Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Vineland City Council held a regular meeting on March 31, 2026, at 4:00 PM. All five council members were present (President Spinelli, Vice President Gomez, Councilmembers Arthur, English, Vargas). Mayor Anthony Fanucci and CFO Susan Baldosaro presented the proposed 2026 municipal budget. Four members of the public spoke during general public comment. The council then unanimously passed three ordinances on first reading and adopted five resolutions. The meeting adjourned at 4:28 PM.
Mayor Fanucci and CFO Baldosaro presented the 2026 budget, highlighting accomplishments from 2025 and key financial challenges. The largest challenge was a massive increase in health insurance costs; the city faced a 20+% increase (approximately $2.1 million) after finding alternatives to stay out of the state health benefits program. State aid remained flat, and the average residential assessment continued to rise. The presentation included a breakdown of tax dollars: 26 cents per dollar for schools, 33.66 cents for city services, and nearly 39 cents for Cumberland County. The city’s fund balance has increased over the administration's tenure. Key capital projects include Jake's Park (all-abilities park), road improvements, a War on Terror memorial in Landis Park, and renovations to public works facilities and City Hall windows. The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 28, 2026, with potential adoption on the same date.
All three ordinances were introduced and passed on first reading with unanimous 5-0 votes. Public hearings are scheduled for April 14, 2026, at 5:30 PM.
All five resolutions were adopted unanimously with 5-0 votes.
To present budget on Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 at 4 p.m. Dr. Arthur here. Councilmember English? Here. Councilmember Vargas? Here. Vice President Gomez? Here. President Spinelli. Here. Please stand for the pledge of allusions. Pledge allegiance to the flag. The United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands undergoing justice for all. Public notice, this meeting pursuant to the open public meeting act has been given by the city clerk on March 29th, 2026 in the following manner. Put some written notice on the official bulletin board of the lobby of City Hall. Providing written notice to the offices of the Daily Journal, Press of Atlantic City, Vineland Voice and publishing electronically on the city's official website, and filing written notice in the office of the city clerk of the city of Ireland. This time I would like to acknowledge Mayor Fenucci for being here and the chief financial officer Sue Baldecerro and staff in presenting the introduction to the 2026 city budget. There you go. All right. Good afternoon, Council President Spinelli, Vice President Gomez, members of council, staff here for the city. We uh thank you for accommodating our meeting today for our annual budget presentation. Good. Thank you, Director. Okay. Go ahead. So as you can see, uh presentation here right now, our accomplishments for throughout 2025. We did a brief listing of some of the items that we have worked on and some of the things that uh you know already that aren't on there that have been completed. This will be as usual, something we go through and will be emailed to you in PowerPoint form as well. You can see without listing every event that's there, a variety of the things that we've gone through throughout the course of the year from awards to grant receipts, etc. That's okay. You got me. So revenues versus our appropriations from calendar year and fiscal year 25 through 26, both our budgeted year, our realized portion in 25, along with what is budgeted for this particular year. Particular challenges that we're facing as usual, obviously, are contractual increases along with several you know pension charges and things that have increased. The biggest hurdle the city has faced this year, which every municipality and every school district has faced, has been the massive increase in health insurance costs. It's been the biggest hurdle to try to balance this particular budget and get things under control as the uh skyrocketing costs through state health benefits. As we know, some areas have received between 40 and 50 percent increases. We were staring at uh 30 plus, and we ended up in the 20 plus range for an increase alone in our benefits packages for health insurance alone here.