Good evening.

On behalf of the governing body of the city of Pisake, we welcome you to the September 2nd, 2025 City Council meeting.

In accordance with Chapter 231 public laws of 1975, adequate notice of this meeting was provided by resolution of the municipal council adopted on June 17, 2025, setting forth the schedule of meetings for the year 2025-2026.

Said notice was published and posted on the City Hall Bulletin Board by the Office of the City Clerk.

Please be further advised.

Please be guided accordingly.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Love.

Present.

Councilwoman Mello.

Present.

Councilman Mayer.

Present.

Councilman Garcia.

Present.

Councilwoman Colom Montañez.

And Council President Cher.

Present, shall we all please rise?

Heavenly Father, we ask we thank you, Lord, for allowing us to meet this evening.

Lord, we present to you the agenda that has been said before us, Lord, and we ask you to please guide us to make the decision that will benefit the residents of the city of Passake.

We also ask for a special prayer for Heavenly Father as our children head back to school, Lord.

Let this be the year coming, be fruitful for them and their teachers.

In your beloved name we pray.

Amen.

Good evening, members of the Council, Mr.

Mayor, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for joining us at tonight's meeting.

We're going to do a little bit of uh changes to the agenda.

Um something tells me that many of you might be here for one issue in specific, and I'd like to obviously get to that issue as soon as we can.

Um at this point, uh let me just share a few points with you, if I may.

Number one, if you have a cell phone, if you could please turn it off or vibrate.

Number two, it's common that there are issues which are concerned to all of us very much, and oftentimes the person sitting next to us has asked a question that we want to answer.

The problem is that that obviously caused makes it difficult for the other person to hear as well.

So we ask you if you have a conversation going on with someone, please just step outside the council chambers.

Um have your conversation and please join us back again.

Uh, but if we could ask you to please stay out of council chambers while you're in other conversation.

Um, the council agenda is composed of many, many uh pieces to the puzzle.

One is hearing of citizens, the mayor's update update, um, ordinances for second and final readings, such as the one we have tonight, ordinances for first meeting, correspondence resolutions, etc.

These are all part of the normal council agenda, as is tonight's a normal council agenda.

Um if we could ask, uh, there are some seats still available.

I apologize that we don't have more, but there's some states still available.

Please yourself avail yourself of them.

At this time, I'd like to go a little bit out of order with the council's uh permission and ask mayor uh if you'd like to share with us your report.

Council president with uh with your allowance.

Can we have uh just sending the translator just translate the uh announcement you made in the very beginning so that everyone is aware?

Absolutely, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President, members of the city council, city hall staff, and all with us today.

Council meetings uh often uh begin with uh quick report as to the state of the city and what is occurring and what we can look forward to.

I'll try to be brief, but we have a lot going on over the past couple of weeks, Council President.

So I'll try to get through it.

In terms of infrastructure and development this month, as many of you know, we probably opened the new public parking deck at Passake and Stay Street, a six-story deck which adds over 300 brand new parking spaces, public parking spaces for the community.

The deck features and now has operating EV charging stations or electric vehicle charging stations, digital signs is show how many spaces are actually available, enhanced security with all cameras up on the inside and exterior of the building and elevator access.

We also made it more accessible with free overnight Sunday parking, also free holiday parking, along with affordable monthly rates.

Yes, you can pay for a monthly pass for the parking deck.

We've also obviously in compliance with ADA regulations, made it accessible to all entering and exiting.

In addition, our road paving and parking upgrades have added over 170 spaces just this summer across from Chestnut Exchange Place, Henry Street, High, Howe Avenue, Myrtle, Passaic, South Street, and Third Streets.

And we have been able to increase 500 new spaces that we've added throughout the summer with our roadway, our striping, and our parking lot initiative, our identifying space and creating new public parking.

Understanding that we're one of the most densely populated cities in the United States of America.

Parking is a very serious issue, and we're very proud to move forward.

I want to thank the work of engineering, our purchasing department, obviously, our department of public works that goes out to paint.

And just with innovative and creative approaches of the angled parking spaces, we've been able to multiply and add parking spaces in every single ward.

We are also taking steps to improve parking on Gregory Avenue, which uh just this fall, we will be looking to have a new angle parking spots.

They will be created to increase capacity and convenience for residents and the businesses.

In regards to our youth and community program, this summer, we especially were proud of the success of our junior police and junior fire academies.

As I mentioned in the previous meeting, and I'm excited to share that this year, we had a graduation for over 300 children that participated in our police and fire academy.

And for the first time ever in our city's history, we welcome children of all abilities, including those on the spectrum, all with special needs.

These young people learn teamwork, safety, and leadership, and they build lasting bonds with the first responders who serve our city.

I want to thank the leadership of our chief of police, Louis Guzmont, and our chief of the fire department, Patrick Trennicos.

I believe we are the very first in the state of New Jersey who has actually incorporated a special needs and an inclusive program into these junior academies, and we look to expand that throughout all of Recreation.

This week we were able to swear in three new police officers who will serve as school resource officers.

Their presence will strengthen school safety and community police relationships.

We also recognize two retirements on September 1st with Sergeant Duback and Detective Delos Santos, retired from our Passai police department.

We thank them for their many years of dedicated service and for the contributions they made to the safety of our community.

In terms of community events and celebrations, in August, we came together as a community for National Night Out, which was celebrated at our last council meeting outside, strengthening partnerships between the residents and our police.

We celebrated our great diversity and a continued effort by this council, my administration in our city to express that we are a welcoming community for all by having our Indian and Ecuadorian flag raising ceremonies.

I want to take this opportunity to highlight that in the next week, we will be promoting two brand new sergeants, one Officer Rana, who comes from the South Asian Indian community.

That was exciting news at our Indian flag raising, as well as officer Nunez, who will also be promoted, which lines up exactly with these two retirements that we had of sergeants.

Again, we continue with our work in the community.

We recently had our community citywide book bag giveaway right here from City Hall.

We distributed more than 800 book bags to help students start the new years with resources, notebooks, and pens.

I want to thank our police, our fire, our volunteers, the clerk office, Madam Clerk, the entire office was out there giving out book bags and working very hard.

Thank you, Adevi, to our youth council, council president, members of our mayor's youth council that came out to hand out the book bags, and many volunteers, but I also want to thank the parents.

You know, none of these initiatives would be successful unless the parents assisted us in helping us get the word out throughout the entire community.

I also want to thank the educators.

As was already mentioned in Councilwoman Mellow's most profound and deep prayer.

We wish all of our students the greatest of success in this brand new school year, and many of them are in need of these resources.

That's why the donations of those in the community and those who partner with us make such a difference.

We also hosted a community clothing drive.

Council President, you'll be extremely excited about this along with our council members and on the community.

We gave out more than 6,910 pieces of brand new clothing items in their original packages to needy families.

Over 1,382 residents were able to receive more than five items each with winter clothes, coats, socks, brand new suits, brand new shirts, dress shirts, as well as leisure wear.

We were extremely excited.

We've had a great amount of success with this program, Council President.

I want to thank our human services.

I'm going to take time out to highlight my CL from our administrative team who worked tirelessly with volunteers to ensure that we reached out to every corner of the city to get as many families as possible to come in and participate.

Over the last couple of weeks, we've had flag raisings, but we've also had some dedications, members of the city council.

We honored community figures with a bench dedication for Will Mad Dog Smith in Third War Memorial Park, which lined up with our cars in the park, our big car show.

He passed away a couple years ago, but it was near and dear to his heart, and he was always present at every event.

I know Council President Gary Sherry, you're very close to Will, as were many of the council members.

So we honored him with that dedication.

Just yesterday, we renamed the corner of Columbia Avenue and Moreau Street, Cheen Legacy Way in on in honor of Rosa Chin Ortiz.

She was the very first Latina on record to open up a hair salon in the city of Passake over 60 years ago.

So we were able to name the street that her salon employed and served so many people.

She was also the very first of Puerto Rican descent to win the New Jersey Queen's pageant.

She made sure that she told us, and I said, on behalf of the council and all of us, she still looks like a beauty queen.

So she appreciated that.

And council members, last month, our city council obviously continued forward with many initiatives, many that are positive.

But I want to take this opportunity just to pause.

And as we recognize retirements and service, unfortunately, in the city of Passake, we also have uh individuals that served many years ago and passed on.

I want to take this time to recognize the passing of retired firefighter Richard Richie Gergets, who had served the City of Passague Fire Department for 28 years.

He began his career in engine three and then transferred to engine six and spent most of his years proudly assigned a truck to and served this city with distinction and honor.

I highlight him because many of our firefighters, and I take this opportunity to thank firefighters from surrounding municipalities who took time to cover our fire stations as our firefighters all attended the memorial wake and the funeral tomorrow.

We also had the passing of our retired police officer, uh Wagner Larson, Officer Wagner Larson.

So I would ask uh Council President if you would allow that we have a moment of silence in order to recognize.

Please rise from moment of silence.

Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

As we look forward and we go into the fall and winter season, we look forward to our turkey distribution for Thanksgiving, our toy giveaway.

Uh, many in the community are aware that our toy and gift giveaway was changed when I began in my administration.

We are no longer have children come to City Hall.

The distribution goes to the parents, and the parents appropriately give those toys at home to the children.

We believe that it is a sacred, most intimate and beautiful exchange and experience, and it's one that should be had with the parent and the children, not necessarily here in City Hall.

And I'll just take this opportunity just on a quick recap because I'm excited.

I know that many are here as the council president articulated for something very important, but I want to share that as last month, our city council introduced this uh rent stabilization ordinance, uh, bringing us to a 3% cap.

I want to share that over the last two years, we have presented home rehabilitation programs and income-based support to help owner occupants of one to three family homes make critical repairs by applying for funding and receiving it a forgivable uh grant that you receive if you live in the home for more than eight years.

We also pass ordinance to provide opportunities for accessory dwelling units, permitting ADUs in R1 and R2 zones to create smaller, more affordable options for residents.

These are conditional and contingent upon.

They only can be allowed to, or they're only allowed to be rented as affordable housing.

We have a mandatory set aside that we pass just within the last year, requiring that new multifamily or mixed use development include affordable homes with uh 20 to 15% set aside, including for workforce and affordable housing.

We uh reinstituted a rent leveling board more than 30 years where we did not have one.

We have received a great deal of positive feedback from the community as they are there as a guardrail, as a gate to protect our community to ensure that they hear cases and they can fairly pragmatically and justly make decisions in the best interest of those who live in our city and protect those who are most vulnerable.

And we also move forward on our Market Street redevelopment plan, which works to provide mixed use and multifamily developments within close proximity to bus lines and nearby rail transit.

This plan requires an affordable housing component to be included in any new construction project, creating more than 10 new affordable housing units on Market Street and a complete all-affordable housing development that just was completed on Lexington Avenue in the city of Passake.

We have many more down the pipe, and we're extremely excited to partner with the community.

I am so proud of this city council's approach to address the concerns within our city and to work together with all of the stakeholders as we deal with the unique challenges that everyone is facing today.

Thank you, Council President.

I'll cut my report there.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, sir.

Any questions for the mayor?

Mayor, I wonder if we could come back to your report, which is is as always voluminous and such an incredible things going on in the city.

Thank you so much to your direction, your guidance, and your support.

But I wonder if you could come back a little bit in terms of the children with different abilities, disabilities, we call them.

Is this something going on in other communities?

Is this something that I know that we did this with playgrounds, blue play blue playgrounds, if not mistaken, and that was at your initiation as well.

The blue parks, we were actually recognized as the first city in the state of New Jersey to develop blue parks by making a couple of simple adjustments and investments where we repositioned the benches of the parks at the entrances of every park.

We created gates around the entire parks and playgrounds because many children on the spectrum, some with different abilities can be elopement risk.

And for some parents, it really wasn't exciting to come back home from work and take their children to the park to have to worry about whether they were going to run away from them.

So we wanted to create space that wasn't specific to children with special needs, but rather inclusive, that all children can enjoy, but also address those concerns of the parents by taking a few uh pragmatic approaches to how we design these parks and adding inclusive equipment.

We have made it more conducive for parents to come be able to sit right by the entrance with a special gate that opens, oftentimes with a latch that you can see at pools where you have to squeeze, press, and pull up.

So it's not so easy just to push through the gate and run out.

And this brought a lot of peace to the parents.

As I often said, it's not our goal to have parks specific for one group, but for all children to enjoy recreation and play together, because if you close your eyes, you cannot distinguish between the laughter of a child who is often described as neurotypical or a child that may be considered on the spectrum.

All children of all abilities should have access and enjoy all of our parks and all of our amenities.

So that's one of our programs, another program that we have is our special needs program for young adults, recreation after school and after work, where they come here.

It's led by Joe Cologne and our recreation department, where they travel to museums, to parks, to plays, bowling.

These activities are more than just having something to do, but encourage socializing with other individuals, ensures that they are strong bonds and friendships develop so that all children, all young people and all adults can enjoy not just our activities and events and resources in the city, but around our state and even outside of our state, as we've been able to take some of these young adults to Broadway shows and different performances in New York.

Also, we are actively and aggressively pursuing affordable housing opportunities for adults with special needs and those who are on the spectrum, considering that as many children age out of the school program, it begs the question what will happen to them?

Will they have a certain level of autonomy and dependence?

But also being a program where parents can feel safe.

They know that they are protected and taken care of.

We are moving further along with this investment.

We have explored with Joyce Hunt, our director of community development partnerships in order to have a development in proximity to a business.

We've been in conversation.

I met with the uh executive and CEO of the local ShopRite, who has agreed that if we can build uh an affordable housing for special needs adults in proximity to this shop, right, he will agree to provide them employment.

There are some ideal locations in proximity to transportation, again, conducive for uh for independent and autonomous living as well as follow-up through caseworkers, social workers, and family.

So we're extremely excited about that.

But the one that I mentioned, Council President, this uh academy.

We've been in conversations with our chief through our blue envelope program in partnerships with the Passake County prosecutor, where those who have licenses to drive and are on the spectrum, they have a blue envelope on their windshield where police can immediately identify that someone is on the spectrum.

This becomes extremely important in the exchange because some behavior, some reaction may be interpreted differently by police officer if they did not know.

That's why we work so hard to educate and ensure that all our police officers are trained in this blue envelope program where stemming or sudden movement of the arms or perhaps not following an instruction, like look me in the eye, or someone turning around or spinning, may be perceived by an officer as perhaps resistance or not cooperating through this training.

