First Look at New Rahway City Budget

Details are only now surfacing about Rahway’s 2025 municipal budget, approved more than two weeks ago as torrential rains left parts of the city under water.

The spending plan raises residential and commercial property taxes by nearly four percent over 2024 and authorizes more than $11 million in new city debt.  Police and fire salaries jump sharply after recently settled union contracts. Overall, the budget grows to almost $73 million once emergency costs are folded in.

The past two budgets cannot be found on the city’s archival webpage. Instead, they are buried in the Agenda Center, which includes meeting notes from all of the city’s departments.

The link to the 2025 city budget was provided by Councilmember Jeffrey Brooks and can be found here.

In an interview earlier this month, Brooks called the budget, “A tough vote.” 

The council faced a July 15 state deadline to adopt the plan, leaving little room to postpone the vote even as the Rahway River spilled its banks. Still, some residents on social media blasted the decision to hold such an important vote during an emergency.