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In the months since the draft municipal budget was introduced in January, voices have been raised in protest at city council meetings, city services have been cut, workers have been laid off and pay raises for police and fire were nixed. But despite all these events, taxpayers can expect a tax increase this year.

City officials held meetings with business administrator Brian O’Reilly and his staff over the course of the past weeks and months to dissect the budget and trim expenses wherever possible; these efforts reduced the proposed tax levy by over $10 million, from about $196 million to $185 million. For individual taxpayers, this means that the $800 increase in taxes per $100,000 of assessed value that was proposed in January has dropped to $593. O’Reilly tells JCI that three “big-picture” items contributed to the reduction of the tax levy burden this year: deep cuts to services; increased revenues from payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) (commonly known as abatements); and a court victory in a “very challenging” insurance case against the city.

On the other hand, O’Reilly points out that the city experienced a financial setback as record numbers of city staffers expedited their retirement plans under the threat of proposed state legislation that would cap retirement payouts for unused sick time. As O’Reilly explained in a March 18 memo to city employees, the city’s reserve fund for these payouts “has been exhausted.” To cope with the run on the payout bank, the city has devised a plan that will award retirees their payouts in up to three installments between July of this year and July 2012.

But because the fiscal year is nearly over — it ends June 30 — there was only so much the administration could do to soften the blow of the tax increase. About 88 percent of the current fiscal year’s budget was spent in the form of emergency temporary appropriations, a practice which critics say cripples the city’s ability to reduce waste and set long-term goals for efficient spending. In short, by the time the budget is worked up and approved, the better part of the city’s money has already been spent. Perennial budget watchdog and 2009 mayoral candidate Dan Levin has repeatedly called for the city to establish a practice of projecting a budget five years out. Ward E councilman Steven Fulop has lodged his objection to emergency temporary appropriations by consistently voting against their approval.

The City Council will vote on the budget Wednesday at a special meeting which was scheduled in order to provide the Tax Collector’s office enough time to execute the weeks-long accelerated tax sale process. An accelerated tax sale is a practice by which the city is permitted to auction an unpaid tax obligation to a third party, thereby reducing the portion of property taxes that the city must report as uncollected. The higher the city’s tax collection rate, the less it is required to set aside in a reserve fund for uncollected taxes — which reduces the tax burden on the rest of the taxpayers. City tax collector Maureen Cosgrove tells JCI that in order to allow time to comply with state regulations regarding notification of delinquent taxpayers, her office asked the council to approve the budget no later than April 21.

A loosely organized group of residents, some of whom call themselves the Jersey City Tax Revolt, and some who are affiliated with a new organization called the Jersey City Political Action Committee (JCPAC), are planning a rally at City Hall on Wednesday. They are encouraging taxpayers to speak out against the administration’s handling of the budget process during the public hearing portion of the special meeting. One of the key figures organizing the rally is Esther Wintner, a relative newcomer to the City Council scene who wowed the crowd with a dramatic prepared speech at the January 27 council meeting. Since her explosive debut, Wintner has made the rounds citywide corralling citizens into a two-pronged grassroots effort that includes mass tax appeals and murmurs of a recall effort against some council members.

In an statement released over the weekend, Wintner explained that the purpose of the rally is “to send a message to the city of our displeasure with the tax increase and demand that work begin on the next fiscal year to produce a budget that is within our means and on time.”

The budget is expected to be approved by the council, but the vote will not be unanimous. Fulop, who voted against the resolution to amend the proposed budget at last week’s city council meeting, tells us that he plans to vote nay.

“I can’t vote for a budget that will be adopted ten months into the year that includes revised tax abatements for key developers, and raises taxes on regular residents,” he says in an email. Fulop adds that although he has offered the mayor and council several ideas to reduce expenses, they “have been unwilling to adopt any because some may be politically unacceptable.” Cost-cutting bills Fulop has proposed recently included a plan for consolidating municipal elections and one to eliminate health benefits for board members of the Jersey City Incinerator Authority (JCIA) and Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA). Both were rejected by the council.

Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez also voted against the amendment resolution last week, but she could not be reached for comment on her intentions for Wednesday. Other council members are rumored to be weighing a nay vote, but haven’t committed on the record.

As this year’s budget season nears its close, Wednesday’s public hearing and vote promises to be quite a show. Stay tuned to JCI for the latest.