Our officers learn that this is uh common uh behavior, conduct, or reactions of someone who's on the spectrum, and they deal with them differently as they deal with everyone in our community with patience and consideration.

So, our junior police academy and our junior fire academy, incorporating and including children with special needs.

It serves purposes of creating bonds, relationships with our law enforcement, understanding, but also empathy as all the children participate together.

See, with our parks with these programs of recreation, if children grow up together, understanding that we have more in common than our differences, and differences are often highlighted, but we have so much more in common.

Then these differences you grow up with greater empathy.

Now, that kid that you played in the park with growing up is that kid that you're in middle school with, that you're in high school with, you're less inclined to want to bully, or maybe more inclined to want to help them, assist them and understand them throughout the many changes we face so many through those formative developmental years.

And the last thing you need is to feel ostracized or uh left out.

And the more that we can get all kids of all backgrounds of all lifestyles of all abilities together, the better it is for our city, our community, and society as a whole.

So, yes, uh, Council President.

We have a number of great programs, and some of them have been uh emulated throughout the county and even throughout the state.

So we're extremely excited to partner with other municipalities and share uh these approaches and initiatives in order to ensure that even more children can enjoy safe and enjoyable recreation and educational opportunities throughout our state.

Amazing.

Your administration and your leadership, sir, are amazing.

Uh Council President Lassie, I forgot, I just want to share that we took possession of the 9-11 monument at the high school, as many are aware, the high school will be demolished in the next year.

And some people have asked, yeah, some people have asked what happened to the 9-11 monument and the historic bell.

The city of Passate took possession of it.

We're storing it and we will place it somewhere safe.

The project looks like it will be about five years before it's completed.

We are one of only a handful of municipalities out of 564 municipalities that received over 350 million dollars for a brand new high school with state-of-the-art classrooms, more conducive for learning and uh less children and more teachers, as well as for the first time ever, those who graduated from Passaic High School, most of you on the uh dais.

Uh, for the first time ever, it will no longer be a joke that there's a pool on the fourth floor.

We're actually getting a brand new aquatic center with uh regulation-sized pool in the new high school.

That's a big deal because many of us who grew up in Passaic, including me as a freshman, that was the hazing practice.

The first week you were there, they would tell you go check out the pool on the fourth floor.

And to all of our disappointments when we would get there, there was nothing but lockers and seniors laughing at the very naive freshmans that went up there.

But for the first time, we have an actual pool.

I thought that would be something cool to share.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh, I failed to mention earlier, forgive me, ladies and gentlemen.

Uh, you can receive copies of our agenda.

They're located immediately outside the door.

They're also available to you on the internet, uh, as well as all the uh information resolutions, proposed ordinances, etc.

Um, they are available to you, and you will receive all the information that the council, in fact, receives the councilman fact to see in which can make its determinations and decisions.

I'm going to go a little bit out of order um really for the hope that uh it will be to uh be available to uh those of you who have young children and need to get them to bed a little bit than otherwise.

So I would like to skip down from hearing of citizens.

We have four ordinances for second and final reading for which discussion is required.

The ordinance that I'd like to put under consideration at this time for the benefit of my colleagues is number four.

Proposed ordinance 2494-25, an ordinance amending section 231-23, rent stabilization of 2025 of chapter 231 rent control of the city of Passaic Code to reduce maximum allowable rental increases.

Please, Council President, the ordinance before you imposes a 3% cap on all rent increases.

It also proposed it also has vacancy uh control, which means if the property becomes vacant, the three percent rent increase uh still applies.

It also requires landlords to file a registration each year with the rent leveling board, which is necessary to impose rental increases at this time.

We are going to open the public hearing on the proposed ordinance.

Everyone is invited to speak to the ordinance at this time, but only to the ordinance.

A little bit later, we'll have general hearing of citizens where you can speak on any subject that you would like to.

But right now, you may only speak to this proposed ordinance.

Is there a motion, please to open public hearing?

So motion councilman.

Second motion and second roll call to the open public hearing.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilwoman Mellow.

Yes.

Councilman Mayer?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilwoman Colom Montañez?

Yes.

And Council President Sheer.

Yes, thank you.

Is there anyone who would like to address the council at this time?

Please step up to the podium.

Please share with us your name.

We do not need home addresses, but we do need names for the record.

Michael Kreitenberg.

Um, I manage um many apartments in downtown Passaic, and understand very well what this rent leveling uh means to everybody in the room.

It's a tremendous opportunity to create a cap on an expense in everybody's life that is uh is very very uh impactful.

The only thing to keep in mind is that really under the guidance of you know Rick Fernandez and uh the honorable Hector Laura, the city has become a boom town, and despite the fact that it is one of the most uh um populous cities in the entire country, it can tend it continues to attract more and more people that want to be here because there's so many good things happening here.

Um, and part of that is been really uh watching in the last 10 years specifically, really an incredible amount of construction that has gone on to really provide uh a tremendous amount of upgraded housing.

In regards to this um this new rent leveling uh law.

There's one point that I would just like to take issue with to bring to the council's attention is the idea of rent decontrol when the apartment comes vacant.

Um I think that the the message has been to from the city over and over again is that we want to provide a quality uh safe product for um for tenants to be in.

And what's amazing about the city of Passaic is is that there's so much new construction, yet pretty much all of those units have been uh been absorbed.

And so there's a credible demand to be here as not just as a second choice, but as a first choice place, which is really a compliment to the mayor and to uh to Rick and both of those uh in making that happen.

Um the the fact that this city, however, is not strictly uh new buildings, it has also uh has tremendous amount of old structures, old structures um require a tremendous amount of attention and care uh to to keep them not just safe, but also to make them really on par to the best of one's ability with the new buildings that are uh on the market and the new uh apartments that are on the market.

Those those uh those apartments as they come vacant require a great deal of capital in order to bring them um up to speed with everything else that's going on in the marketplace in the event that there's not um a decontrol upon vacancy of the unit, you're going to see more and more buildings and more and more of these older buildings just left on cruise control and being uh you know kept to bare minimum requirements of what's necessary to keep them safe and occupiable, but in order to keep the standard and the quality of living up, you have to uh ensure that the people can uh make the necessary investments in those units to bring them on par with the rest of the marketplace.

There's a tremendous amount of expensive units in the in the neighborhood, and those of us who are working with older buildings, um, there's a tremendous amount of it's very cost intensive and labor intensive to bring those apartments up to speed um and to bring those apartments to a place where they are marketable uh once they are vacated, and therefore I am presenting to the council that keep the rent control uh ordinance as you wish, but do not implement the decontrol factor, um the control factor, even upon vacancy, because you will end up in the long term not being able to provide the quality of living that the city has been aiming for and providing for their tenants for the last uh since really 2008, there's been a sweeping turnaround.

And I think that that's uh I think that's something to take into consideration in the long-term picture.

It doesn't hurt the tenant as long as the per tenant is stays in the apartment, they're still protected.

On the other hand, when the tenant leaves, it it creates an opportunity for the the landlord to increase the value of the apartment, which simultaneously, by the way, just one can see that the rents in Passaic used to be extremely low.

They're now very in some some buildings very, very high.

The bottom line is there's a market for all of those apartments, and it's still it's not a question of gentrification, it's a question of still focusing on the indigenous audience that's here in Passaic and cherished.

And as a result, I think it's really important to realize that decontrolling an apartment when it comes vacant is critical to taking care of old buildings and ensuring that there's a quality status to those units as they're transferred to the next tenant.

Thank you, sir.

If I may, everyone who would like to speak will be given that opportunity.

I say that only so that you don't find yourself standing for more than a few minutes waiting to speak.

So if you would like to speak at some point, you will have that opportunity.

Yes, sir.

Uh good evening.

Thank you for attorney for sharing my testimony.

My name is Antonio.

I'm a 24-year-old member of Make the Rule of New Jersey, and I'm also being a PASIC residence since I was five years old.

And most of you guys remember I was here last month.

And you guys know that.

I love living.

And want to continue leaving it.

I currently, like I said, I live with my mom and my three siblings.

And at the moment, it has come to the point where we have to spit split the bills to be able to survive.

It has come to the point where me and her had to make a decision of having to pay our auto insurance or a rent.

And even then, my siblings are getting older, everybody's growing.

And we try to look around for new apartments.

It came to the point where they would tell us the new security deposit plus a month and a half, which is more than 1,200, something we can't afford at the time.

Now, I would like to thank the council for considering important an important protection for stable uh stabilization rental and increase at 3%.

As you see here, as I told you guys, I want to be a scientist and a science teacher.

And what does the scientists do?

They bring you facts and evidence.

So I do have some evidence.

I have a chart.

As you see here.

So about that.

So as you see this chart, it shows you two lines.

It shows you a blue line and the red dotted line.

The blue dotted line shows at a 3% increase rent at a constant year of 10 years.

And then it also shows the 3%, the 6% increase at a constant of 10 years.

As you see, every year the red line gets much more larger than the blue line.

This is because there was a $900 difference between the 10-year increase.

That is about let's just say the base is 2,000 a month.

Now, if we were to allow an increase of 6% for 10 years, the exact that they will have to pay would be 3,582.

Like I said before, that is a 900 difference.

That could be the difference between somebody having to pay rent or be able to provide food or groceries for the families.

Like I said, I want to build my life in PSIC.

I told you guys I want to be a teacher for you guys, especially for the academy, because I graduated from there, and I would love to teach there, especially for the biotech program.

It's an amazing program.

Now I'm excited to be here tonight because you guys are gonna be making history if you guys pass this ordinance.

You guys will be one of the cities that has this orders and still has rent stabilization and control.

I want to thank the council for your support, and thank you for all those who joined us tonight.

We all deserve to live with dignity and respect.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Margie Fiori, and I've been a tenant attorney with Make the Rain, New Jersey in Passaic for the past three years.

I've represented numerous tenants that have received extreme rent increases while enduring terrible conditions violations.

You've already heard a lot of testimony uh today and uh the last reading on why this new ordinance will support the large constituency of tenants.

So rather than add to that powerful testimony, I'd like to speak on how the landlords and developers will still thrive under the strong rent control ordinance.

First, I want to quickly zoom out and look at how rent control policies have impacted cities and housing markets.

Recent studies have shown that landlords in unregulated markets have managed to reduce rental supply while increasing their own profits.

Studies have shown that landlords have such high market share that they have successfully raised the rent anywhere from 9% to 25% across the US.

This should come as no surprise to the council, as you've heard countless stories of extreme rent hikes over the previous years when Casaic had no rent control.

To quote the economist and ruckers professor Mark Paul, accounting for landlord market power flips the narrative on rent control.

Rather than it being an inefficient policy attempting to correct a well-functioning market, rent control becomes a policy precisely to balance market power, reduce inequality, and enhance efficiency.

So we've got another graph for you.

All right, but I will try to hold up here.

Okay.

So here we have a graph showing the medium.

Oh, yes, thank you.

Okay.

Here we have a graph showing the medium incomes in the city of Passic as well as the medium rental prices.

So as you can see, the incomes have stayed relatively stagnant.

Um, and you'll see they actually decreased dramatically in COVID pandemic.

Well, the median rents have increased exponentially.

So again, this is because of the extreme market power that landlords have.

So, in light of the economic reality facing so many of our community members, this ordinance becomes an essential tool to provide necessary stability.

Um leave it so you want to take a picture.

All right.

Um looking at the proposed ordinance more closely, I want to draw out a few pieces that specifically account for the concerns of landlords and developers.

So, number one, we have these mom and pop landlords that are already exempt.

Okay, under the proposed ordinance, landlords of single family homes or owner-occupied two family homes are not covered by this ordinance.

They have nothing to worry about.

For new construction, meaning anything built in the past 30 years, this is already exempt.

So, therefore, landlords and developers looking to construct new buildings are not impacted at this time.

Uh number three, hardship applications and capital improvement applications, which already exist under this ordinance, also provide clear avenues for raising the rent if it is economically necessary.

And finally, the property tax pass-through.

Landlords can still pass on all property tax increases to their tenants.

So, in conclusion, I commend the city council for working closely with their constituents to develop a strong rent control ordinance that will create much needed protections for tenants while continuing to encourage growth and development in our city.

Thank you.

No, no escuché nombre.

I live in Pasaka, I've been here for 28 years.

I have a wonderful wife.

And I'm with the movement cosecha.

And we are here because we want to give complaints about the rents.

When the rent is too damn high, the only people who benefit are the landlords and developers.

Again, when the rent is too high, the only people that benefit are the landlords and the developers, not the tenants, not the renters, not these people filling out the council chambers, not the homeless or the people who can't be homeless at any given moment.

The people of Pasake does something huge by bringing this ordinance up.

I salute you all.

The next part is for the city council to do something huge, which is vote yes.

Vote yes for the people, vote yes for the residents, vote yes for Pasake, and once again vote for your people.

Stabilize the rent.

Stabilized the rent.

Excuse me.

Excuse me, sir.

Excuse me, sir.

If I cannot maintain civility, not yelling and screaming, then we'll postpone.

Which you don't want and we don't want either.

Yes, sir.

Good evening.

A few months ago I lived in a studio.

That's the only home that my youngest son has had.

From night to the next morning, the landlord raised our rent 1,000 dollars.

So that we could leave sooner.

In total, three of five families were obligated to leave.

And they were from $2,000 to $2,800.

And they would ask for a deposit of a month and a half.

So Paramutarme de Lugar donde stava tenia que conseguir a redor de $6.000.

So to leave from where I was, I had to gather around $6,000 to $7,000.

And I knew people from the same area from the same living in the same units from the same landlord whose rent was increased three times in one year.

Now I rent an apartment with my son where we both sleep together.

And my room is as big as a bathroom.

For now, this is all I can afford.

Because rents are too high.

And almost all my salary goes toward rent for the moment.

Okay.

Groceries are around $700 a month.

The phone bill is $55.

That leaves me with $195 a month.

Simplemente no tenemos suficiente para cover nuestros gastos.

Many months there simply isn't enough to cover all our expenses.

And the months where I am behind on rent, the landlord charges me $75.

We had to buy uniforms.

I cannot save.

Simplemente is impossible.

It is simply impossible.

And I cannot find a better apartment for my daughters.

Many times I've felt the physical stress and mental one.

I have felt that the economic opportunities were an illusion.

I want to thank everyone for being here tonight.

City Council and Mayor.

I am a member of Make the Road New Jersey.

I've been living here for more than 25 years in Passake.

Right after the pandemic.

