How Perth Amboy is run
Who runs Perth Amboy, 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 Perth Amboy's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Perth Amboy
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
Perth Amboy city staff
The budget shows salaries and wages by department but no total head count. We found no list of employees' pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Perth Amboy 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 CY2026 budget uses $6.3M of fund balance, down from $10.7M in 2025, and raises the municipal tax levy by about 4.587%. City of Perth Amboy · Aug 12, 2026
Savings against the city's own target
Unassigned general fund balance: $8.8M (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. Perth Amboy's was $8.8M on December 31, 2025, and the CY2026 budget uses $6.3M of it. City of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 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 CY2026.
Comes from
- Local property tax for municipal purposes$68M · 67%
- State aid (energy receipts tax and other state aid)$11.8M · 12%
- Other special items of revenue$7M · 7%
- Fund balance (surplus) used$6.3M · 6%
- Local revenues (fees, licenses and other city income)$4.4M · 4%
- Grants offset by appropriations$2.6M · 3%
- Library property tax$1.9M · 2%
- Other (delinquent taxes)$41,000 · 0%
Goes to (CY2026)
- Salaries and wages$37.4M · 37%
- Other operating expenses$37.2M · 36%
- Deferred charges and statutory costs, including state pension contributions$11.6M · 11%
- Debt service$10.9M · 11%
- Grant-funded programs$2.6M · 3%
- Other operations outside the spending cap$2M · 2%
- Other (capital improvements and reserve for uncollected taxes)$492,000 · 0%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Perth Amboy collects one property tax bill and passes part of it on to the schools and Middlesex County. The city's own share, including the library, is about 60%.
60¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Perth Amboy
- City of Perth Amboy (municipal)1.853 · 58%
- Perth Amboy local school district0.802 · 25%
- Middlesex County0.437 · 14%
- Perth Amboy Free Public Library0.045 · 1%
- Middlesex County open space0.041 · 1%
- Total ($ per $100 of assessed value)3.178
2025 tax rates for a property in the City of Perth Amboy (Middlesex County). City of Perth Amboy
Who provides your services
Not everything in Perth Amboy is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityPerth Amboy Police DepartmentCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- Police dispatchThe cityPerth Amboy Police DispatchCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- FireThe cityPerth Amboy Fire DepartmentCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- Water and wastewaterContractorUtility Service Affiliates (Perth Amboy), a Middlesex Water Company subsidiary, runs the city-owned system under contractIn April 2026 the city served the operator a notice of default, citing costs over $500,000 a month since February 2026 for bulk water.City of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- Trash and recyclingThe cityCity of Perth Amboy Division of Solid Waste/RecyclingCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- StreetsThe cityCity of Perth Amboy Public Works, Street and Road MaintenanceCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- ParksThe cityCity of Perth Amboy Parks DepartmentCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
- LibraryThe cityPerth Amboy Free Public LibraryCity of Perth Amboy · Jul 10, 2026
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 Perth Amboy publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Yes: Adopted budget posted onlineThe adopted CY2026 budget is posted on the city's site, with a user-friendly budget, the budget presentation and the mayor's budget message. City of Perth Amboy · Aug 12, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlinePerth Amboy has a Business Administrator, not a manager. We found no contract or salary ordinance for the post on the city's site. City of Perth Amboy
- Partly: Council votes recorded member by member onlineThe posted budget resolution lists each council member's vote. City of Perth Amboy · Aug 12, 2026
- Yes: Meeting videos and minutes onlineMeeting recordings are posted on YouTube by year, and the same page offers agendas and minutes. City of Perth Amboy
- No: Council pay stated in a public documentWe found no council salary ordinance on the city's site. The city code is on eCode360, which we could not read. City of Perth Amboy
Questions to ask your council
- The water/wastewater utility has $276.7 million of borrowing authorized but not yet issued. How will that debt affect water and sewer bills?
- In April 2026 the city served its water system operator a notice of default, citing the cost of buying bulk water. How will the city recover those costs?
- The city's share of the two state pension plans was $71.8 million at June 30, 2024. How will rising pension contributions fit into future budgets?
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