Family health coverage for one Montclair township employee is expected to cost about $77,000 next year, up from $65,000.
That expense illustrates a central challenge facing township officials as they begin preparing the 2027 budget: absorbing higher costs for employee benefits while weighing requests for police staffing, road repairs and other municipal services.
At the first of two departmental budget hearings on Monday, Nov. 2, nine department heads presented their spending requests to Township Manager Stephen Marks. Health insurance alone is expected to add roughly $1.7 million to township expenses next year. Pension payments for police officers and firefighters are projected to rise by another $1.1 million.
The presentations begin a process that will culminate in a proposed budget before the Township Council in the spring. The requests remain preliminary, and no votes are taken at these hearings. Residents may observe but cannot comment.
State law requires the sessions in municipalities with Montclair’s council-manager form of government. A second hearing is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9.
This year, the council adopted the 2026 budget on May 5, increasing the municipal tax levy by 2.97%, or about $178 annually for an average home. The levy is the amount the township collects through property taxes.
Employee benefits drive higher costs
Chief Financial Officer Peter George projected a roughly 14% increase in health insurance costs for 2027. The township’s contribution to the state pension system for police officers and firefighters is expected to reach about $8.87 million.
Officials described both expenses as obligations over which they have limited control.
“The state of New Jersey sends us a bill for our pension liability, our pension payment, and we don’t have an opportunity to negotiate it,” Marks said.
Health benefits are governed by the township’s union contracts, limiting its ability to change coverage without union agreement.
The increases also affect the township’s utilities. Acting Public Works Director Michael Primavera, who oversees the water and sewer utilities, said the water utility’s operating budget would rise by 14.6%, almost entirely because of health insurance costs.
One expense is expected to fall: debt service. George said payments on township borrowing would decline by about $610,000 next year, partially offsetting the increases elsewhere.
Police seek overtime funding and a dispatch relocation
Police Chief Todd Conforti requested $1.6 million for overtime in 2027, citing a shrinking department and anticipated retirements.
“As of today, we have six less officers than we had starting the year,” Conforti said. “We anticipate at least another eight that’ll be retiring.”
Overtime was the largest change in his proposed salary budget.
The department’s largest capital request was $2.36 million to relocate 911 dispatch operations from fire headquarters to police headquarters. Dispatchers currently work in a separate building under the remote supervision of a desk sergeant. Police officials said the move would allow a supervisor to be present as dispatchers handle emergencies.
The department also requested $560,000 for Axon 911, a system that officials said would allow callers to transmit photographs and video and provide real-time translation. Another proposed purchase is a drone that could launch from the roof of police headquarters and reach an emergency scene ahead of responding officers.
Those investments would come as the township continues to consider the future of police headquarters. Public Works requested $850,000 for repairs to the building, while Planning Director Janice Talley said the township had withdrawn a redevelopment plan anticipated for the police station area this year.
The police parking lot on Portland Place was also among the locations PSE&G considered for a replacement electrical substation before shifting its attention to the municipal complex at 205 Claremont Avenue.
Street improvements carry sharply different price tags
Primavera requested about $3 million for road repairs, with priority given to streets in the poorest condition.
The Complete Streets department, which oversees improvements intended to make roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers, requested $2.7 million in capital funding.
Its director, Jacob Nieman, described the substantial differences in the cost of individual safety measures. A traffic signal at a complicated intersection can cost “well over a million dollars,” he said. A set of speed humps costs about $20,000.
For a stop sign, he said, “you’re looking at a couple hundred bucks at most.”
Cost, however, is only one consideration. Nieman said the township’s Complete Streets policy prioritizes locations where people face the greatest risk of injury.
“I would love to be able to put speed humps everywhere,” he said. “Unfortunately the resources are not there to respond to every concern with a speed hump or with a stop sign.”
Upcoming work includes improvements near Montclair High School and the Montclair Early Learning Academy. A federal Safe Routes to School grant would fund a raised intersection at Midland Avenue and Chestnut Street and a pedestrian-activated HAWK signal at the high school’s midblock crossing on Park Street.
Nieman estimated the project would cost less than $1.4 million. The township would pay the costs initially and seek reimbursement through the grant.
Water infrastructure, housing and legal expenses
Montclair purchases about 95% of its water, Primavera said. The water utility plans to continue replacing meters in 2027 and install treatment at the Rand well, supported by a $2 million federal grant addressing PFOS, a “forever chemical,” and perchlorate.
The sewer utility proposed lining aging pipes and rebuilding manholes to reduce the groundwater entering the system during storms.
The planning department submitted a nearly flat budget of $692,854. Talley said the township was seeking to acquire 16 Miller Street, next to township-owned property at 14 Miller Street, before preparing redevelopment plans for affordable housing.
The municipal court requested a smaller overall budget but additional funding for interpreters. Judge Joseph Angelo said the court must provide an interpreter when someone appearing before it requests one.
Legal expenses remain less predictable. Township Attorney Chantal Borroum said Montclair would continue paying to defend favorable rulings in two cases now on appeal in federal court: a challenge to the township’s leaf blower restrictions and a challenge to the 2023 Lackawanna Plaza redevelopment plan.
Property inspections are expected to begin in January
The hearings also offered an early outline of Montclair’s next townwide property revaluation.
Inspectors are expected to begin visiting more than 10,000 homes in late January. Ordered by the Essex County Board of Taxation, the revaluation will update assessments to reflect market values as of Oct. 1, 2027, for use in the 2028 tax year. The firm conducting the work also handled Montclair’s 2018 revaluation.
Inspectors will make three attempts to visit each home, leaving a notice when no one answers. If they cannot gain access, they will estimate the interior.
The assessor said those estimates would reflect a property’s “highest reasonable potential,” an approach intended to avoid understating its value relative to homes that were inspected. Owners may still arrange an inspection before the final tax list is submitted to the county.
Letters containing new assessments and estimated taxes are expected in late 2027 or early 2028. Owners who disagree with their assessments may seek an informal review with the revaluation firm before pursuing an appeal.
The deadline described at the hearing for appeals to the Essex County Board of Taxation or the Tax Court of New Jersey was May 1, 2028.
The next hearing
The second departmental budget hearing begins at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9, in the second-floor conference room of the municipal building at 205 Claremont Avenue. It will stream live on the township’s YouTube channel.
Presentations are scheduled from parking, Clary Anderson Arena, recreation, fire, the manager’s office, housing services, information technology, health and human services, and sustainability.
The department requests will help shape the proposed 2027 budget and municipal tax levy. Residents will have an opportunity to comment at the council’s public budget hearing before adoption.
Image credit: Township of Montclair