A person came and bought the building where I currently live.

For some it increased to $2,000.

Some of the tenants of the building dollars y a otro $600.

He increased $400 and for others $600.

So that way from one day to the other.

We didn't know what to do.

About the matter.

I want to thank the city council for tomar medidas for taking measures.

Stabilizing rent to three percent cap.

It's vacancy control.

These are exactly the proposals that we need.

If I get trouble, please after the councilman speaks, we'll continue with everyone else who would like to speak.

And I'm hearing a lot of the similar comments that I heard a few weeks ago.

And I find it I find it interesting that many of the stories that we are hearing.

And I'm wondering if everyone here has been informed, been educated about what the city council and this administration has done in the past few months.

The mayor and his administration together with the council has spent many many hours.

Understanding the pain that all of you have been going through over the last few years.

And he wants to leave, but I wanted to come here because I have a lot of friends that are experiencing the same thing as I don't mean so apartamento, 200.

Where they call me crying because they lost their apartment.

Because they've increased their rent for 250 dollars, 300.

And they've had to uh rent rooms and they have um children who have been suffering.

I have a friend whose daughter is suffering from depression.

Um, grace a Dios stoy tratando de yo conservar my apartament.

For the moment I'm trying to keep my apartment.

Um start esta noche, ya que la ciudad de Pasei has historia protegiendo los inquilinos.

I'm very excited to be here since the city of Passaic is making history by protecting tenants.

And maintaining families like mine in our homes.

We all deserve to live with respect and dignity.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Jessica Kitzen, and I am the director of legal advocacy at Volunteer Lawyers for Justice.

Um we are a civil legal aid organization.

Um, and we are very grateful to the council for being in the forefront of advocacy to reduce housing instability and homelessness in Passaic City.

Our organization operates nine distinct legal programs, including a housing program and a veterans legal program that serves New Jersey veterans with a variety of legal needs, including housing.

It is the veteran community that I want to focus on with my remarks tonight.

Far too many veterans, and especially those on fixed income, are struggling with housing instability.

In order to provide context, I offer the following sobering statistics about New Jersey veterans from a recent report by Monarch Housing Associates.

That report showed that 73% of veterans identified as having one or more disabilities, a large number of veteran households identified as having fixed sources of income, such as SSI, SSDI, TANF or General Public Assistance, the Veterans Pension Program, andor Social Security.

Even worse, a significant number of veterans surveyed noted that they had no income at all.

More than 200 veteran households in that survey reported having experienced homelessness for up to six months.

This is consistent with national research that shows that the number of veteran renters across the country who are cost burdened has drastically increased over the last five decades.

At a time when the rate of veteran homelessness is on the rise in New Jersey and throughout the country, rent stabilization is a crucial tool in combating the issue.

It is really encouraging to see the city council lead on this important issue and take affirmative steps to stem the tide of ever rising rents, prevent displacement, and work to ensure that affordable, safe housing is accessible to all.

Good evening, I'm Andre Berger, a community organizer with Movimento Cosecha, and I'm here to speak in support of the ordinance, but more specifically in support of the vacancy provision, and maybe address some of the um things that were said by one of the initial speakers about that.

So without a vacancy provision, right?

It provides an incentive if you have uh a rent control, a rent stabilization bill and no vacancy uh provision, it provides an incentive for landlords to force out legally or otherwise their current tenants.

And this is something that we've seen, you know, with communities that we've worked with throughout New Jersey, uh, that landlords do have a variety of means that they can make life impossible for the families that are living in their buildings.

And if you provide a massive financial incentive uh for them to do so, there will be people who will take advantage of that.

Uh so if you close this loophole, then that issue no longer exists.

Um the second point there is that you know the vision of this ordinance, right, is that you don't just want uh people who are currently living in the apartments that they're in uh to be able to continue to pay for those apartments, you want the entire community to continue to live in Passaic, and that includes the people who are here who are growing up here, the kids, right, who are graduating from high school, graduating from college, and want to be able to move back to Passaic.

You want the entire community to continue to live in Passaic.

And that includes the people who are here who are growing up here, the kids, right, who are graduating from high school, graduating from college, and want to be able to move back to Passaic.

And if you only have this ever shrinking pool of affordable housing, um, where any time anyone leaves, anyone moves to a new apartment that disappears, then obviously uh that's not going to be a sustainable pathway to ensure that the community can continue to live here.

Um, so again, I just want to say that I commend the council for having this provision that addresses that loophole.

Um, and I would certainly ask that you keep it in.

Um, and that that is a really crucial and essential part of this ordinance.

Thank you.

Hi, uh good evening, Mayor and City Council.

My name is George Bean.

I've been uh investing in Passaic uh for a lot longer than I want to possibly more than 50 years now.

Uh and I want to speak on the exact point the previous speaker uh presented, but from the opposite point of view.

Uh and that's the point of view of having a tenant in buildings for many, many years, and then not being able to bring your rents up, one's rents up to something not necessarily market, but a reasonable rent.

I have a tenant, a wonderful tenant, many wonderful tenants.

Um, but one wonderful tenant recently moved out or told me he was about to move out of a four-bedroom unit we have.

Uh he's been there and raised his family there for 30 years, maybe 31 years.

When he I don't know what his rent was when he moved in, but I can guarantee you it was in the six or seven hundred dollars a month, maybe eight hundred dollars a month maximum range 30 years ago.

He was able by living, working, raise a family, and he bought a house in Passaic, I believe.

And we felt wonderful for the man who has it's the American dream and it's the American story.

And when he left the apartment, uh well, he's about to leave, but his current rent for his four-bedroom apartment, it's been going up two, three, four percent a year.

His current rent is $1,400 a month.

Now, I haven't I've done some repairs in the apartment in the intervening 30 years, but we haven't changed the stove, maybe, or the refrigerator.

We haven't renovated the bathroom fully while the tenants living there.

So under the proposed ordinance, we'd be able to raise the rent.

$1,400 a month now, we'd be able to raise it.

Um that's about 14, 14 times the rate.

Uh 45, less than 45.

45 limit on an increase.

In that time, my taxes when we first bought the building were probably 100, 150 dollars a year per unit.

Now they're about 2,000 a year.

Three years ago, they were 1,000.

They've gone from 1,000 to 3,000 in the last three years, 1,000 to 2,000 double in the last three years.

When he moved in, we did roofs for a dollar a foot, now it's five dollars a foot.

Forget city taxes.

City taxes have been very stable.

It's wonderful to pass through city taxes, but they've been very stable.

You want to give me a pass-through?

Give me a pass-through for insurance.

But but um uh I'm beyond the point.

That's not um outside of the point.

The point is the stock of housing has been fantastically improved in older buildings in Passaic over the last 15 years, as a previous speaker mentioned.

The city has done wonderful and developers have come in here and they've taken and they've got they've got renovated apartments, they've improved apartments.

We have we have so much the quality of housing is so much better.

When we renovate a bathroom, I had a tenant who come in and kiss me because we renovated our bathroom.

She had a tiny little room, new tile floor, no, no, no, no, no.

It costs a few thousand dollars, but people, landlords do that.

Landlords, we've heard horror stories about landlords.

Do you think landlords don't have horror stories about tenants?

Do you think landlords don't have tenants who said to them, I'm not paying the rent anymore, kick me out during COVID, and the courts are closed for a year and a half.

Do you do you think there are tenants who make a mess, a terrible mess, and then move out and landlords have horror stories too.

Landlords have horror stories too.

But I'll take my tenants any day.

My tenants are wonderful people, and they've all do the best to pay the rent.

And if they're late with the rent, they're late, and they normally have a good excuse.

And they'll say the same thing about me.

That is that we're good landlords and we treat people properly.

We've heard stories about how landlords have cheated tenants.

Well, that's that's illegal.

If it if it's illegal under the old ordinance, it'll be just as illegal under the new ordinance.

Anyone can violate people violate the law.

We're not talking about violations of the law.

We're talking about following.

That's what we're planning on.

And I am saying to you, I have many tenants who pay and a thousand dollars a month, eleven hundred.

Here's a four-bedroom apartment.

What's a four-bedroom?

I don't even know what it's worth, but it's worth a lot more than 1,400.

And I'm only gonna be able to raise the rent $42.

Vacancy decontrol is critical to keep the housing stock in Passaic where it is.

And vacancy is critical, vacancy decontrol is critical to keep our the uh the buildings valued where it should be.

And the real estate, and if there's no vacancy, if there's no vacancy decontrol, I think you're gonna see a lot of landlords who are gonna be appealing their assessments because in truth the value is decreased, and that will decrease assessments and will decrease taxes.

I I implore you, I think 3% is a very tight limit.

I guess we can live with it, but vacancy decontrol is not something we can.

Thank you for listening councilman.

Yes, sir.

If I just trouble you, if you don't mind, George.

Very well, particularly so you have an apartment now that someone is moving out, right?

They've been there for 30 years.

So I would assume that an apartment that has been lived in for 30 years probably needs a new bathroom.

Absolutely.

Probably needs a new kitchen.

We actually we probably did a bathroom a few years ago, but definitely a kitchen.

It'll need a tremendous amount of renovation.

Go ahead.

You know, appliances?

No appliances?

Oh, of course.

Of course.

New flooring.

Absolutely.

Throughout so let's do the math for a moment.

What's you think the minimum you could get away with to make that apartment a apartment that's restored for all these people sitting here?

An apartment that they deserve to live in as a well as well as people to live with dignity.

What will it take you to turn that apartment into a livable nice space?

A bathroom is about six to eight thousand dollars.

A kitchen is probably fifteen thousand.

Um then you're gonna have windows.

The windows may have already been replaced.

We have to replace windows periodically because they get old and drafty.

But if you have to do windows, you're the last time we had such an apartment, we spent we overspent, but we spent close to $60,000 on the on uh, you know, uh, three or four bedroom apartment.

We have two or three such.

I don't know, I I don't have very much residential real estate, mostly industrial real estate.

So while I'm affected by this, fortunately, I'm not uh unfortunately I'm not as experienced as as many landlords who have hundreds of apartments, but I'll tell you, we we have to spend $50,000 to renovate a four-bedroom apartment.

So let's so let's let's take appliances are six or eight thousand.

So let's let's take your fifty thousand dollars and let's cut it in half.

Let's cut it, make it twenty-five thousand dollars.

So you put in twenty-five thousand dollars into an apartment.

I mean, why would you do that if your return is gonna be 40 bucks?

I sell.

You sell I I mean, I can't, I can't.

You sell, and and look, we're I I like to think everybody says this, they all say think they're respectable people.

I think I'm a respectable guy, and I think I'm a great landlord.

And I think you could ask any of my tenants about me, with one or two exceptions, and they'll say, yeah, we're we're we're good people, and we do a good job for the money.

And when we go in and renovate someone's bathroom for $8,000, we don't raise the rent 12% the next year, or we raise rents three or four percent a year.

And if we'll just spend a lot of money on a bathroom, you know, come back to us.

And having a tenant who pays the rent every month, that's a good thing.

I want my tenants, I want good tenants who respect what we do and pay the rent every month.

So to get an extra, you know, hundred uh an extra 150 dollars or 140 dollars a year for four bedroom for the renovations required.

You see the math, and we're getting squeezed too.

I realize tenants get squeezed.

I realize it, and it's a terrible thing.

And a lot of what you heard is is landlords acting illegally, and and what tenants need are more advocates, more lawyers.

They had one or two lawyers who were here.

They need to be able to call someone and get help the moment a landlord misspeaks to them.

But the way business is done mostly, and there are a lot of wonderful landlords in Passaic, and and they're they I'm sure most of them do an excellent job.

They can't live with vacancy decontrol.

They really can't.

Thank you.

To follow up on the count, George.

To follow to follow up on the councilman's question.

Yeah, you had mentioned a word, and I've heard the word mentioned by a few other uh people who have come to testify.

And by the way, thank you everyone for coming tonight.

This is extraordinarily important and very, very helpful.

The word that's been used is reasonable.

How does one ascertain what reasonable means?

Well, you you're I'm sure you're more a philosopher than I am.

And and I can't uh and I'm sure you're much more successful than I am.

No, I don't think not from what I people speak of you as a very successful guy.

Um what's reasonable?

What well in business, the market determines what's reasonable, right?

The market determines what's reasonable.

But in a in a business life, look, I'd love to see all of these people who demonstrate, demonstrate against the banks when they raise interest rates too much and squeeze us, or demonstrate against the insurance companies that are squeezing us.

Does the insurance company say to me what's reasonable?

They uh insurance companies, I'm sure you all know, have been brutal over the last three or four years.

What's reasonable?

I I can't, I can't, I really can't tell you what uh what a reasonable in terms of a percentage increase.

Normal normal year to year on an occupied apartment, we we aim at three percent and rarely go over three percent.

Well, certainly not over five percent.

We've done a lot of work, maybe more than three, but three percent is what we aim at.

Vacancy decontrol, it should be decontrol up to the market.

You want to make it 95% of the market or 90% of the market?

I I guess people could live with that, but who's gonna determine market?

That's a hard thing to do.

I'm not answering your question.

Yeah, I'm the son of a lawyer, so I never answer a question straight.

I'm the brother-in-law, the brother, the father in law, and I'm the father of lawyers.

It's too much.

Same thing.

Same thing.

I have uh councilman Monk, is that yeah, I just I just want to sum up my comments with this gentleman is that unfortunately we're we're hearing how important it is to increase affordable housing in the city of Passaic.

But here is an example in front of us where we will actually be decreasing affordable housing, making less units available in the city of Passaic.

Council President, if for me, Mr.

Mayor, so it'll be clear, Mr.

Bean, if I may, you're aware that in this ordinance there's also a hardship clause as well as a capital improvement clause.

That as it is, and the way that it's written, if they are extenuating circumstances which uh property owner uh feels that they're being squeezed, as you described by interest rates or the market or any cases, they they are able to go before the rent leveling board and present these concerns, and the rent leveling board can determine whether or not an increase beyond the 3% is and I'll use the word that the council president has stated reasonable, and I understand that the desire, I think we all agree, is to protect vulnerable people.

You have stated that you are by your description uh more compassionate and responsible landlord.

I commend you for that.

That's important.

I can tell you as mayor that I've had first count experience with individuals who haven't been ethical, who have decided uh to implement unconscionable raises at the expense of vulnerable families, believing that there is no recourse, or they would not be able to be defended.

