- Capital city’s mayor wants state to take over spending plan
- ‘Hush your mouth!’ and other explosions at public meetings
New Jersey ordered Trenton to cover a $14 million bond payment blocked by a warring city council, seeking to prevent a local budget fight from driving the state capital to default on its bonds.
The city of 90,000, where more than 1 in 4 lives in poverty, has been meeting payroll and other bills on an emergency basis because the council has failed to vote on a proposed $227 million budget that was due on April 29.
In a letter to Mayor Reed Gusciora, state officials outlined how the city council also deadlocked on authorizing debt payments for water, sewer and school district expenses.
Bloomberg Markets
By Elise Young
July 14, 2022