MUNICIPAL SPENDING SOARS UNDER PRONTI, GOP!

30.8% SPENDING HIKE WITH ONLY REPUBLICANS IN CHARGE OF THE BOROUGH’S FINANCES SINCE 2019!

NORTH ARLINGTON – NA Today has learned that between 2019-2026, total municipal spending increased from $24.4 million just seven years ago to a staggering $31.9 million today or $7.5 million, just under 31%!

2019 was the last year Democrats served on the Borough Council.

The figures came directly from the borough’s past budgets and financial reporting.

The Mayor & Council is dominated completely by Republicans since 2019 and every council member voted “yes” on this year’s impending tax hike with Pronti leading the charge for higher property taxes.

What has kept these increases disguised is the use of “fund balance” or surplus, but despite that application, the size and cost of increased spending is catching up with Pronti and his “rubber stamp” Borough Council!

Cash on hand and the tax levy are not the same thing in New Jersey municipal finance. North Arlington can have millions in its Current Fund balance and still raise the tax levy.

But in North Arlington’s case, the size of the fund balance begs the question worth examining closely.

The key issue is how much of that money is actually available for recurring municipal expenses.

Why does North Arlington have millions but still raise taxes?
Not all of the $8+ million is “spendable.”
A municipality has to maintain reserves for emergencies, tax appeals, unexpected expenditures, receivables and other liabilities.
New Jersey municipalities generally speaking can’t simply spend their entire surplus.
The governing body has to maintain a reasonable cushion. If North Arlington used virtually all of its fund balance to avoid a tax increase this year, it could create a serious problem in subsequent years.
Surplus is being used to offset taxes already.
This is the important part. North Arlington is appropriating $5.2 million of surplus in the 2026 budget. In other words, the Borough is already using millions of its accumulated resources to reduce the amount that has to be raised through taxation.
But using surplus doesn’t eliminate the underlying spending.
Suppose the municipal budget requires $40 million and the Borough uses $5.2 million of surplus. The remaining $34.8 million still has to come from taxes and other revenues. If expenditures rise faster than other revenues, the tax levy can rise even though the Borough has a substantial fund balance.
The real question is whether spending is growing faster than necessary.
This is where numbers deserve scrutiny. The Borough’s anticipated surplus utilization has risen from roughly $2.1 million in 2019 to $5.2 million in 2026, an increase of approximately 146%!

If not for the application of surplus, taxes would be completely out of control.

To get a clearer financial picture, one would need to compare 2019 vs. 2026 in five different ways:

Municipal tax levy
How much has it increased?
Total municipal spending
How much has the budget grown?
Personnel costs
Salaries, benefits, overtime and new positions
Debt service
Has borrowing contributed to the increase?
Surplus/reserves

How much could realistically be returned to taxpayers?

That would tell us whether the tax increases are primarily the result of unavoidable costs pensions, health insurance, contracts, debt or whether new discretionary spending and staffing decisions are driving them such as raises, promotions or unnecessary expenditures and costs, like a $238,000 water fountain or $200,000 out-of-court settlement with a former library employee.

And here is the greater question for homeowners:

if the Borough had approximately $8.16 million in Current Fund balance at the end of 2025 and is appropriating $5.2 million in surplus in 2026, how much of the remaining balance is actually required as a prudent reserve?

There was a significant development since the 2024 Annual Debt Statement, because North Arlington issued substantial bond anticipation notes in 2025. However, that is not the most useful number for assessing North Arlington’s debt today.

The Borough’s 2024 audit says that in July 2025 it issued $7.478 million in Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs) at 3.75%, that apparently matured last month.

In essence, North Arlington is simultaneously carrying millions in accumulated fund balance while using $5.2M of surplus in the 2026 budget.

In effect, NA is increasing the tax levy while taking on additional new borrowing like the July 21st, $510,000 bond ordinance for the demolition of the former Comcast building, including asbestos removal and site work to construct a parking lot on River Road that was dubbed an “emergency” appropriation.

Why is a municipality with roughly $8M of fund balance, relatively low net debt compared with its property valuation, and millions of dollars of annual surplus utilization continuing to increase the tax burden while undertaking additional borrowing?

To get a more concise financial picture, one would need to reconstruct North Arlington’s debt from 2019 through 2026, showing:

total bonds outstanding each year
BANs outstanding
new borrowing authorized
debt retired
annual principal payments
annual interest
debt service as a percentage of the municipal budget
debt per North Arlington resident
and, most importantly, what projects did the Borough borrowed money for
What we do know is that spending practices have increased quite a bit since 2019.

Reviewing the Borough’s total general appropriations the cleanest apples-to-apples measure of the municipal budget the growth from 2019 to 2026 is substantial.

The 2026 budget shows $31.922 million in total general appropriations.

That’s a $7.52 million increase from 2019 → 2026:
Dollar increase: $7,520,093
Percentage increase: 30.8%
Average annual increase: roughly 3.9%, if compounded over seven years.

And there’s an important wrinkle: the 2026 budget has $23.479 million inside the state spending cap and another $6.919 million outside the cap, plus $1.525 million for uncollected taxes.

The budget has grown 30.8%, while the Borough is also using a substantial accumulated surplus with no evidence of any spending decreases or cuts.

The 2026 budget shows:

$31.922M total appropriations
$10.955M in anticipated revenues other than the current property tax
$19.972M raised through the municipal property-tax levy
$4.3M of surplus anticipated as revenue.

The more revealing question is:

What specifically accounts for the additional $7.52 million in spending since 2019?

These are questions that remain unanswered as homeowners wait for their new tax bills for the new rate and increase on their property be it residential or commercial.

“Instead of fancy newsletters about Pronti eating pizza and hot dogs, what about an explanation of this spending spree? A taxpayer funded newsletter by Pronti costing close to $10,000 with his picture appearing 23 times over 12 pages is no way to communicate with the public in these difficult times,” offered mayoral candidate John Balwierczak.

“Instead of personally attacking me online, maybe an explanation about this tax increase to the public is what North Arlington really wants to talk about? Real communication about real issues is what I will provide as mayor. Not taxpayer funded restaurant reviews or ignoring federal raids of a local business that was nothing more than a front for illegal activity,” blasted Balwierczak.

“I don’t pretend to be an expert on our finances. But I will speak honestly and openly on any topic be it is good news or bad. That’s the least one can expect from their duly elected leadership.”

Meet the next mayor.

Contact him at (201) 655-8497 or via e-mail at [email protected]

He will tell you the truth and keep you informed about your community.

Keeping NA small, safe, suburban and affordable!