It is why this council, my administration, working alongside community advocacy groups and landlords, chose not to work against groups, but to bring stakeholders together to ensure that there would be provisions to support good landlords while at the same time holding accountable bad actors.

I know that we have heard accounts in previous meetings of family members, anecdotal accounts of individuals that have said my rent went up $900 a year with a 30-day notice.

I don't think anybody wants that.

I understand that those who are responsible, who are ethical, should be supported, and our city has seen record investment development.

Um I, along with Councilman Monk, worked on an initiative that I present at the Legal Municipality to try to have a moratorium on any tax increases on homes and property for aesthetic repairs.

If you're not increasing square footage, why should we deincentivize you?

I share that to say that this council has a desire to ensure that good landlords, good property owners are supported.

And again, reiterate that there are measures.

There are provisions made in this ordinance where if an individual is ethical, if they're saying this apartment was at an extremely low rent, interest rates have been hiked and they've gone skyrocket or they skyrocketed high.

And they're working with tenants, as you mentioned, who come and give an account to say the repairs moved me to hug and kiss my landlord.

I was so excited about it that the right level of the board can say this is a reasonable increase.

And it's tough because it is subjective on what reasonable it is.

But I do want to highlight that that the best I can describe it is we've taken an approach together not to have landlords be looked at as villains, not good landlords.

Because you're right, there are they are good landlords, but there are those who believe that residents, individuals or families, don't have a defense.

And it is government's responsibility to step in.

And unfortunately, there have been circumstances that have compelled this administration, this council, along with advocacy group, to collectively say enough.

That there are some landlords who took advantage of opportunity.

I had one call me and say, I don't understand why I'm being affected by this ordinance.

I only raise 45% a year.

Thought to myself on the phone only.

45%.

Of course, to the individual, no one thinks that they're doing any harm.

I don't think anyone intends to be malicious or do harm, but the case is that we have seen many accounts.

And I believe that these provisions will be helpful.

The Run Level Board will judge them case by case.

There is a pass through through taxes.

You're right, there perhaps should be one for uh for insurance.

We can't really do that.

Well, you're not the insurer, so you can't.

Yes, but I will say this again and I'll highlight it.

We didn't come to this in a silo or arbitrarily decide to throw these numbers together.

We carefully met with the community.

There are municipalities where you find advocacy groups against the governing body.

Let me make this clear.

That is not the case here.

In fact, I would propose that together, my administration, the city council, and the community.

Perhaps we weren't on the same page as to the timeline, how fast we would get there, but we were going in the same direction.

We were all heading to the same destination.

We even discussed over the years potentially bringing it down to 3%.

There are legitimate concerns of vacancy control.

We will look at the data.

Data was presented, and you can find data on both sides.

But I would say this with great confidence.

I know every single council member here, along with my administration, wants to ensure that individuals, as this was stated over and over, have access to a roof over their head, but not just a roof over a head.

But quality living opportunities.

People want to progress, they want to make sure that their children go back to school and none of them are worried about the fact that they're going to lose their apartment.

Families want to ensure that if they're working, they can also afford to eat.

They can also afford to pay for their medication.

They can also afford to perhaps have some time to enjoy the fruits of their labor and go out with their children and their families.

So we have to be very careful in how we approach this, but I do want to stress that that sometimes the narrative, which is often the case when it comes to government and politics, omits or forgets the nuances and the details because the most extreme version of what is in front sells and people are attracted to that.

I want to say that a lot of careful attention went into this approach.

A lot of discussions with developers, with owners, and with the community.

And we have a responsibility and a duty to ensure that we hear the people, the cry of the community while at the same time considering everyone else.

So though your testimony is very impactful.

If I may finish, I know that I can go long.

It's important for me to put this on the record.

I am proud of the fact that we did not fight against the community, that we did not turn a blind eye or deaf ears to the cries of the community, but rather that we considered what's going on around the state today.

One of the biggest topics being discussed around the state from both parties is affordability.

How do you address affordability?

How do you ensure that people can afford to live in their homes and stay in this state?

Some talk about the fact that they may move out.

There's a large number that don't have that option or those resources.

The consequences for them may very well be that they end up on the streets.

We hear rhetoric now coming in from Washington, potentially that's gonna eliminate subsidies, assistance for individuals.

And we look at our city with our demographics and our needs, good families, hard-working families, some who fear that they can't go to court.

People say, Well, go to landlord tenant court, and some who are too afraid to say, I may not make it out of landlord tenant court.

I may go in there to fight for my rights and might find myself in cuffs and taken away to some detention center.

So I understand that there are legitimate concerns.

We have good people in the city, and we want to see investors make a profit.

There's nothing wrong with that.

You should have a return on your investment, but there should be a balance.

And over the last few years, we feel those scales have been tipped.

And unfortunately, some have taken advantage of very vulnerable people, and they have a right to stand up.

In fact, I commend them.

I commend every single person who stood together, who lifts up their voices, and I am proud to be in a city that reminds the community that we don't have to hide when we oppose something, when you feel strongly about something, the government is here to listen to you and to respond, not just to listen, to say we hear you, but to act.

So not solamente para ti, but for those familias, Mr.

Orgulloso que nosotros respondemos, porque eso lo que viene tiene que ser tenemos develo, una responsabilidad a defender el pueblo.

I'd like to respond.

First of all, I've been working very hard to try and learn Spanish, but I didn't get everything you just said.

Uh I I hope to come back in a year or two and and be able to say otherwise.

Um but I would like to answer one of the things you said, and that is about tenants who are being forced out of their apartments, which is a I totally agree.

It's a terrible thing.

I think one of the most important things the city can do is provide legal help or at least quasi-legal help.

Doesn't have to be a lawyer, it has to be someone knowledgeable, and the tenants have to be know about it and be quick and able to call them and get an immediate response, immediate help.

In terms of being forced out of their apartment, they can see de control doesn't force anyone out, as the first speaker said.

When a tenant moves out, as my tenant did, buys a house, a success story.

No one now I'm now it's up to me to create a good apartment for the next family to move into, and I have to have the resources to do it.

Appear before some board and try and make my case, not so easy.

I've I've been before boards here before, and spent a lot of money trying to make my case on certain issues, and not always with much success.

Uh, not in the residential field.

So I I've taken up too much of your time.

Thank you so much for the attention you've given.

Council president, I'll just conclude that George, you said something at the end, and I think it's important.

I would love to continue the conversation.

You said coming before a board, not so easy.

But I would propose to you that when it really matters, one will go before a board as you have done today to come up before a board to make your appeal.

And I would encourage you to do the same because responsible landlords like you should be protected as well.

And I think tenants appreciate individuals who consider their challenges, and you're not trying to make a buck off of somebody else's hardship.

You rightfully make the repairs of you stated.

And I again will say there are provisions in this ordinance to defend individuals who do the right thing while still holding accountable bad actors.

Thank you.

Councilman Mons.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor, for your words.

I would just suggest here publicly, if I may, that and George actually touched on this about going before a board.

Does one go before board before he starts construction to know how much he could invest in it?

Or does one go to the board after he does construction?

And we also take notice that every month that an apartment is empty, right, is a loss, right?

To a landlord, right?

So as we're trying to help out the residences, and um I understand that the administration's goal as well is to protect the landlords as well, with to find that the right balance.

Um maybe we need to put in place guidelines of what the rent leveling board will consider and how much they will consider.

Because for a landlord to fix an apartment up and then go before the board for them to determine what how much can be increased is not going to is only going to deter landlords from from doing doing exactly that.

I think that's an excellent suggestion, and I want to explore that with our attorney, but I believe that's an excellent suggestion, Council.

Just as an additional note, if I may listen to uh all the comments that have uh insured so far.

Um, one thing appears to be true, and that is that with there being a freeze in terms of what one can increase.

Um, and with the heightened market that we have right now, it is only natural to assume that there's going to be the valuation of the underlying properties is going to go down.

If and when that property value goes down, the taxes are going to go down as part of revaluation.

Where that hole that's just been established goes, is the question are those taxes that are no longer coming in from building A, are they going to be shifted to other buildings?

And I think the answer necessarily becomes yes.

Um one person had stopped me on the street and said, you know, I I don't mind you know the three percent, but is the city going to deal with three percent also?

And I think these are these are serious questions that that need to be addressed.

Because what we certainly don't want to do is to alleviate the pain and the suffering that so many people here are fear or are experiencing, only to have that same pain and suffering to be felt by someone else because they happen to live in another building or across the very right, council president, and that's why I think we've considered taking this approach.

Two things could be two uh can be true at the same time.

Look, I'm I don't think anyone doubts that I'm a pro-development mayor.

We've seen the development over the last eight years.

We want to see people develop, we want to see people do well.

I want to see renters become homeowners.

That's why we invest in our first-time homebuyer program and have aggressively pursued education campaigns and town hall meetings to tell people how they can access those funds so they can have that dream and own homes, accepting the premise that property values will go down, and I would say that we want to monitor closely the data because perhaps property values doesn't go down.

Perhaps the city may be unique, and investors continue to invest, and tenants are protected and developers are still doing well.

That would be the ideal.

That it is our intention to monitor this closely, and if we believe that there is an adverse impact on the state of the city, we will readdress it the same way that we're addressing this, because it is important that this governing body and my administration look at the circumstances of the day.

The circumstances of the day is that prices are going up, utility bills are going up.

It's why we're partnering with BPU to have a utility day on October 1st, right here to assist families to pay their electric bills and the utility bills.

We understand this concern.

That's why we went uh work so hard to incorporate these provisions to help landlords.

But if in the years to come, if those who believe that this will so adversely impact the city that it is not sustainable, then we will come together again.

And we've shown that that's what we do.

We make the road and I commend their leadership.

NIDIA and all those part of the groups came to the city and said we are concerned.

We had already passed a 6% and discussed of bringing that cap down lower.

We had already implemented a 20% set aside for affordable housing in every new development.

It was mentioned that new developments are exempt, but I need to remind everyone not exempt from affordable housing because every single one of them now are required to have 20% set aside for affordable housing.

That is good news because it shows a willingness of this governing body, my administration to work together to address the needs of our community.

So again, Council President, look in your role as assemblyman, you have seen so many cases throughout the entire state.

And I so appreciate that perspective and wisdom that you bring because it enhances our ability to consider situations.

So I'll reiterate again.

If in a few years we see that situations have become so negative and detrimental, and it's going against the city, then we will come together, have confidence we will come together.

We will address it.

We will meet with groups and we will make compelling arguments.

But right now we're dealing with the situation of the day.

And the situation of the day is that there must be a strong message to landlords who are taking advantage of vulnerable families and let them know that Passaic stands, not just members of the community, but the city united and together stands up in defense of those who are vulnerable in our community.

Thank you.

Councilman Love.

Yes.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh, mayor, not to add more to your play because in constant conversation with you, I know in the development of this ordinance.

You spoke with landlords, advocacy groups as well as the community.

Um, I just propose that we maybe form a committee with landlords like this young man here who just spoke.

Um, I got a colleague here who's an excellent landlord as well, and to meet with the advocacy advocacy groups so that there can be constant conversation about the pros and cons on both sides.

Um, sometimes we get caught in just the one side that we're protecting and we're looking at, and if they come together, maybe there could be a happy medium.

If in fact we have to, well, if we have to address this down the line, we'll already have those factors in place.

So I just that's just my suggestion.

Maybe we could develop some type of um committee or something that they meet periodically just to discuss some of the pressing issues on both sides.

Councilman, and I will remind everyone that our rent leveling board is actually made up of the landlord tenant, uh, rent leveling attorney, uh it's a good representation of all stakeholders in the community.

But uh and uh any time we can add more people to the table and more conversations would be positive.

Council.

Thank you.

Yes, please.

Um, good evening, assemblyman chair, council, um, honorable home mayor Laura.

My name is Bowen Francisco.

I've lived in the city for 41 years since the Oregon era.

Um seen um most of my friends leave the city because they can't afford the rent.

Friends that I grew up with.

Um if you um if this doesn't get passed, um you start losing population, and before you know it, you'll have a ghost town.

Yes, uh the uh landlord that spoke before me to have a partial point on the um on the vacancy de control.

I I I can understand that, but uh like you said before, Mr.

Mayor, some landlords do take advantage on that, and um my opinion, I can't prove it.

Uh I I believe that's a lot.

So um please please pass this.

Please pass it for for the for the residents of the city.

Please pass the entire ordinance.

Thank you very much.

Bye-bye.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Nicole Morella.

I'm co-executive director of the New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence.

And I'm here on behalf of our 34 member domestic violence providers across the state, including the providers serving survivors and victims here in Passaic City.

I was before you last month, so I appreciate the opportunity to lift up again how important the ordinance before you is this evening.

This ordinance is more than just housing policy, it is vital protection for survivors of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women and children.

By capping rent increases at 3% and closing the vacancy loophole, it keeps rent stable and predictable, preventing survivors from being priced out of their homes and the communities that they need for support as well as access for their children.

For survivors, many of whom face economic abuse and live paycheck to paycheck, rent stability can mean the difference between safety and homelessness.

When housing is secure, survivors are less likely to return to the unsafe situation or the abusive partner and more likely to rebuild their lives with dignity.

Thank you so much.

And uh I was paying $560 a month in my rent for a two-bedroom.

It was convenient for me, and it was a reasonable rent and allowed me to save money.

And uh after about seven or eight years, my landlord had troubles financially, and I ended up buying the building.

So I bought the building in 2001.

So at that time the rents were about 650 at that time, and 23 years later, I still own the building, and my rent is 1200 that I rent.

So I never even started raising rents at all until the last four or five years.

And the reason I did because I feel bad to raise rent because I was a tenant there too.

But the reason it was mainly is the insurance issue.

It's like it's drastic, and I don't think anybody really realizes it.

So I have two buildings in the state, and uh I was paying six thousand eight hundred for both buildings combined five years ago.

Now I'm paying 20,000.

So that difference right there alone is is the reason that I'm doing basically about five percent on an increase each year.

And uh if I don't do it, it's basically like a business.

And if I don't do it, I will fall behind, and then I can't pay my bills.

So that is the reason that uh, you know, hopefully, uh, you know, I know don't the tenants are looking for three percent, but somewhere around five percent is more to me more reasonable.

I heard stories earlier from tenants that their landlords raised it 200, 300.

Well, that must be 30 percent or whatever it is, which is absurd, which they should never be able to do, but to me, for something fair and just in four or five percent is more reasonable for me to catch up with whatever bills that I have to pay, also.

