By Councilman Brian Thomas
Well, they did it again.
Friday night, while most New Jerseyans were either heading down to the beach or figuring out how to pay their ever-increasing utility bills, the Legislature quietly voted a bloated, pork-stuffed, taxpayer-punishing 2026 budget out of committee.
If you thought past budgets were bad, buckle up—this one proposed by Governor Murphy and Trenton Democrats might just be the gold medalist in fiscal irresponsibility.
Let’s start with the eye-watering $58+ billion price tag – a whopping 45% bigger than just five years ago. And what do taxpayers get for all that? More gimmicks, more handouts, and more pressure on middle-class families who already feel like they’re being squeezed dry by the state.
You want examples? Gladly.
Here are just three out of hundreds of the more inspiring ways Trenton plans to spend your hard-earned money:
- $2 million for a pickleball (etc.) at a center in North Jersey. Because obviously that’s what’s missing from our state’s infrastructure. Just forget about fixing potholes, sinkholes, & budget holes.
- $500,000 for a mysterious “wellness garden,” tucked into the budget with no explanation, no location, and no clear purpose—because nothing says fiscal responsibility like half a million dollars for… plants?
- And of course, let’s not forget the $1.3 million for an “artist incubator” in a town where residents can’t even afford to incubate their air conditioning in the summer heat.
Meanwhile, towns and residents across the State are left holding the check when the bills come due.
Once again, this budget shortchanges municipalities, which means property taxes will go up—again. Trenton Democrats love to say they’re “fully funding” school aid this year, but don’t be fooled. That’s just political spin. In reality, they’re shifting the burden to local communities, forcing us to blow past the state’s own 2% property tax cap just to cover basic education needs.
This isn’t relief—it’s robbery. And residents, especially seniors and working families on fixed incomes, are the ones stuck paying the bill. All because these same cheering politicians and voting ‘YES’ don’t actually care about the people who live here—we’re just their personal piggy banks. They raise, raid, and redistribute our tax dollars to prop up their seats, repay their donors, and keep the Trenton machine humming.
And let’s not forget the state-mandated “affordable housing” push, which sounds great on paper—who doesn’t want affordable housing?—but the reality is a bureaucratic bulldozer barreling toward overdevelopment. These mandates are forcing towns to overbuild, paving over open space, straining infrastructure, and threatening the character of communities like Neptune City. It’s not about affordability—it’s about density, control, and a complete disregard for environmental impact or local input.
Trenton Democrats seem to think that if they slap the word “affordable” on a high-rise, suddenly every concern disappears. But let’s be real: this is forced overdevelopment, plain and simple, and it will overwhelm our roads, schools, sewers, and emergency services.
Here’s the bottom line:
This budget doesn’t reflect the priorities of everyday New Jerseyans. It reflects the priorities of insiders in Trenton who would rather play Santa Claus with taxpayer money than confront the reality that New Jersey is becoming unaffordable, unsustainable, and increasingly unrecognizable.
Middle-class families are getting clobbered. Municipalities are getting ignored. And our communities are being redesigned by people who wouldn’t dare live in the chaos they create aka “elitists.”
Enough is enough. If we want to stop this slow-motion trainwreck, we need new leadership, real reform, and a state government that finally remembers who it’s supposed to serve: the people—not the pork.
