Steve Fulops first day

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop says an impending tax hike is the fault of his predecessor, former Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

(Jersey Journal file photo)

A measure that would boost Jersey City property taxes by 8 percent is set to be approved at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

The council, which convened for its new term just last Monday, faces a multi-million shortfall in the $500 million proposed budget, a shortfall Mayor Steve Fulop blames on his predecessor, former Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

“The Healy administration introduced a budget that left taxpayers with a $20 million structural deficit,” Fulop said in a statement. “Our team is looking forward to turning the page and closing the chapter on the Healy legacy, but unfortunately he left the taxpayers one final gift.”

Fulop became mayor on July 1 after a bruising campaign against Healy during which Fulop attacked Healy for property-tax hikes.

Blaming prior administrations for new tax increases is nothing new. Healy himself did it in his most recent reelection campaign, saying a tax hike in 2005 resulted from his attempts to clean up a financial mess he said he inherited when he was first elected mayor the previous year.

When the city introduced its 2013 spending plan earlier this year, the budget had no tax increase. But Fulop says the Healy administration padded the budget with millions in unrealistic revenue projections so that Healy could campaign for reelection on a “no new taxes” platform.

In his final days as a councilman, Fulop attempted to get the council to pass budget amendments that would have addressed the shortfall before Healy left office on June 30. But

, which would have raised municipal taxes by about 8 percent, or

$258 on a house with an average assessment of $93,500.

Now that Fulop is mayor and seven of the nine council members are his allies, those amendments are expected to pass tomorrow.

Healy reiterated today that his administration crafted a realistic budget and said much of the alleged shortfall comes from a proposed sale of city property by the Jersey City Medical Center.

Healy said the buyer of that property is still interested and “there is certainly no need for a tax increase.”

“What the City Council and Steve Fulop should do is work on nailing down that sale,” the former mayor said.

The council meeting is set to begin on tomorrow at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St. A public hearing is scheduled for the July 17 council meeting, when the budget is expected to be adopted.