And um, you know, I mean, I I feel bad for it for the tenants because I I was there, I was the tenant in my building, and that's how I know.

So uh, and that's the reason.

I I love Passaic myself, and that's the reason that I stayed there, and I own two buildings there, and I and I just I try to fix my buildings up as best I can.

And um, there's times that happened to me too where uh I have a vacancy recently from a tenant, it was a husband and wife, and they had split up, and it happened back in December.

And I didn't get any rent at all.

They split up, and the only answer was, you know, we're not together, I don't have the money to pay.

I lost seven months rent, and then you know, which is whatever amount of money to you know, 10,000, whatever, and then on top of that, I had to do work on new flooring and this and that.

Cost me seven or eight thousand on top of that.

Now I have a new tenant, and um I was getting from her one thousand a month in rent for the husband and wife, and um now I'm getting 1250, which helps me a little bit, you know what I'm saying?

Like just to justify a little bit of money back, and it's still not high rent, but it's just something that I needed to do just to regain some kind of money on my losses, and uh you know, there's two sides to every story.

And uh, you know, there's two sides to every story.

That's all I could say.

So thank you.

Thank you very much.

Hi, counsel.

My name is Manika.

I'm a member of Make the Road.

As a member, um, we actually did try speaking with our um tenants about the six percent on the race cap.

Um, but during our conversation, we noticed that it was too much, and we think like we the negotiation that we have is really valuable in us.

For example, my rent was a thousand six hundred, then it raised up to two thousand, and then to two thousand seventy-five in the lapse of three years, and so that's uh that represents a 32 increase, and because of make the road, my landlord and I actually started like getting along now better because now he knows that I have knowledge of what's in play now.

So we can never go back in time now, but at least we're we can take action of what of after years of deregulations to keep people in their homes.

Thank you, council for recognizing our broken system and for taking action tonight.

Hi, good evening, council members.

My name is Alejandro Jaramillo, and I am part of the cosecha movement.

Um, I don't live in Pase, but I have relatives, friends, uh, some of them here.

Um, first I want to start thanking the mayor for his clarity, right?

I think the mayor has explained very clearly of what types of provisions there are from the city for the landlords, and I just want to let you know that at some point at some point in my life I was a landlord, and it is a profitable business, you know, real estate always goes in value, and there are you know tax provisions, there are government programs and other provisions to accept costs, and at the end of the day, true, there are times where you have losses, but at the end of the day, you recoup those losses in the future, and at the end of the day, you end up with a property that has a lot of value.

So to be hearing the landlords making case of this tenant of this month for this year, I think they have the right here, you know, to make their case and to inform and say what they what they think.

But we are hearing the needs of thousands of people here in Passake in this room and outside this room that this provision will help in these times that are very hard for everyone, and as the mayor says, rated on if there is something that's to be changed, I'm sure that you will consider to change it.

But now it is the important aspect, you know, to be with the working families, with the families that are struggle with with their families that want it in town, right?

That have the kids that have a good life that keep contributing to the communities, and we expect you you know to be with those families, and as far as the landlords, you know, it is a business, and as a business owners, when we have a business, we are creative and we try to find ways, you know, to accept our losses.

So for me personally, right?

I think that there is a mandate from the community for the people in place in place to pass the resolution.

Um I thank you all for listening and for your support.

Thank you.

Um, I must say this is a wonderful example of democracy.

People come forward and speak actually with the mayor and the council and a free flowing idea.

It's just wonderful.

Your ordinance tonight is one of the most important things you will do for the community.

There's concerns that is stated tonight about the cost of a repair of an apartment.

We have to remember that is one cost over many years.

Okay.

You have to remember there are three factors on revenue property.

You have the rental income, of course.

Okay.

You also have the depreciation aspect.

People don't remember that.

They're making money.

Landlords are entitled to make money.

They should be making money.

We've heard some wonderful landlords tonight.

I wish there were more that were at $1,400 and not the $2,000 that we're hearing more about from other people.

Okay.

But you have the depreciation and the appreciation aspect of a property.

So let's not be afraid of somebody moving out and having to go ahead and retrofit an apartment.

That's the mayor stated.

There's a capital uh capital improvement provision in the ordinance itself.

That enables a property owner to go ahead and increase the value of their property and maintain that value.

The ordinance is excellent.

There's a hardship provision.

The hard hardship provision goes directly to a base increase in rent.

If a landlord's not making a reasonable return on their investment, they can go ahead and do so.

We're talking about a reasonable return, not some of the landlords, especially those larger landlords that don't know the names of their tenants, and which there are more of in every city that go ahead, they're not looking for a reasonable return.

They're looking for a means of return, an exorbitant return.

That is not fair to your community who have their homes here and have lived here their whole lives.

Vacancy decontrol vacancy decontrol is the death of rent control.

People move.

Whatever reason.

Maybe their children left, they've gone, they want to downsize.

Well, also they leave the one apartment that has four bedrooms and they go into a two-bedroom.

Well, that was vacant.

Okay.

All of a sudden, that's increased substantially.

And it happens over and over again, and eventually, you don't have rent control anymore.

The beauty of rent control is stabilization.

It helps everybody.

And that in fact, that's the title of your ordinance.

It's a rent stabilization ordinance.

Every landlord and every tenant will know year to year what their income and expenses are going to be.

But I'll let you know there's never I've never seen people not try to invest in the state.

So I wish you tonight to pass this ordinance and the form it is, and everybody have a good night.

Yeah, I just have a quite a few questions with something something you just said.

You um just so we're accurate here.

You mentioned that besides I guess we're talking about George.

We mentioned about his rent 1400, right?

And you said we need to remember that he's still making sixteen thousand dollars, even without an increase of rent, he's still making sixteen thousand dollars a year on that apartment, right?

Correct.

But I didn't give the three percent.

I'm sorry, I didn't include the three percent.

Yeah, we include the percent, right?

That's fine.

So seeing that excuse me, sorry, I'm sorry, I need your name for the record, please.

Neil and EIL Murata.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Neil.

Um, I just the impression I made is that the sixteen thousand dollars is profit into George's pocket, and I think you you know very well that the sixteen thousand dollars he has to pay real estate tax, and he has to pay insurance, right?

And he has to pay for maintenance of the buildings, and the list goes on and on and on and on.

Absolutely.

Okay, so just the impression you gave was that we have to remember that he's still making sixteen thousand dollars, but you know very well that he's not making sixteen thousand dollars because he has expenses.

I don't know how many units are in his building, right?

Okay, the more units, the more money you're we don't know, correct?

And every situation is different.

That's correct, right?

Every single situation is different, right?

But I also know he's not turning over the property every year and spending $15,000 on a kitchen.

That's correct, but you don't have that's correct, Andre.

Absolutely, absolutely.

But to I just wanted to be clear that there are day-to-day expenses, and just because a landlord is getting $1,400 rent, that's not profit.

Uh a typical expense on a on a property is at least 60%, 65%, before you even get to a mortgage, before you can get to the mortgage, and you also mentioned about depreciation.

Depreciation is deferred, it's not money that you save depreciation, just means that you're deferring your taxes, but eventually it catches up with you.

So the points that you've made, I understand what you're trying to portray.

I understand I get it, I understand your points and everyone's points here, but I think that we should stay with the facts because we as you mentioned, we do have a very honest dialogue here between the people and and the administration and the council, but we should work with the facts so that the decisions are made based on that.

Thank you.

Absolutely, thank you.

Is there anyone else who would like to address the council?

Seeing no hands, I'm moving second.

There's a motion there's a second to close public discussion.

Did you councilman monk?

Yes, councilman love, yes, councilman Mello, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colom Montañez, yes, and council president Shane.

Yes, thank you.

What is the disposition of the council, ladies and gentlemen?

Shall we vote now?

Should we take a small break?

We should vote now.

We vote now.

We should vote now.

We got a lot of young kids that are very good.

There is a there's first ordinance on the on the table.

Proposal orders 2494-25.

Councilman Monk.

Yeah, thank you.

I I just want to um to sum up some thoughts, if I may, um, regarding this ordinance.

And I know that's very dear to everyone's hearts here in this room and to many that are not here as well.

But as I just mentioned about laying out the facts, um, and the way I see this is and it's something which the mayor really spelled out very clearly that this is really a work in progress here in terms of trying to find the right balance to find out what works for for everyone.

And as we know, the city of Passaic is unique that we have a city made up of people from many different backgrounds, we have people different types of communities in terms of people renters, the people that own, and so on and so forth.

So the administration and the council, we have a tough job here trying to write balance that we care about everyone.

As an example, the council president mentioned earlier that potentially again.

I say potentially because it's something which I know the administration will keep an eye on to see if if it makes an impact and how much of an impact.

If sometimes with rent control, with um the vacancy, we don't have the vacancy control, values of apartment buildings go down in price.

As George mentioned, he said that if I can't fix up the unit and can't get my increase, I'm going to sell now.

Very simple math, and I'm going to try to stay with common sense without quoting people from Rutgers University or from this university.

Let's just try to work with common sense.

If George has to sell his building and the rents are restricted at a certain price, that's going to lower the price of what he could get for it.

So if you have residential buildings that will decrease in price, and the value, that means that that building will pay less taxes.

So now the city has a choice.

We either identity year we need to collect taxes and we have a budget.

We can either reduce some of our services that we offer to the residences, or we need to increase taxes on the other buildings, whether they're residential, whether they're industrial, whether they're single family homes, whatever it might be.

So what does that look like?

What does it look like?

Let's take an example.

Someone has an industrial building with 30 year lease, a 10 year lease, right?

Fixed price, and now his taxes are going up.

What's going to do to the value of his building?

It'll drop the value of his building.

So he'll come appeal his taxes as well.

Now it's taxes fall on someone owns a single family home, someone who was blessed who was able to afford and buy a single family home.

We have many people living in single family homes that are seniors.

They're living on fixed income.

They don't have jobs.

They're living on a social security check.

So besides for their insurance costs that have been increasing drastically over the last few years, besides for their cost to fix their roof or to fix a boiler, which has doubled or tripled over the last few years.

Now their taxes are going up even more than anticipated.

So all this needs to be balanced out and to find the right balance.

Uh to make this city viable for everyone for every resident of the city.

Another point that I heard um not tonight, but I heard this at the last meeting was about how many evictions there are, how the evictions have gone.

Just a few years, evictions went from 2,652 evictions in 2021 to 6,745.

That's that's an increase of two and a half times of evictions.

That means look how many more people cannot afford to pay their rent, and they were threatened, and some I'm sure unfortunately were evicted.

Let's look at the other side of things.

Let's look at the data of how many people that own homes that were late with their mortgage payments between 30 and 90 days.

The national average, and since we're showing charts before I'll take the liberty of showing charts, the national average in um in 21, 2021, which is the same period of the evictions, the national average was 0.6 percent of individuals that pay their mortgage late, they were delinquent between 30 and 90 days.

In 2024, it went to three percent.

That's not a two and a half times increase like the evictions, that's a five times increase of people who own homes who were delinquent on their mortgage payments.

That's the national average.

Let's take a look at New Jersey.

New Jersey's average also in 2021 was 0.6 percent, and in and now at the end of the end of 24, this is 1.8 percent are delinquent on their on their mortgage.

That's an increase of three times, and then we get down to Passai County.

Passate county in 2020, one and then 2021 also had that same very similar to the national average of 0.6, actually, it's a little 0.5 percent, half a percent of people with delinquent on the mortgages in the beginning of 2024, it was 2.3 percent.

We went from 0.6 percent around a half a percent up to 2.3 percent.

That's more than four times, that's almost five times the amount of people who are delinquent in their mortgage payments in 2022 to the end of 2024.

So, what this tells us is that everyone's suffering.

It's not just the people that are renting, everyone is suffering.

The ones that own homes, homes, because their insurance costs have gone up and their cost to maintain their home has gone up, and their electric costs went up, and their heating costs went up five times the amount of people were not able to pay their mortgage on time, and then foreclosures have increased drastically in the whole nation.

So this is a what that means is that this body, the administration and any any legislation body has a job to find the right balance to make it sustainable and livable for everyone.

I'm not sure what that number is.

That's the number we came up with.

And I found it interesting that someone came up earlier and said you know, around five percent can make it livable, doable for him.

We thought that was, and but unfortunately, not everyone has the patience to see how it'll work.

So I'm not against trying something to play and see how this plays out in terms of is this viable?

And if it is viable, it's great.

If we can make it one percent, and the landlords could survive, and it doesn't impact other people in the city, and they could also make that's great.

Let's make it zero percent.

But we have to remember we're all here together, we're part of a city.

We can't look to the city as just just this part or just that part.

We're here to work together.

So that's just something I think is is is important to keep in mind, and I understand the struggles, trust me, I understand the struggles of what it means not to be not to be able to pay bills.

Um that's that's one point I wanted to mention.

The other thing is we have all these people that are coming from various organizations to fight for all of you to make sure that there's more affordable housing.

And I understand there was something quoted from Rutgers University, and this professor, that professor.

Let's just talk logic for a moment, if I may.

We heard from George, he can't afford it.

I understand that we have the mayor made a very good point that in this ordinance there is rule to compensate, and they can doubt it's the work in progress to see how that plays out.

Will that work?

And if it works, it's great.

I'm on board, but it's something we need to constantly monitor because without that, what happens is historically, historically, city after city that has imposed rent controls, has seen buildings that have been condoed because condominiums don't have don't have have less restrictions.

People sell the units, they can't afford to hold on to it.

That means less housing, that means it's less opportunities, less opportunities means more of your friends, more of your families have to relocate them to other communities, which is exactly the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish.

Another point is all of you are very respectable individuals, you all deserve to live with decency and dignity.

Unfortunately, let's just talk logic for a second.

If I own a building, and you're restricting me to three percent, and my taxes get taxed on pass through my insurance goes up, whatever it is, again, we'll see how the rent leveling board plays out.

Again, it's something we need to monitor.

And at the end of the day, I can't.

I I'm just not making money.

Typically, someone is not going to keep putting money into a building.

Yeah, you'll do it for three months, do it for a year, you do it for two years, do it for three years, hoping you'll find some light at the end of the tunnel.

At a certain point, you stop.

So, what is the landlord gonna do?

They might love you.

Do your landlord assume he loves you.

How much money is he going to keep pumping into your building to maintain your building to clean the hallways, to replace the floor, to paint the walls of your hallways.

If there's no money, your hallways are not getting painted, your exteriors are not being fixed up, right?

And maintenance will suffer.

