the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, a growing number of Ridgewood taxpayers are raising red flags about the proposed 2025 municipal budget and its advertised 3.14% tax increase—with some suggesting the real increase could be as high as 6.6%.
Taxpayer Challenges Accuracy of Village’s 2025 Tax Increase Figures
A respected Ridgewood resident recently questioned the accuracy of the municipal tax increase during a Village Council meeting, and has since taken to social media to share concerns. According to the budget presentation, the 3.14% increase would amount to a $149.63 rise for the average Ridgewood home, which is valued at $712,700. However, deeper analysis appears to suggest a larger tax impact.
Breakdown of Tax Numbers Over Five Years
Let’s take a closer look:
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2020 Municipal Purpose Tax Levy: $33.887 million
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2025 Municipal Purpose Tax Levy: $42.256 million
This represents a 25% increase over five years for the municipal portion of local property taxes—far above the rate of inflation.
One particular budget line from last year’s official documents stated:
“Amount to be Raised by Taxation for Municipal Purposes: $39,658,266.68”
This year’s proposed budget pushes that number above $42 million. Residents are asking: How does a $2.7 million increase only translate to a 3.14% rise? The math simply doesn’t seem to add up.
The Role of Ratable Growth in Property Tax Increases
Another critical question raised involves ratables—the total assessed property value within the Village. In theory, if property values and new construction increase ratables, this should spread the tax burden, helping reduce the per-household tax increase.
Residents are asking:
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Why aren’t increased ratables offsetting tax hikes?
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Shouldn’t individual households be seeing less of a rise in their property tax bills?
Concerns About Village Bonding and Schedler Park Project Funding
In addition to tax rate discrepancies, Ridgewood citizens are also questioning the need for additional municipal bonds, specifically the proposed $350,000 for the Schedler Park remediation project. With millions already reserved for the park and project designs still awaiting DEP/state approvals, residents are skeptical about taking on more debt.
One resident asks:
“Why aren’t we using the funds already set aside for this project instead of issuing more bonds? Is the Village considering all possible matching grant options before increasing our debt?”
Waiting for Transparency and a Clear Response
Taxpayers and Village staff alike are awaiting an official response from the Village Council to address these concerns. Transparency and fiscal accountability are top of mind as residents seek clarity around how their tax dollars are being allocated.
Final Thoughts
As Ridgewood continues to grow and evolve, clear communication about tax impacts and budgeting decisions is more important than ever. With questions about math discrepancies, increased bonding, and underused reserves, many are hoping for a detailed and transparent explanation from local officials.
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Who is Evan going to blame this year?
Bond, bond, bond. He is having t-shirts made with his kids names on them. He will be selling merch outside of village hall before the council meetings to raise money for Ridgewood when we go broke paying for the village’s mistakes.
Has the Bee-Man weighed in on the budget yet?
I look forward to hearing his very sophisticated analysis and perspective.
Nope!
The make it sound like it was the Schedler residents fault that this project is a failure. It is cursed that is for sure but in no way should they constantly be playing a financial game of mismanagement. They have spent way too much and now are going to ask taxpayers to foot the bill. $1.5 million is likely not going to cover it and there is a budget already in place with funds available.
Agreed. They need to use the budget already in place. Artificial turf no longer feasible given the Village inflicted cost to cleanup. With K-12 enrollments declining 8% by 2031 and another 7% by 2041 this extra field is not needed. A nature preserve would better serve.
The hidden costs are kids who don’t live in Ridgewood who play on RBSA and other team while Ridgewood residents foot the bill for these non profits. So even if Ridgewood enrollments are down, they will make it up by encouraging other towns to have kids join. Watch and learn.
Bamboozled by the Vagianos machine. Just bend over once again. They promise it won’t hurt.
Winograd always says “welcome to expensive” and she really, really means it.
Keith Kazmark, who comes from Mike Sherrill’s district was campaign manager for Ridgewood Mayor Paul Vagianos.
Vagianos did a favor to him and hired him for this 200k+ job. He’s doing favors back to Vagianos. Plain and Simple.
The boe spends money like it grows on trees.
the whole budget is a litany of giveaways to local special interests
The Mayor, council and manager are a bunch of dim bulbs reading from a script. There is a double standard in everything they do. They are pushing for their sports field and don’t give a rats ass about other things that need to be fixed unless it is absolutely falling to pieces like the train station, bus depot. Anything for sports and everything else be dammed.