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At Monday’s City Council caucus, Ward E councilman Steven Fulop asked the council to vote Wednesday to introduce a tax relief plan he devised. As a means to prevent people from losing their homes to tax sales, the plan would allow certain delinquent taxpayers to enter into a payment plan with the city.

In a statement released last week, Fulop called the plan “crucial to helping the many struggling families in Jersey City.” The ordinance would create a council subcommittee to review applications to the program, consider the recommendation of the Tax Collector and decide on a case-by-case basis the interest rate and length of a repayment plan. Fulop emphasized at the caucus that the repayment option would be granted only to “those who have sincerely fallen on hard times,” not to habitual tax avoiders or those who owe back taxes on multiple properties.

While Fulop says “there’s absolutely no downside” for the city if the plan is adopted, not all of his council colleagues agree.

Ward B councilman David Donnelly said at the caucus that the plan has “some merit,” but expressed concern about possible “unintended consequences.” Donnelly said that the plan would cause the council itself to become “judge and jury on an individual’s taxes,” creating the possibility that a delinquent taxpayer could exploit a connection or friendship with a council member to their benefit.

While Ward A councilman Michael Sottolano did not come out in full opposition to the plan, he pointed to tax sale statistics that he said suggest the “current system works well for the city.”

Ward F councilwoman Viola Richardson agreed with Fulop that the city “need[s] to do something” to aid people struggling with tax payments, but said she is “not quite sure this is the way to do it.”

Fulop has called the council’s opposition to his plan “disingenuous and hypocritical,” pointing to statements by council members in support of proposed state legislation that would have allowed municipalities to defer half of their payments into the state pension fund. State legislators from Jersey City, which is struggling with major budget shortfalls, were primary sponsors of that bill, which stalled in legislative committees last week.

It was unclear as of Monday evening whether the bill will have enough support to pass its first reading on Wednesday.