It has to come from somewhere, and that only that does is it reduces the quality of life.

Not again.

There have been landlords, greedy landlords that have taken advantage of this, and they deserve to be prosecuted, right?

I I'm totally on board.

100,000 percent, but just remember, too much control comes at a cost, and it comes at a cost of your quality of life of what your buildings will look like.

If buildings, if you own a house, if you don't constantly upgrade a house, it falls apart.

If the boiler goes and it doesn't have money, he's gonna put a band aid on it and just breaks down more often and more often more often, and it just it's that's that's not quality of life when you the boiler breaks a few times a month because he can't afford to put a new boiler in.

So this is something that needs, I speak to my colleagues that needs to be really monitored very carefully, that we're not hurting you.

I understand that you can't live with 200 or 400, 800 increases.

That's wrong.

But at the same time, we need to find the right balance that you can live with dignity and live in a building that's well kept because as buildings go down, you know what that invites, you know.

Crime doesn't have an address, but crime does find its way to buildings that look dilapidated that are not very well kept.

It's just a fact.

We know that.

Um like to mention is that I think not I think I know that under this administration has never I can say I know because I haven't been here 100 years ago, 150 years ago when City of Piscake was created, but to the best of my knowledge, there's never ever been more development in the city's Piscah than the last eight years under this mayor administration, never, never.

And I will point out that in 1999, it was 25 years ago, is when the city got rid of rent control, and I don't know, I don't know if if we would have seen that type of growth, what we've seen in this administration had control been in place.

I don't know.

We'll find out because historically, you can look at city after city after city when rent control has been instituted, between 70 and 75 percent, there's been a 70 to 75 percent reduction of permits for new construction because the developer has a choice where to put his investment, where to make his investment.

Is he going to make his investment in a city that's open that allow that doesn't has less restrictions?

Of course, so rent control deters new investments, it's logic.

Less injustice means as the mayor said earlier, we take a lot of pride that every new development has to have 15% of 20%.

15%, and in some cases 20, but councilwoman, I would remind you that new development they would be exempted, home occupied um properties are exempted from this.

So new development would be exempt, home occupied would be exempt.

So I just want to make those clear.

But to your point, and it is a very good point, councilman.

We'll look at it because any one of these scenarios could occur.

You made a pointy statement.

Landlords aren't angels, they also shouldn't be demons.

And with that said, we're trying to strike a balance.

We don't expect them to be saints, we also don't expect them to be evil.

No one is expected to be in any one of those extreme.

What we do expect is this.

We expect that our approach will send a message, and if it works, we will all benefit from it and we move forward.

We will look at it to see if it works.

What we know is over the last 30 years, there have been many landlords that took advantage.

And if it's a bit of a hardship for landlords to be told go before a board, how much more so isn't it for vulnerable tenants to be told go to landlord tenant court?

Because if landlords who have the money, the attorneys, the resources are saying that's very difficult for me to go in front of a rent leveling board.

Imagine the family that says I don't I don't have the attorney, I don't have the I can't, I don't have the day off of work to go to landlord tenant court, which is often bottlenecked by so many cases and miss multiple days.

So I hear you, and I think every councilman hears you, and everyone in the community knows that there will be challenges.

But again, I do believe that historically there's been precedent.

This council has fought hard to support affordability initiatives.

This initiative, I believe, is a positive one.

City of Pasaka is unique.

I think it's been said over and over, each city is different, just like each property is different.

Maybe the city does well, maybe we do the right thing and we get rewarded.

Maybe a landlord sells and someone else buys and says, I want to fix the place up.

But that's why we have government, that's why we have a democratic process.

That's why people come here and speak and share and express their concerns, and council members share their concerns, and we look to the future, but not one of us is a fortune teller.

We try the best that we can, and again, if there is adverse impact, not on just a few, on the city as a whole, we will come together again and we will visit it.

But I believe before us is an opportunity to do something remarkably importantly right that will perhaps inspire other municipalities to take a good hard look at their approaches and to tell investors and developers in all cities, it's good that you make money, but not so much that the people are being hurt.

So I think you made excellent points.

But again, I'm proud of this council for moving forward on so many affordability initiatives in the past.

ADUs accessory dwelling units passed in every single ward, set asides of 15% and 20% for affordable housing and provisions that exempt all new development that exempt home owner occupied properties, owner-occupied properties are exempted.

In fact, I thank the advocacy groups and the community for not being so extreme and saying we don't want to sit down and talk to set out and say we understand there are good landlords.

I think in every approach, there's a give and take compromise.

No one side receives everything that they want, but ultimately you work together to do what's right for the community.

So yes, I think we will look at it, but we will look at it objectively.

We will look at it with data.

We won't look at it with a bias and say it's been a week.

We think that this isn't working.

We will genuinely give it an opportunity and invest in real studies and juxtapose those numbers to other municipalities and see how it's working.

Juxtapose them appropriately to municipalities that are similar to ours with our demographics and our investments and look to see.

I mean, stat just came out.

Statistics came out that Passake County is leading every single county in New Jersey in homes being sold and bought.

Two years from now, three years from no one knows what it looks like in the future.

What we see now is a real need because you're right.

In 1999, rent control was removed.

In the last eight years, we've seen record investments, but in the last few years coming off of a pandemic in the last few years with large segments of our population being targeted and too scared to come out of their homes to go to work.

If landlords are seeing increases in prices, how much more so on our tenants on our residents?

So again, I think you're right.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

Thank you.

Yeah, so thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Just councilman mayor, please.

Hi, everybody.

We have an emergency on our hands.

There's a contingency of the population of Passaic that is be taken advantage of by landlords that are lacking.

This ordinance is somewhat of a tourniquet for those that were taking advantage of since the pandemic for the rising costs.

And more importantly, those who don't have the voice that they deserve and are being taken advantage of by these landlords.

That being said, this is somewhat of a micro perspective, and there is a macro perspective, and there will be effects.

What they will be, I think the mayor and councilman monk alluded to that we do have to watch this, and this while hopefully is a solution to the long-term problem.

It may not be there is the reality that the values of properties will likely go down due to lack of enthusiastic investors coming to town with a rent control, no matter what the rent control number is, or vacancy control.

There will be a there will likely be effects on the tax role and the services, possibly if the revenue is cut, cautiously optimistic.

Thank you.

Consumer, please.

Thank you, Council President.

Um, well, as we know, we don't have a crystal ball, but we're dealing with a situation right now.

Um, we don't know what the future holds, but for right now, I think you know, this ordinance addresses the situation, but as it has been stated, we will monitor it closing.

So for in the future, if any reevaluated, we will.

But I think right now we have a situation, and as elected officials, we've heard the voices.

This is nothing new.

Um, the pandemic really opened up Pandora's box.

There were landlords that were squeezing our residents, and that's why we are here now.

And I think this is the right time.

We have to do what we need to do, and as time moves along, we will monitor it.

But there is a situation in our hands, and it's only right that we do what we need to do.

And our residents have been very vocal about it.

And as residents ourselves, we understand um that we have um a job to do.

So thank you guys for coming out for speaking up and bringing this to our tension.

May I say something in Spanish?

Um gracias a todos for starting.

For lack of better word, ustedes no and they had to say looks.

During the pandemic, we had landlords who abusar them to resident, and stuff.

So creo que es el momento de tomar cartel in the assunto, de escuchar residente, porque como se oficial selected, um monitor um cerca, y si se tienen que hacerlo, se hace porque nada in la is para siempre.

But for the moment is una forma de practicamente corregirlo que está many corrigiendo porque no todo trabaja a la perfección.

Gracias.

Yeah, council president.

I just want to address one thing that the the mayor's uh touched on a few times about new development, you know, new development uh being exempt, you know, for 30 years of new development.

Um typically in you know, we've there's such a concept of ground leases where someone might give you a ground lease for 99 years, you could build on something, but after 99 years they get your building.

And typically a 99 a year or even a 75 year ground lease doesn't affect the value of a property because it's so far out that if you build a building on this land, you could sell it in five years, seven years, eight years, ten years, fifteen years, because people are not thinking about 75 or 99 years later.

I'm not so I'm not convinced that a 30-year exemption is really going to uh tell a developer, don't worry, continue coming to Persaic and developing like we've been doing thousands and thousands of units, and which added hundreds and hundreds of affordable apartments because 30 years, if someone develops something they selling it seven, eight or ten years later, and the next buyer knows that you know 20 years left, there is gonna be rent control that might make have an impact, a significant impact on the value of that property, which will have an impact on the whole concept of the redevelopment that we've been doing in the city of Persaic.

And the city has given out 15-year pilots, 30-year pilots, where you know developers had the advantage of you know make your investment in the city of Passaic, it will keep your taxes relatively stable, low, you know, for 15 or 30 years, knowing that this will make a big impact in 15, 30 years.

As our as our expenses go up, that we know we have something to rely on that.

Oh, there's development A that's going to come do in 13 years.

Development B and come do in 12 years where their taxes will reset.

So it's like all this development has been setting a um call it a um, but um a future for our children that is taxes go out, there'll be something to rely on in the 15 or 30 years.

But that I that plan to create that value for the future generations, even if we don't feel an impact today, with a 30-year um exemption.

I'm not convinced again, the time will time will tell, that developers will continue coming to the city of Passaic and continue development so that our children have a future in Passaic in 20 and 30 and 40 years that'll be affordable for them to live here.

So we'll build a very short period of time over the next two or three years of CF building permits and new construction falls off.

But it's something that even with an exemption, not sure that they'll really continue um developers to make that investment here in the city of Persi.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh before we vote, I'd like to reserve a few moments for the chair to speak on the subject.

We're trying to be objective.

Um, I guess when I don't have to be objective anymore, but let's try nonetheless.

Number one, let's state categorically that it is unconscionable in terms of scumbag landlords who are sapping the blood out of our people.

Pure and end of story.

We must have a plan to deal with that, or else we're just wasting our time and wasting our saliva.

If we do not create some sort of an of an oversight or overview policy group that's going to look at this issue specifically in Passaic, then we're fooling ourselves.

Nothing will happen with tonight's meeting, nothing will happen with all the hours that you've been putting into the subject.

So, as council president, I take it upon my responsibility to appoint ad hoc committees at my pleasure and leisure, and I do so now, Councilman Monk, Councilman Love, Councilwoman Mellow are now part of the policy group to develop over the next few weeks or months, along with the administration, a uh working group, a worker policy group, to deal with the problems of the obscene increases, as well as to recognize the practicalities that landlords need to make some money for no for no further reason than to ensure that their repairs are up to snuff and up to, of course.

I've had the ability uh in my other job in in Trenton, as some of you might know I serve as a member of the General Assembly.

I've partnered with make a road in terms of uh driver licenses and a host of other issues.

Uh, joined you in your uh opening of your office here in Passaic.

Um close to most many of your leadership.

Um I've never felt more proud of your group than I have tonight.

Never felt more proud of my council and my memory than I have tonight.

We have done what no one else has done before.

We have come together and actually talked to each other.

We've not only talked to each other, but we've recognized that not everything is white nor everything is black and must be treated with some sophistication much greater than that.

And I think we've achieved it.

I believe this ordinance will be voted on in a very few minutes, and I believe that it will pass.

There will be some questions about how do I make it better.

And for that, we may turn to the councilman Miller, Councilman Love, and Councilman Monk.

We have an opportunity.

It is an opportunity, Councilman Monk, as you said, to provide both dignity and digness and dignity.

We have to protect our people.

We have to protect our children's future.

We have to protect what kind of city we are going to be.

We need to recognize, Councilman Muckers.

I think you said so eloquently, that we are either one city or we're not.

We can't afford to be several cities, it just won't work.

We've got a common enemy, at least in some areas sitting in Washington, DC right now, thinking of ways to take money out of the house of the poor, out of education for for all of our children.

That's the fight.

We have a local job to do.

One does not excuse the other.

But we have got to get this done.

That being the case, there is an ordinance on the floor.

Is there a make of the ordinance, please?

So move it.

Proposed ordinance 2494-25.

An ordinance amending section 231-23.

Rent stabilization of 2025 of chapter 231 rent control of the city of Passaic code to reduce maximum allowable rental increases.

We have a motion, we have a second roll call, please.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love.

Yes.

Councilwoman Mello?

Yes.

Councilman Mayor?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilman Colomb Montañez?

Yes.

And Council President Sheer.

Yes, this passed unanimously.

Most passage.

Ten minute recess, then we'll be coming back to complete the council.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

We are back on agenda, please.

In accordance with the open public meetings act in JSA 10 calling 4-1 at second.

The council opens every public meeting for comments of the public.

However, in accordance with NJSA 10 calling 4-12, nothing in this act shall be construed to limit the discretion of the public body to permit prohibit or regulate the act of participation in any meeting.

Therefore, please be advised that the council will not entertain any comments in persons who communicated same material.

Next statements which are considered bias intimidation, in which a person attends to intimidate any individual or group because of race, color, religion, gender, handicap, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, or makes comments intending to harass and speak any offensive language.

The person who makes some statements will languish their allotted five minutes for public discussion.

Is there anyone who would like to adjust the council at this time?

Yes.

Good evening.

Um council president.

My first uh question to the police chief if we can answer.

Paul the Sennavio and Broadway, they have two cameras.

My question is, what are they used for?

I might not give them all three questions.

I have uh my next question.

A bit more specific in your question, sir.

Well, the question is there's two cameras up on the poll.

I'd like to know what they're used for.

That's my question.

What are they used for?

Um my next question would be what happened to the two Hummers that was donated to the city.

Uh, where are they?

What are they used for?

Are they uh vandalized or are they just uh discarded?

Whatever, I don't know.

My next question is uh from January to I guess we can say September.

Umdate report.

If I can get that.

Um my next question is there was an ordinance a few meetings back, ordinance 2485-25, resident residential parking permits.

My question is um is this for the whole city?

Uh you know, can I get some information on that?

And my last question is for um idea for you is there yellow buses are parking on side streets, they are taking up uh tenant parking.

And my question for this is there any way if it's possible that in the evening they could use the parking deck that you have across your street at night and just move them out in the morning to eliminate the spaces just because the uh tenants could park their vehicles without parking five five blocks away from their home.

Um these are my questions tonight.

Very good, sir.

Thank you so much for your patience with tonight's meeting.

Chief two cameras on Broadway, is it?

Yeah, those cameras are used for monitoring traffic or if a crime occurs for any purposes that they might be needed.

That's what they're used for.

Okay, second question.

