department of Community Affairs had formally granted an extension or whether Edison was “flouting the law.”
Township Business Administrator Sonia Alves-Viveiros confirmed no formal extension had been granted. She said the administration is working “closely with the state” and intends to introduce the budget at the May 6 meeting.
Council Vice President Robert Kentos drew an uneasy laugh from the room when he asked Coyle directly: “If I get fined $100 for not presenting the budget, will you pay for that?”
Coyle offered a partial answer: “If you can’t afford it, I will help subsidize it — not to exceed $100.”
Alves-Viveiros offered a measured defense. The budget requires reconciling prior-year spending, working through property tax appeal projections, and coordinating across every township department. The administration has held five working sessions with council members to build accurate numbers before publishing anything, she said.
“We want to make sure that when we do present a budget, we give you the most accurate, transparent numbers,” she said.
The 2025 adopted general fund budget totaled $175.5 million.
Coyle added that the council’s property tax appeal process, which runs into spring, creates a genuine hold-up, requiring the assessor and municipal attorney to project likely settlements before the council can set reserves.
One resident pressed bluntly: “I worked for a company that had a quarter of a billion dollars in sales, and they put a budget in on time every year. I understand it’s complicated, but you could start earlier.”
The day after the council meeting, Mayor Sam Joshi posted a video to Facebook offering his own explanation for the delay and a first look at what the budget will cost taxpayers.
Joshi blamed two spending drivers outside the administration’s control. Because of what he described as war-related fuel price increases, the township will need to allocate $1.5 million for fuel this year. A difficult winter triggered more than $800,000 in overtime costs, with storms falling disproportionately on weekends and holidays, the mayor said.
“My administration has worked hard over the last four years to streamline and control costs and do more on a leaner government,” Joshi said, “but war and weather are outside of our control.”
As for what residents will actually pay, Joshi said the monthly municipal tax increase will be roughly equivalent to two gallons of gas, a Starbucks drink, or a Chipotle burrito. “Guac is extra,” he added.
Joshi also took a swipe at the Board of Education. “I can’t control war, the weather, or Board of Education members,” he said, “but I will always be transparent and responsible to the things that I can control.”
The video did not include a formal budget introduction date, a proposed tax rate, or a total appropriations figure.
The budget delay falls amid a louder dispute between Mayor Joshi and the Board of Education, whose preliminary budget shows an 11.9% spending increase.
Resident Joyce Ship-Freeman, a former Edison council member and educator who serves on The Amistad Commission at the state level, called on the administration to stop what she characterized as “fear mongering” about the school budget increase and work more constructively with board officials.
Barber put the criticism more simply.
“The mayor railing against them when he hasn’t submitted a budget on time in the last few years — that’s the pot calling the kettle black,” she said. “The Board of Ed and the mayor need to stop fighting and work together.”
Coyle defended Joshi’s public statements on the school budget, saying silence in the face of a 12% increase would be worse. “If there was a mayor that chose to say nothing, I’d be ashamed,” he said.
Coyle framed the expected May introduction as a significant step forward, comparing it favorably to August deliveries under former Mayor Albert Lansky. “We used to get the budget about August 15,” he said. “I’m just in shock to get it and discuss it in April.”
Bassoff pointed to an awkward contrast: Mayor Sam Joshi has publicly criticized the Board of Education’s budget process as “reckless and irresponsible” even as the township’s own budget sits unsubmitted weeks past its legal deadline.
Coyle acknowledged the contrast but did not directly answer whether a formal state extension exists. He said what matters most is the quality of the budget when it arrives.
“What’s most important is what we do with that budget when the council receives it, and how we can make sure that it fits the taxpayers’ needs,” he said.
The May 6 council meeting has become a hard deadline with real stakes. If the budget is introduced as promised, it opens a formal public comment period and sets the clock running on the tax rate discussion Edison residents have been waiting months to have.
If it’s late again, the council will face renewed questions and potentially personal fines with no easy answer in sight.
The next Edison Municipal Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Complex, 100 Municipal Boulevard.
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