The city plans to spend
$886.5M.
That is $886,546,594 across 251 spending lines and 305 revenue lines. This page explains where it goes, and every line is explained in plain English.
The proposed 2026 budget lists $886,546,594 in total appropriations, compared with $755,673,550 in the prior year. Of the 2026 total, $654,769,808 is within budget caps and $214,310,732 is excluded from caps. Debt service—the budget’s listed payment for debt—is $87,993,131.
The budget says $482,125,687 would be raised by property taxes and lists $185,149,000 in state aid. The largest year-to-year listed increase is Transitional Aid, up $120,000,000. Other major increases include Emergency Authorizations, up $22,500,000; Employee Group Health Insurance, up $16,719,566; and Tax Appeal Settlements and Judgements, up $13,000,000.
- Total appropriations are $886,546,594, an increase of $130,873,044 from the prior-year total of $755,673,550.
- Property taxes are listed at $482,125,687, while state aid is listed at $185,149,000.
- Debt service is $87,993,131.
- Employee Group Health Insurance rises by $16,719,566; Reserve for Accumulated Absences rises by $9,000,000.
- The largest listed decreases are $29,886,809 for SALE OF MUNICIPAL PROPERTIES BAYFRONT and $11,422,952 for DUE FROM PAYROLL CLEARING.
A $255M shortfall, closed by taxes, state aid and cuts.
The average residential tax bill rises $1,690 this year. $614 of that is set by this budget; the rest is the school district and the county, which set their own rates.
The headline numbers
Where the money goes
Appropriations grouped by service category. Click a block to explore its lines.
What changed this year
The largest movements between CY2025 and CY2026.
| Line | CY2025 | CY2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transitional Aid revenue | $0 | $120M | +$120M |
|
BAYFRONT
revenue
SALE OF MUNICIPAL PROPERTIES
|
$33.1M | $3.2M |
-$29.9M
-90.2%
|
| Emergency Authorizations spending | $0 | $22.5M | +$22.5M |
| Employee Group Health Insurance spending | $0 | $16.7M | +$16.7M |
| Tax Appeal Settlements and Judgements spending | $0 | $13M | +$13M |
| Overexpenditure 2024 Appropriations spending | $123.9K | $11.6M |
+$11.5M
+9242.8%
|
| DUE FROM PAYROLL CLEARING revenue | $11.4M | $0 |
-$11.4M
-100.0%
|
| Reserve for Accumulated Absences spending | $0 | $9M | +$9M |
For an ordinary resident, these figures describe the scale of city services—public safety, sanitation, parks, recreation, administration, debt obligations, and other municipal functions—not a charge that each person receives. The property-tax portion is paid by property owners, but renters can bear some of it indirectly when landlords incorporate taxes into rent; commercial properties and PILOT agreements also contribute to the city’s revenues.
A per-resident figure is not anyone’s tax bill: actual tax payments depend on property assessments, tax rates, exemptions, tenancy, commercial ownership, PILOT terms, and how taxes and other costs are reflected in rents and prices.
This is not the whole tax bill
Most of what a Jersey City property owner pays never enters the budget above.