Sherrill throws Paterson lifeline
Approves $76M in state aid of fill budget hole
By: Joe Malinconico
Paterson Press
..... Governor Mikie Sherrill has thrown Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh a financial lifeline by approving $76.2 million in state aid to the struggling city, which has a huge budget ole to fill.
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That's a significant increase from the $39.7 million in aid the city received in 2025.
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Never has Paterson received such an increase in the state funding designed to help distressed cities with structural deficits balance, their budget, called transitional aid.
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Sayegh has asked Sherrill for $78.2 million in state transitional aid, and he got nearly all of that.
..... "We are grateful to Governor Mikie Sherrill and DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn Suarez, for approving $76.2 million in transitional aid for the city of Paterson," Senator Benjie Wimberly and Assemblymen Al Abdelaziz and Kenyatta Stewart, who represents the city in the state Legislature, said in a joint statement.
..... "This critical investment provides much-needed fiscal relief and helps protect Paterson residents from what could have been a significant increase in local property taxes," the statement said. "Furthermore,, Paterson would have faced extraordinarily difficult budget decisions, including the potential loss of police officers, firefighters, Department of Public Works employees and other dedicated public servants who provide essential services to the people of Paterson every day," they said.
No 2026 budget yet
..... Paterson's City Council on June 9 [2026] approved anoth4er temporary spending resolution that will cover the bills for municipal government from January through July 2026.
..... City Hall had decided not to craft a proposed budget for 2026 until Paterson found out how much of that $78.2 million that Sayegh had requested it would get.
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City officials have not disclosed how much they think the budget for the entire year will be.
..... The Paterson budget for all of 2025was $324.2 million.
Increases in costs
...... Paterson's state aid application - which was submitted to the state in February [2026] - listed the five budget line times with the largest increases: $23.4 million for employee health insurance, $4.7 million for fire department salaries, $4 million for police salaries, $1 million for solid waste disposal and$542,500 for workers' compensation cases.
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"While this transitional aid provides important short-term stability, it also provides an opportunity to continue working toward long-term fiscal sustainability," the statement by Wimberly, Abdelaziz and Stewart said.
..... One non-traditional - and one-time -source of revenue that city officials have floated to reduce the budget gap is selling Paterson's aged and antiquated sewer system.
..... Sayegh's administration has estimated that Paterson could recoup as much as $75 million from a sewer system sale to a private company.
..... But municipal officials were not expecting to get any of that mopey within the next year. [2027]