How Glassboro is run
Who runs Glassboro, what it costs, and where your money goes
The city manager, council pay, the budget, your property tax bill and who provides each service, from Glassboro's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Glassboro
The elected mayor heads the city government and appoints its top administrator and department heads. The council passes laws, adopts the budget and sets the tax rate.
What they are paid
Glassboro city staff
The budget does not state a total head count. The 2026 salary ordinance gives pay ranges by job title. We found no list of individual employee pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Glassboro in the red?
Cities must pass a balanced budget, so "profit" and "deficit" mean something different here. The useful questions: does the city's everyday money (the general fund) cover its everyday costs, how much does it keep in savings compared with its own target, and how big are its pension and debt bills.
The city's own outlook
The 2026 introduced budget raises $15.71M in local tax for municipal purposes, up from $15.26M in 2025. It uses $3.29M of fund balance as revenue, up from $3.19M. Long-term ground lease and PILOT payments are budgeted at $5.68M, up from $5.33M. Borough of Glassboro · Mar 10, 2026
Savings
Unassigned general fund balance: $7.9M (2025-12-31). Borough of Glassboro · Jul 23, 2026
Why we skip the "budgeted deficit": many cities plan to dip into savings, then spend less than planned. The audited result tells you what really happened.
Where the money comes from and goes
The general fund only: the city's everyday money for 2026.
Comes from
- Property tax for municipal purposes$15.7M · 46%
- Long-term ground leases and PILOTs$5.7M · 17%
- Fund balance (surplus) used$3.3M · 10%
- Local revenues (fees, fines, interest, utility surplus)$3.1M · 9%
- State aid (energy receipts tax)$2.6M · 7%
- Grants and contributions, including Rowan University's police and fire contribution$1.5M · 4%
- Payments in lieu of taxes$1M · 3%
- Other (delinquent taxes and other special items)$1.5M · 4%
Goes to (2026)
- Police$7.3M · 21%
- Employee health insurance$4.7M · 14%
- Pensions and Social Security$3.8M · 11%
- Debt service$3.4M · 10%
- Road repairs and maintenance staff$1.6M · 5%
- Fire$1.5M · 4%
- Trash, recycling and landfill fees$1.4M · 4%
- Grant-funded programs$1.1M · 3%
- Other (administration, parks, court, utilities, reserves, capital)$9.5M · 28%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Glassboro sends one tax bill, but most of it goes to the local school district and Gloucester County. The borough keeps about 31 cents of each dollar.
31¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Glassboro
- Borough of Glassboro School District1.763 · 48%
- Borough of Glassboro (municipal)1.119 · 31%
- Gloucester County0.666 · 18%
- Gloucester County Library0.045 · 1%
- Gloucester County Open Space Preservation Trust Fund0.044 · 1%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)3.637
2025 rates for a home in the Borough of Glassboro (Gloucester County). Borough of Glassboro · Jul 23, 2026
Who provides your services
Not everything in Glassboro is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityGlassboro Police DepartmentRowan University contributes to police and fire costs ($996,140 budgeted in 2026).Glassboro Police Department
- FireThe cityGlassboro Fire DepartmentFirefighters also respond to medical calls, vehicle accidents and rescues.Borough of Glassboro
- WaterThe cityGlassboro Water & Sewer DepartmentBorough of Glassboro
- SewerThe cityGlassboro Water & Sewer DepartmentBorough of Glassboro
- Trash and recyclingThe cityGlassboro Highway DepartmentBorough of Glassboro
- Streets and snow removalThe cityGlassboro Highway DepartmentBorough of Glassboro
- Parks and recreationThe cityGlassboro Parks & RecreationBorough of Glassboro
Compared with similar cities
The cities in this state closest in population that we cover. Read it for scale, not as a ranking: cities provide different services.
| Per city | North PlainfieldNJ | SummitNJ | GlassboroNJ | ParamusNJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 22,879 | 23,314 | 24,483 | 26,723 |
| Top administrator's base pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Council member pay | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| General fund per resident | $1,568 | $2,721 | $1,401 | $3,672 |
| Debt per resident | $1,226 | $3,390 | $1,856 | $1,682 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,279 | $1,588 | $1,108 | $2,325 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | — | — | — |
Figures as shown in each city's section, divided by its population. Years differ by state, and pension figures are measured differently in each state (each city page says how).
What Glassboro publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted online Borough of Glassboro
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no contract for the Business Administrator. The salary ordinance gives only a pay range for the job. Borough of Glassboro · Mar 24, 2026
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlinePosted council minutes list each roll-call vote by member name. Borough of Glassboro · Apr 28, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe salary ordinance sets pay ranges for the mayor and council, not exact amounts. Borough of Glassboro · Mar 24, 2026
- Partly: Employee pay publishedThe yearly salary ordinance lists pay ranges by job title. We found no list of individual employee pay. Borough of Glassboro · Mar 24, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The 2026 budget uses $3.29 million of surplus, while the Current Fund balance was $7.89 million on December 31, 2025. How much surplus can future budgets rely on?
- Long-term ground lease and PILOT payments are budgeted at $5.68 million in 2026. How long do these agreements run, and what replaces them when they end?
- Glassboro had $45.43 million of bonds, notes and loans outstanding on December 31, 2025, plus $16.24 million authorized but not issued. What will the new borrowing pay for?
- Glassboro's share of state pension liabilities was $27.12 million at June 30, 2025. How will rising pension payments fit into future budgets?
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