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Required to introduce the budget in February without final state aid figures, the city council held a hearing Wednesday night on the spending plan, which currently bears a 17-percent tax increase.

The state aid amounts should be available within the next week, city manager Terence Reidy [above] said at the hearing.

With those aid figures, the budget will be amended and officials will “bring it down to a reasonable tax increase,” Reidy said. The budget will likely not exceed state-imposed tax levy caps, chief financial officer Juan Uribe said.

Asbury Park is one of 11 municipalities in New Jersey that receive “transitional aid” from the state — in addition to the state aid all municipalities receive.

Under tight fiscal monitoring by the state, transitional aid cities must enter a memorandum of understanding with Trenton, similar to a contract, with “extremely rigorous guidelines,” Reidy said.

“If you have 10 people retire, you can’t fill any of those positions unless you make a request with the state … and you come up with a justification for every single position,” Reidy said.

This year, the state examined all the transitional aid cities to see which municipalities were working hard to recover economically, Reidy said. As a result of this, the state changed the status of $6 million of Asbury Park’s funding from transitional aid to permanent.

Only three other transitional aid municipalities were awarded more permanent aid, Reidy said.

Last year, the state also reduced Asbury Park’s transitional aid by $1 million and encouraged cities like Asbury Park to increase revenue independently of the state.

“There’s a whole list of revenue-generating opportunities,” Reidy said. “The state said, ‘If you don’t look at these areas, you’re going to jeopardize your abilities. We’re not going to be funding cities forever. We’ll get you stable but you have to show you have the vision and ability to finish this race.'”

This led in part to the increase in parking meters in the city. This year, $500,000 in profits from the parking utility will be transferred to the general fund to support the tax base.

Also, Live Nation will pay the city $200,000 for hosting the Bamboozle music festival at the end of May.

More money is being pulled from the beach utility as well, with $150,000 supporting the tax base from beach profits.

Reidy expects the city will receive state aid numbers early next week and the governing body will be able to vote on the amended budget — and the actual tax increase — at the April 18 meeting. That meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

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