How Linden is run
Who runs Linden, 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 Linden's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Linden
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
Linden city staff
The 2026 budget does not state a total head count. It sets salary totals by department; we found no list of individual employee pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Linden 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.
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $16.9M (2025-12-31). The city's own target: We found no written reserve target. New Jersey towns report a Current Fund balance (surplus) rather than an unassigned balance. Linden's was $16.86M on December 31, 2025. The 2026 budget uses $11.5M of it as revenue. City of Linden · May 22, 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$71.8M · 50%
- State aid (energy receipts tax)$20.1M · 14%
- Fund balance (surplus) used$11.5M · 8%
- Payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) from 21 developments$10.8M · 7%
- Host community benefits from energy, waste and other facilities$4.5M · 3%
- Library property tax$3.8M · 3%
- Capital fund surplus$3.5M · 2%
- Delinquent taxes collected$2.5M · 2%
- Other (court fines, interest, construction fees, ambulance billing, grants and others)$15.6M · 11%
Goes to (2026)
- Employee health insurance$23.7M · 16%
- Police$21.9M · 15%
- Fire and EMS$17.3M · 12%
- Debt service$14.8M · 10%
- State pension contributions (PFRS and PERS)$13.7M · 10%
- Trash collection$4.8M · 3%
- Central 911 dispatch$4.2M · 3%
- Public library$3.8M · 3%
- Other (public works, administration, courts, health, recreation, insurance, reserve for uncollected taxes and others)$39.9M · 28%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Rates are per $100 of assessed value. The schools take about 45 cents of each tax dollar, the city about 35 cents, the county about 18 cents and the library about 2 cents.
37¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Linden
- Linden Public Schools3.319 · 45%
- City of Linden2.597 · 35%
- Union County1.31 · 18%
- Linden Public Library0.119 · 2%
- Total (dollars per $100 of assessed value)7.345
2025 property tax rates for a home in Linden (Union County). City of Linden · May 22, 2026
Who provides your services
Not everything in Linden is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityLinden Police DepartmentCity of Linden
- FireThe cityLinden Fire DepartmentCity of Linden
- Ambulance (EMS)The cityLinden Fire DepartmentThe city bills for ambulance service run by the Fire Department.City of Linden
- 911 dispatchThe cityCity of Linden Central Dispatch 9-1-1City of Linden · Jun 16, 2026
- Trash and recyclingThe cityLinden Department of Public WorksCity of Linden
- Parks and recreationThe cityLinden Department of Parks & RecreationCity of Linden
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 | LindenNJ | SayrevilleNJ | Perth AmboyNJ | PlainfieldNJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 45,752 | 46,787 | 56,739 | 57,141 |
| 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 | $3,149 | $1,774 | $1,801 | $2,094 |
| Debt per resident | $1,514 | $1,557 | $2,221 | $898 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $2,121 | $1,076 | $1,265 | $1,506 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | 5.7 | — | — |
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 Linden publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted online City of Linden
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineLinden created a Business Administrator post in 2021. We found no contract or resolution stating pay for the city's top appointed officials. City of Linden
- Partly: Meeting videos and minutes online City of Linden
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public documentThe budget shows $225,300 for council salaries in total. We found no ordinance stating each member's pay. City of Linden · Jun 16, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedThe budget shows salary totals by department only. We found no list of employee pay. City of Linden · Jun 16, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- The 2026 budget uses $11.5 million of surplus, up from $10.5 million in 2025, and the fund balance was $16.86 million on December 31, 2025. How long can the city keep using surplus at that level?
- Employee health insurance is the largest single cost in the 2026 budget at $23.67 million, more than the police department's $21.85 million. What is the city doing to manage that cost?
- Payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) are budgeted at $10.79 million in 2026. How does the city decide when to grant a PILOT agreement?
- Linden's share of state pension liabilities was $97.0 million at June 30, 2025, and the 2026 budget sets $13.73 million of pension contributions. How will those costs fit into future budgets?
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Every number here was checked by hand against the linked document. Cities publish on different schedules, so years differ between sections; each figure says which year it describes. Spotted something wrong or out of date?
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