Two Hummers.

The two armors are currently in an alternate police lot.

Um that being across the street, probably uh by say Nicholas.

I thought it used to be by the uh by the gas pump.

Yeah, they would they would be there if they needed some type of service.

So they're probably at an alternate lot.

I can't remember exactly what their location right now, but they're still being used.

All right, chiefs.

Do we have a crime report for the months of January through September?

We have an internal uh report that's not disclosed until uh the state police actually goes over each statistic.

Um but uh you could actually look up statistics that are uh that are already viewed by the state police and the FBI um online on our website, okay.

Uh an ordinance in terms of I believe overnight parking you said um permit parking, permit parking.

Um I don't have that ordinance offhand.

We'd be happy to have it ready.

Hopefully coming for you in our next meeting.

And last was about yellow buses on side streets and parking in general.

Do we have any considerations on that chief?

What was the question again?

That that the yellow buses are yellow buses parking on side streets, which means the homeowners and doctors and everybody else has no place to park.

Yeah, if you see something like that, give us a heads up.

I know I know we had an issue with that at certain locations.

I think uh right off of Broadway by Irving.

I think that was rescue that was rectified.

That that location was issued right over 300 summonses in one year, right?

For those type of issues, cars parking on the sidewalks and and the yellow bus is also being um on the streets when they're actually commercial uh vehicles.

Those are those issues were addressed.

Yeah, one question to this.

Um was there an ordinance passed that we're uh small vehicles allowed to park on the street?

Like commercial vehicles recently, small commercial vehicles, no commercial vehicles are commercial vehicles, whether they're small or large.

Oh, I bet there was something.

All right, all right.

Um that's what you gave me.

Yeah, okay.

Anyone else wish to address the council at this time?

Seeing no hands is that motion council.

Councilman Monk, Councilman Love, yes, councilwoman Mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombon Tanes, yes, and council president chair.

Yes, thank you.

Ordinances for second and final number one, please proposed an ordinance 2490-25 in order to exceed the municipal budget appropriations limits and to establish a cap bank interesting 484-45.14 introduced to July 15th council meeting.

Is there a motion, please to open public hearing?

Motion and second roll call, please.

Councilman Monk, Councilman Love, yes, councilwoman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombo Tanies.

Yeah, I think council president.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Lurch.

Thank you for being here.

What are we talking about on 2490?

Oh, thank you.

Uh the ordinance, uh the ordinance here refers to the 1977 law.

In 1977, they actually passed a law which would have your expenditure was at five percent.

So that only allowed you to increase your spending by five percent.

That was subsequently modified where it was tied into a price index.

The price index uh for this year for calendar year 2025 would allow you to increase your expenses by 2.5 percent.

What this ordinance does, it increases by an additional one percent for a total allowable increase of 3.5 percent.

Um, let me state this though.

Uh, all it does is allow you to go up to that level.

The city never goes up to that level, so it's really preventive action that's taken so that should some unforeseen event occur, you would not be constrained by the uh by the legislative cap.

Matter of fact, this budget that we're presenting today is 1.8 million dollars below the 1977 cap allowance.

So it's really just a uh contingency plan.

It expires every three years, it's kind of a rolling expiration.

So it's more of a technical uh ordinance that expires in the three year period.

Councilman Monk?

Yes, so I'm sure you've you've told the 20 minutes, right?

As a matter of fact, it's over 30 right now.

But probably is 10 minutes of all the place.

As a matter of fact, that's 50.

Oh, but it's early in the evening because uh historically we've been here much later.

Um what does that mean in terms of mic?

No, you're like the right here what does it mean in terms of the budget?

But sorry, is that better?

Yes, thank you.

Okay, but then you lay back.

Oh, okay.

Uh what it really is that means that the city uh go the expenses can only go up two and a half percent.

Is that across every line?

Again, no, again, uh very good point, councilman.

Again, it's two and a half percent with certain exceptions.

Uh so the exceptions would be debt service, there's no limitation on debt service.

The exception would be on uh on your library, there's no there's no limitation on your library on your capital improvements, there's no limitation on that either.

So um it's minus the exceptions.

So what happens if your uh insurance costs go up 20%?

And uh your payroll costs go up.

Well, they're action there they they've actually modified that too, so there's actually an allowance once it goes over and above a certain level, it's an exception as well.

It's let me share this with you.

I I think and I have the pleasure of having uh the council president also sits in the assembly.

When this law was adopted in 1977, there's now been approximately 50 exceptions to the law because we stopped prolific legislation, and I am not exaggerating because we went from A to Z with exceptions, and then we started with double A.

And now we're with A up to like double U.

What are you?

So there's literally uh over 45 exceptions to this law um each and every time that you know that we uh the cities faced a hurdle, because the only way to get around this is to have a referendum.

And um, out of my many years in government, um I have not been personally involved where I've witnessed the referendum pass.

Um, you know, they're very difficult to pass.

So um, so the legislative been accommodative um with these 45 some odd exceptions.

So that was the point I was getting to was that you shouldn't be um misinterpreting this that oh great, we have a two and a half percent cap, therefore our budget cannot go up more than two and a half percent.

There are so many exceptions to this that's the sky's the limit in terms of where your budget could could technically go.

Yeah, well, what the what the legislative did just for background for some of the newer council people that are that are here as well is um that's when they passed I'm sorry.

Registered municipal accountants, that two councilman mayor.

My pleasure, councilman mayor.

I was coming over to say hello, but I would wait till after.

Um, so so what happened is uh as councilman monk points out, there were so many exceptions to the original 1977 law that then they said this is really doesn't have the teeth that was seeking to for uh for uh tax you know for the control of taxes.

So that's when um I believe it was during the Christie administration when they passed the statute on the tax levy, and that's when essentially the first law was passed that you can only increase taxes by two percent.

So what they tried to do is put a constraint on the on the local governments in both directions.

One, they said you can't increase your spending by X, and then they said, okay, and now you also can't increase your taxes by Y.

So um it really certainly doesn't have the T that was originally intended to.

You mentioned referendum.

What are you referring to in terms of referendum?

A referendum, if you can't uh with the 1977 law, if you can't do your operating budget within that cap law, the only way to go around that is to have a public referendum.

Um which will really fly.

Uh correct, which which has a very very low success rate.

In other words, you can ask the people to expend more money than the cap.

Or you can reduce expenses, you know.

Um most of the most of the cities opt the redu reduction of expenses when when faced with that.

There are cities that really uh, even with all those 2042 exceptions, um, do face some cap problems, quite honestly.

Two of those exceptions, yeah.

I mean, you just I'm gonna have to count them up, but it's definitely in the W or W.

Um so it's interesting.

You mentioned a referendum.

It's interesting you mentioned that tonight because this group that was here earlier tonight, they they had proposed to put a referendum on the ballot in terms of rent control, right?

Um so what happens if I think it's 500 signatures, so what happens if 500 the voting?

So the next one the date now it's too close to the members.

You have to base it on November election, and that would be typically 8,000, get about 15% of that.

So the 500 so 1200, 1200, so if 1200, if 1200 people sign a piece of paper saying, you know, we want a cap of three percent, one percent, two percent of the budget can't go more than that.

Do the people have the power to do that?

No on a budget, no.

I don't believe they do no on a referendum.

Uh for the budgetary purposes, the statute allows this city council to authorize the referendum, and then it just has to pass by a simple majority.

So it it's it's a different re it's a different requirement that the law reads the public is able to put anything up, anything there's not a restriction, but I would have some restrictions.

Okay, I mean like regarding regarding budget.

I believe that stands on its own.

I don't believe it would be binding, or else you could you would have half the municipalities in the state go bankrupt.

Well, I know there's a limit how many you can put up, but your your reasoning is clear here.

Budget, I just I think there's there's a limitation with respect to how many.

Well, if you don't have there's time constraints, so did you see one on budget, Susan?

When you write it, did you see a restriction on budget questions?

I don't remember what the restrictions are, but that sounds to me that that would have been like can you look it up so for the council with the council president's obviously direction?

See if you can if the people can just tell me.

I will look it up.

That's that's that doesn't.

I I doubt that they can do that, but uh I'll look up confirm I ask a question.

Are we done with that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um not on 2490 percent, but what is our debt look like now?

Your your debt is you have approximately 18 million dollars worth of debt outstanding, authorized and outstanding.

Your borrowing capacity is just shy of about 180 million.

You're allowed to borrow three and a half percent of your equalized valuation, which allows you to borrow about 180 million, you're at 18 million.

We're you're not even you're at point three percent, point three, not even one percent.

Isn't a significant piece of our debt in the next three years or so?

We we do have a piece that comes due in three years.

That is correct, sir.

How much of it?

I believe that payment right now.

Um, I believe I I have the actual number.

I believe that payment is about six hundred thousand dollars a year.

Any other questions, please?

Uh on Professor Owners 2490.

Is there a thing or everything about the close the public portion?

I'm sorry, the public portion motion and second to close real call.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombon Tannez, yes, and council president shear.

Yes, thank you.

On the ordinance, please is there a mix?

So move it.

Second motion second on 2490.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilwoman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombon Tanes, yes, and council president shear.

Yes, thank you.

On 2492-25 and ordinance amended designation restricted parking for disabled persons by entering license plate number.

Is there a motion please to open public hearing?

Move it motions and roll call please.

Councilman Garcia, I mean sorry, Councilman Monk.

Yes, Councilman Love.

I make the same mistake over time.

Councilman Mellow.

Yes.

Councilman Mayor.

Yes.

Councilman Garcia.

Yes.

Councilman Colombon Tanez.

Yes.

And Council President Shear.

Yes, thank you.

At this point, the council is the uh is reviewing 2492.

Is anyone like to address the council on the side of the side amounting?

Seeing no hands, is there a motion please to close second?

Motion and second to close public hearing.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilman Mellow?

Yes.

Councilman Mayor?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilman Colomb Tanez?

Yes.

And Council President Sheer.

Yes, thank you.

On the ordinance, please is there a makeup?

Motion.

Second.

I'm second on 2492.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilwoman Mello?

Yes.

Councilman Gar.

Councilman Mayor.

Yes.

Councilman Garcia.

Yes.

Councilwoman Colombanez?

Yes.

Council President Shares.

Is that on the ordinance?

Yes, sir.

2493.

Move it.

Motion and second roll call.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilwoman Mellow?

Yes.

Councilman Mayor?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilman Colomb Tenez?

Yes.

And Council President Shear.

Yes, at this point we are deliberating 2493.

Is there anyone who'd like to adjust the councilman decide on this item only?

And second, roll call, please to close.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love.

Yes.

Councilman Mellow?

Yes.

Councilman Mayor?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilman Colombon Tanez?

Yes.

And Council President Shear.

Yes, then.

Thank you.

Is that in ordinances?

No.

There's more.

Four is all right.

No, we need to uh the final vote on that one.

Yeah.

Didn't we vote on it already?

We just closed.

So I'm sorry, what do we need to vote for?

Move.

That's on 2493.

Yes, sir.

Move to ordinance.

Who's uh maker, please?

Move it.

Move second, please.

Thank you.

Move and second.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilwoman Mello?

Yes.

Councilman Mayor?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilman Colombon Tanez?

Yes.

And Council President Shear.

Yes, thank you.

2494.

Did we do that properly?

Does that need to be redone?

No, it's good.

And we passed it.

Yes, sir.

Very good.

Well under communication, please.

Remember number seven.

Any questions on seven?

Motion to accept seven, please.

To accept communications.

Motion, please.

Motion.

Second.

And second, thank you.

Roll call.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilwoman Mellow.

Yes.

Councilman Mayor.

Yes.

Councilman Garcia.

Yes.

Councilman Colombanez.

Yes.

And Council President Shear.

Yes, thank you.

Current year 2025 budget adoption.

Public hearing was required.

What are we looking at?

Mr.

Lurch.

Um the proposed budget for uh 2025.

Uh we're required to hold a public hearing this evening.

The proposed budget totals 118 million.

671,000.

Um, just to put that into perspective, the um the actual spending in the budgeted increase compared to last year's budget reflects an increase of 1.85 percent.

So the total budget spending is up 1.85 percent.

Um the uh what do you call it?

As far as just a couple of comments, um the uh the surplus of the city um is in a very very strong position.

The surplus of the city really is at a uh all-time high.

Um, at least in in my memory, which has been you know quite a while now of 32 million dollars is our surplus, the uh current fund surplus.

Um 32 million dollars away, they measure that when they do a financial review with uh uh SP and Moody's.

Um is approximately 27 percent of your budget.

Our total budget is 118 million.

I'm at 32 million dollars of a surplus.

Um that is quite frankly the equivalent of a triple A surplus, a triple A surplus when they do an evaluation, they um what they uh what do you call what they anticipate that you would carry is a 20 percent surplus of your operating budget, so a 20 percent of your operating budget will put you right around 25 million.

So um we're in a very very strong position now.

Now for that reason, uh for that reason, this budget anticipates using approximately 13 million dollars of that surplus, which will bring us probably down right around the 20% level again, which is really a triple A level.

So I just want to you know want to put that on the record that although we have a very very strong position, a lot of that is being put back into the operating budget for taxpayer relief.

Everybody got that?

Yes.

Who's like councilman Monk?

Councilman Monk, yeah, thank you.

How much of the surplus do we use last year?

Last year we used um six point one million.

So now you're up to 13 million.

What is what happens next year?

But remember, councilman, if I may, if I may um remember, councilman, that the issue was that we had the funds that we were using from the relief, the 33 million dollars that were expent, and we were stockpiling the surplus for this moment in time.

So I just want to I just want to remind everyone of that that this is the first year that we don't have the the COVID relief funds that we had in prior years.

Right.

Okay, so if if if we would if we would have done the six followed last year's number, and we would have taken only six million surplus instead of the 13 million.

How much would I have our budget?

How much let me just it's a little bit more complicated that, and I just want to put this out there.

Um, last year's budget, you had eight million dollars of American rescue money that was still available.

So of the uh eight million dollars of American rescue money that was still available, approximately three million was used for capital improvements for one shot expense.

Five million was used to support the general operating budget.

So that what you're really doing is you're really supplanting the five million that we had in American rescue money, and we're now using that in the surplus.

Uh let me follow up with that.

The the city historically, um the last couple of years regenerates approximately five million dollars a year.

So let's just walk that through, uh, councilman, if I may.

Um, if I have a 32 million dollar budget and I'm gonna use 13 million dollars that bring me down to 19 million, but I know historically uh with a high level of predictability that I'm gonna regenerate five million.

