How Rahway is run
Who runs Rahway, 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 Rahway's own public documents. Every number links to its source and says which year it describes. Checked Oct 11, 2026.
Who runs Rahway
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
Rahway city staff
The 2026 budget does not state a total head count. It sets salary totals by department; we found no salary ordinance or list of individual employee pay. We name pay only for elected officials and the city manager.
Is Rahway 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: $12.1M (2024-12-31). 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. Rahway's was $12.09M on December 31, 2024 (audited) and $16.15M on December 31, 2025 (unaudited, from the 2026 budget). The 2026 budget uses $4.48M of it as revenue. City of Rahway · Aug 29, 2025
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$44.7M · 56%
- Payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) from 13 developments$4.8M · 6%
- Fund balance (surplus) used$4.5M · 6%
- State aid (energy receipts tax)$4.1M · 5%
- Union County Utilities Authority host community fees$2.7M · 3%
- State legislative aid$2.2M · 3%
- Library property tax$1.8M · 2%
- Delinquent taxes collected$1.4M · 2%
- Other (interest, court fines, fees, grants, utility surplus, capital fund balance and others)$13.7M · 17%
Goes to (2026)
- Employee health insurance$13.7M · 17%
- Police$11.1M · 14%
- Debt service$7.8M · 10%
- Fire$6.9M · 9%
- State pension contributions (PFRS and PERS)$5.8M · 7%
- Streets and roads$4.5M · 6%
- Trash and recycling$3.3M · 4%
- Reserve for uncollected taxes$2.5M · 3%
- Other (administration, courts, health, recreation, library, other insurance, grants and others)$24.2M · 30%
Your property tax bill: who gets it
Rates are per $100 of assessed value. The schools take about 46 cents of each tax dollar, the city about 40 cents and the county about 14 cents.
40¢
of each property-tax dollar goes to the city of Rahway
- Rahway Public Schools3.393 · 46%
- City of Rahway (including library)2.971 · 40%
- Union County1.041 · 14%
- Total (dollars per $100 of assessed value)7.405
2024 property tax rates for a home in Rahway (Union County). City of Rahway · Aug 29, 2025
Who provides your services
Not everything in Rahway is run by the city. Who provides a service decides whose budget pays for it and whose election decides it.
- PoliceThe cityRahway Police DepartmentCity of Rahway
- FireThe cityRahway Fire DepartmentIts mission covers fire prevention, emergency medical services and community education.City of Rahway
- StreetsThe cityRahway Department of Public WorksCity of Rahway · Jul 6, 2026
- Trash and recyclingThe cityRahway Department of Public WorksCity of Rahway
- Sewage treatmentSeparate districtRahway Valley Sewerage AuthorityThe 2026 sewer budget sets $6.75M for the authority.City of Rahway · Jul 6, 2026
- ParkingThe cityRahway Parking UtilityCity of Rahway
- Parks and recreationThe cityCity of RahwayCity of Rahway · Aug 29, 2025
- LibraryThe cityRahway Public LibraryCity of Rahway · Jul 6, 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 | GlassboroNJ | ParamusNJ | RahwayNJ | PrincetonNJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 24,483 | 26,723 | 31,010 | 31,469 |
| 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 | $1,401 | $3,672 | $2,574 | $2,698 |
| Debt per resident | $1,856 | $1,682 | $2,892 | $4,151 |
| Unfunded pension per resident | $1,108 | $2,325 | $1,359 | $1,141 |
| City staff per 1,000 residents | — | — | — | 7.3 |
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 Rahway publishes
What a resident can find online today. A "no" is something you can ask the council to publish.
- Partly: Adopted budget posted online City of Rahway · Aug 17, 2026
- No: City manager's contract findable onlineWe found no contract, resolution or salary ordinance stating the Business Administrator's pay. City of Rahway
- Yes: Council votes recorded member by member onlineAdopted resolutions posted in the Agenda Center list each member's vote by name. City of Rahway · Aug 17, 2026
- Partly: Council pay stated in a public document City of Rahway · Jul 6, 2026
- No: Employee pay publishedThe budget shows salary totals by department only. We found no salary ordinance or list of employee pay. City of Rahway · Jul 6, 2026
Questions to ask your council
- Employee health insurance is the largest single cost in the 2026 budget at $13.65 million, more than the police department's $11.08 million. What is the city doing to manage that cost?
- Rahway's share of state pension liabilities was $42.1 million at June 30, 2025, and the 2026 budget sets $5.81 million of pension contributions. How will those costs fit into future budgets?
- The city had $89.7 million of debt at the end of 2024, and 2026 debt service is $7.81 million. How will the bonds approved in 2026 change that?
The fiscal year is the calendar year. The council approved the 2026 budget on July 6, 2026 and set the public hearing for August 3, 2026. That night it tabled adoption while it awaited state Local Finance Board approval, then amended and adopted the budget on August 17, 2026. See who is running for council
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