So I'm not gonna end this fiscal year with 19 million, I'm gonna end this fiscal year right around 24 to 25 million, which will put us right back at the 20% level.

Okay, comes next year.

So now assuming next year we start the year with 24 million.

Right.

That'd be uh uh that'd be a very reasonable assumption.

So would we need in order to keep I guess taxes with some very minimal increase, would we need another 13 assuming our expenses don't go crazy?

Let's assume our taxes say exactly our expenses say exactly they are insurance doesn't go nothing goes up.

Would we need another 13 million dollars from the surplus to keep the taxes stable?

Well, well, if the tax if if the spending didn't go up, the answer would be no, because even if you went up um say a three percent level, okay.

So if you went up a three percent level, your tax levy is approximately 75, it's 79 million including the library.

So let's go 80 million.

So if you went up three percent, I can absorb a two and a half million dollar increase to offset your expenses.

Okay so now let's assume if everything stayed the same, so then I would have to make up uh roughly a uh two and a half million dollar um well, uh I was gonna suggest if if we're going to assume that the the our expenses do not increase, we assume that taxes don't increase, our collections are not increase.

So I think you know, we assume they both go three percent, or we assume they were all banks.

My my question is in order to maintain um a very similar tax let's say increase of three percent call it assuming our expenses go three percent all right, would we have to take another $33 million out of the budget?

Um not necessarily not necessarily and not necessarily, and um the the city uh what do you call it?

The city has accumulated reserves to help offset if there's some increases over and above a normal cost of living.

Um and some of these reserves that you have, and and they're quite adequate or quite you know um quite well funded.

We have reserves to offset any kind of unusual increase in insurance costs.

We do carry a cash reserve.

We have a reserve, should there be any kind of unusual increase in workers' comp, we have a reserve for that.

We also have reserved for uh for terminations.

If you notice, you read in the papers all the time.

Um, and I'm not gonna name comparable cities.

Every time somebody retires from the fire department, the police department, they're doing an emergency appropriation.

They can't pay the people the payout.

We have not done an emergency appropriation here in many, many years.

Um, and certainly not for payouts, because we fund that as well.

So um in an absolute world, if we had no reserves and everything stayed the same, then theoretically we would have a shortfall.

But the city is in a much stronger position than that.

Um, so that if you really wanted um, if you really wanted a uh uh response within a certain degree of um predictability, um I think we would have to do a projected 2026 budget in conjunction with the uh chief financial officer to kind of come back to that, taking into account these different reserves we have to respond to that uh in a responsible accurate fashion.

I can't just to some extent we have because we have asked so much to give us a projection of what we would look like over the next five years.

Okay, you know, if you would love to see that that projection because you know at a certain point, I mean we use five million from oh I I understand in in the mathematical world.

You say, well, I have 13, I can't keep using 13 because I only generate five, so I'd be down six a year, I'd be three years we use five million from this rescue you know fund, right?

I mean, COVID doesn't come along that many that often in our life that's not coming at American rescue spot, no.

I mean, but let me let me compliment.

We don't have five million to bank on, right?

But that means we needed that five million, right?

Because our expenses have increased, like everyone's expenses have increased, right?

So at a certain point, again, based on just but let me say that it could catch up to us, and then all of a sudden, where I'm going with this is all of a sudden, bang go, we could see a 10% increase tax increase.

I I I I would have to I would have to just take a different position on that.

Um and I like to just refresh everybody's memory going back when we did the conversion, when the city did the conversion, they converted from a fiscal year to a calendar year.

Yeah, a one-shot windfall.

Right.

That one shot windfall was 12 million dollars, and we had a fiscal plan.

We did a four-year plan, and we said that 12 million dollars will be gone in four years.

Do you realize that 12 million?

We still have 1.7 million dollars of it.

We haven't used all this is such a dynamic city.

That's all is left.

Where's the other I I mean I just no, I just want to share.

I I just want to share with you, you know, and I can show you what we do.

We're using a million dollars in this budget.

Is that correct, Omar?

I think we have a million dollars in this budget, so I still have another 700,000.

That's exactly my point.

Is that we have to do that?

But that was supposed to last four years and we're here.

Rescue COVID.

We had all these windfalls the last few years.

Who's coming to our rescue over the next five years?

We don't have landlords.

Let's go to the next.

Yeah.

No, I'm just saying it's it's a very complex city.

Um, you know, I think the city's done a great job of managing its finances.

Every time, thank you, sir.

I conclude with that.

Are we good on 11?

Did we resolve to it?

Did we adopt?

Yeah, but certainly the last don't give an employee.

Can we get can we see those projections?

Not tonight.

Yeah.

We have actually projected scenarios.

Oh, yeah.

Do you have it now?

Oh, great.

The night's still young.

That's great.

Especially if it's a presentation of health benefits, and we we have looked at projection over the last uh over the next three years.

Um, especially given the fact of health benefit cost and a rise in health benefit costs.

Um during my presentation um at the July meeting when we presented the budget.

Obviously, one of the big things that was coming out from the state was the anticipated increase in state health benefits, which we're a part of 30 percent.

So obviously that makes us cautious and looking forward towards the future and where our budgets look toward the futures to your point, councilman, and uh where we stand.

So we we ran projections, obviously, projections based on what we expect, what we think we know or come to expect to your point.

Um we don't expect, for example, another um American rescue plan fund to come and fund the budget for three, four years.

So now we started looking at the numbers and where we stand and where how we can mitigate these external circumstances, such as you know, these significant increases if they do not level off.

Did you did you take into account the new parking deck?

All the revenue uh the parking deck we're gonna have.

So come in with grant we've looked, we've looked at that and and the and the that service that goes along with it.

We're on number 11 plays.

We're on number 11 resolution adoption of the CY 2025 municipal budget.

Is there a motion to accept, please?

Accept motion.

Is there a second, please?

Council President, yes, ma'am.

We need to open public portion we need to open public portions and open public portions is second, please.

Motion second to open public roll calls.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, councilman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombon Tanes, yes and council president shear.

Yes, thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

At this time, the council will be deliberating proposed resolution adoption of the 2025 municipal budget.

Are there any questions regarding the budget that you would like answered at this time?

Signal hands.

Is there a motion please to close?

So motion back it motion and second to close public clearing.

Roll call, please.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilwoman Mello, yes, Councilman Mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, Councilman Colombon Tannez, yes, and council president shares.

Yes, thank you very much.

On items 12.

Mayor no ordinance, so move second motion and second on the ordinance, councilman monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilwoman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombo Tanes, yes, and council president shear.

Yes, thank you.

We are um item number 12.

Oh matters listed uh items 12 through 17 19 through 27.

I'm sorry, 19 through 30 two faces.

Is there motion please to accept motion and second roll call?

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilman mellow, yeah, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombon Tanes, yes, and council president shear.

Yes, thank you.

On eighteen and thirty-one separate vote.

Motion to accept 18 and 31, please.

Motion motion and second, thank you.

18 and 31 roll call, councilman monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilwoman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilwoman Colom Montañez.

Okay, and Council President Shear.

Yes, thank you.

Um 32 to 44 on 32's closed executive session.

Do we have need for such a session this evening?

Thank you, ma'am.

Um, Mr.

Mayor, Mr.

Business Administrator.

Uh no, council president.

Where are you now?

Helsinki, or where are you?

It's actually uh 420 in the morning right now.

We're on the well, it feels like 420 here too.

So we're all together.

Items 33 through 44.

Oh any questions, please on 33 to 44.

Yes.

Questions, yeah.

Please, councilman.

Um 33.

Is it replacing the current meters?

What is that?

Ricky, can you help us on 33?

Do you have do you have the uh agenda in front of you?

Yes, yes.

So this is uh on the parking authority.

Uh we're replacing the pay stations along Main Avenue.

So what happens is we periodically in our budgets put in for replacement of meters, and we're up to the pay stations on Main Avenue.

So this would be paid by the uh neighborhood preservation program, actually.

So it's paid by a grant.

It's not even paid through the parking authority budget.

We receive an annual grant for the neighborhood preservation program.

This is year five of that program.

Uh we've been able to replace every single meter on Main Avenue with this program, and now we're changing the pay stations.

36.

I know 36, council 36.

This is an improvement or like a complete uh gut and remodel or rebuilding of the current playground.

And second part is this also grant money, or this is coming out of the budget.

Yeah, so this is uh this is grant money and this is going to do major repairs to the park.

In fact, the mayor was adamant that this park needed to have the rubberized surface, it's one of our first loop parks that we did in the city, and it's going to have um we're gonna be putting in the rubberized surface, some new play equipment, some inclusive play equipment, and redo the uh locking mechanisms for the blue park.

We actually have um virtual town hall in an actual one where we had input from residents as to what they wanted in the area rubberized pleasure.

Sounds very good.

I was there on Saturday, and I ended up with the splinter in my foot.

We should wear shoes.

Any other questions on 33 to 44?

If not, it's their motion, please accept so we'll motion second keys, councilman monk and second roll call, please on 33 to 44.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombo Tanes, yes, and council president she's thank you.

We're up to ordinances for introduction first reading 45 ordinance of meeting chapter 295 vehicles and traffic of the code of the city of Pacific adding new section 295-7.4 entitled State Street Municipal Parking Deck Keys.

Is there a motion to use accept your sit down for second and final reading at our meeting of September 16?

Well motion second roll, please.

Councilman Monk is a question.

Do we have any debt on this parking deck?

It was a the whole thing was a grant, it's all paid for.

How much offhand?

So is there any analysis of the I see this ordinance is to suggest charging a buck an hour, a dollar an hour.

Is that going to cover our debt cost?

For uh monthly, yeah.

So if I may, I'm sorry, Mayor, because I I couldn't hear it.

So if you covered it, I apologize.

But councilman, if you recall when we were originally getting the the note to go out to bond the ordinance, the bond ordinance, we did a calculation based on 50% vacancy at the 75 cents at the 75 cent rate, which this is higher, and it uh covered the the bond note.

Uh okay.

So when we did the calculations, we didn't include the 150 dollars or the EV charging stations, and it was at the current rate of the 25 cents for um every 15 minutes, and it I guess that how was was that done by ordinance or by resolution, Rick?

It was uh we did a bond ordinance for that, and then you then we did an agreement between the parking authority and the city council where the parking authority is gonna pay the council uh the amount of the bond payment.

So the city council, it's not gonna affect the city budget, it's done through the shared service agreement between the parking authority and the council, as the parking authority is managing the deck.

What happens if the authority doesn't reach its its required goals?

So we we we double check that even if the right now and Omar correct me if I'm wrong, even if we didn't get a single dollar from that deck, our current income from the parking authority would cover the bond note.

That is accurate.

Um that deck has been getting used every single day.

Yeah, so just the just to reiterate uh the business administrator, the parking authority did have um an amount in their budget which came off from their original debt service issued in 2009 that they were able to reserve and now will be utilized once the city officially bonds the parking deck, that amount will be able through the shared service agreement to pay in the amount of 250,000 to the city, which is approximately the amount of the debt, and also to uh the business administrator's point as well.

When we did our calculations based on the number of anticipated spaces, and based actually on 75 cents an hour, not a dollar an hour, and two less hours because we did it from eight to six, they would be able to meet their bond requirements at 50 percent capacity.

We extended it to 8 p.m.

Yes, so there's actually two more hours that could be rented.

So we believe as a matter of form.

Can you uh our future council meetings?

Can you provide that information?

Yes, we can provide the the previous sheet of calculation.

Okay, good.

Any other questions?

We're on 45.

Whether we were, I'm sorry.

Yes, I will finish the roll call.

Roll call on 45, please.

Councilman Monk?

Yes.

Councilman Love?

Yes.

Councilwoman Mello.

Yes.

Councilman Mayor?

Yes.

Councilman Garcia?

Yes.

Councilwoman Colombo Danez.

Yes.

And Council President Shear.

Yes, thank you.

46 and ordinance amending the city code to the city of Passic, Chapter 295, vehicles and traffic.

Article 12 schedules 13 schedules section 32.1 schedule uh what is that 14 stop intersections to add additional stop sign at Monroe intersection of Hope Avenue.

Is there a motion, please to take for a second and final reading on our meeting September 16th?

Motion motion and second roll call councilman monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilwoman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombanez, yes, and council president she thank you 47, please.

Ordinance amending the city code of the city of Passaic, chapter 295.

Vehicles and traffic, part one, general provisions article 12, schedule section 23.1, schedule 4A, Ankle Parking.

Is there a motion, please to accept for second and final reading at our meeting of September 16?

There is a motion, second, please.

Second, motion and second roll please, Councilman Monk, yes, Councilman Love, yes, Councilwoman Mellow, yes, Councilman Mayor, yes, Councilman Garcia, yes, councilwoman Colombanize, yes, and council president shear.

Yes, thank you.

48, please in order to mend the designation of restricted parking for disabled person.

Motion please to accept for set down for second and final reading on our meeting with September 16.

Motion second and second roll calls, please.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilwoman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombo Danez, yes, and council president shear.

Yes, thank you.

49, please ordinance amending the designation of restricted parking for disabled persons, but introduced less plate numbers.

The motion please accept for set down for second and final reading on our meeting with September 6 motion and second roll call please.

Councilman Love, yes, Councilman Monk, yes, you look the same.

It's no council mellow that or mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombon Tanez, yes, and council president.

Yes, thank you.

We're up to payment of bills, payment of bills.

Any questions on the bills?

If not, just the motion, please to accept the bills as presented by the clerk.

Motion and second roll call, please on the bills.

Councilman Monk, yes, yes, councilman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, councilman Colombanez, yes, council presidentshire.

Yes, thank you.

Administrators report, how is Copenhagen?

Very dark right now, but very nice.

Thank you, Councilman.

I think it's probably the whitest city in America in the world.

Uh Mr.

Mayor, sir.

None no report, report from anyone.

No, sir.

That being the case, is there motion please to adjourn?

Move it.

Motion second and second, roll call, please.

Councilman Monk, yes, councilman love, yes, councilman mellow, yes, councilman mayor, yes, councilman Garcia, yes, council micolombs, yes, council president.

Yes, thank you.

Gentlemen, ladies, uh administration council.

This was a brilliant evening.

This thank you this evening, and you all should take the compliment seriously.

Um we did we didn't think we would be able to do, but we did it.

So thank you.

Motion is adjourned.