May 19, 2026
Voters Betrayed! New Democrats Promised Affordability. Instead, Rubber-Stamped Tax King Mayor Moench's 10% Tax Increase.
THIS IS THE SPEECH DELIVERED BY FORMER COUNCILMAN FILIPE PEDROSO AT THE MAY 18, 2026 COUNCIL MEETING.
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At the last meeting, this council approved a budget that raises municipal taxes on Bridgewater residents by 10 percent.
In the past November election, voters were promised something very different. The three elected Democrats promised affordability. They promised the voters responsible government. They promised change.
Instead, Bridgewater residents received one of the largest tax increases Bridgewater has seen in recent history.
This did not happen by accident. It happened because this mayor chose bloated budgets over fiscal discipline. And with a Democratic council majority fully aligned with the mayor, there was no longer anyone willing to seriously challenge it.
For years, I stood as the lone dissenting vote against Tax King Mayor Moench’s inflated budgets, reckless borrowing, and repeated tax increases. I warned residents that despite the Republican label, this mayor governed with the philosophy of a tax-and-spend Democrat.
Today, the numbers speak for themselves.
Since Mayor Moench took office, municipal taxes have increased by approximately 42 percent. Sewer bills have risen more than 35 percent. Township debt has expanded dramatically. Mayor Moench truly has earned the title of Tax King.
The council’s role is not to rubber-stamp the mayor’s agenda. It is supposed to serve as a check and balance — to ask difficult questions, challenge excessive spending, and protect taxpayers.
When I served on the Budget and Finance Committee while on the Council, that responsibility was taken seriously. I spent hundreds of hours reviewing budgets line by line, identifying savings, making adjustments, and insisting on restraint. As a result, from 2013 through the end of 2019, Bridgewater experienced a long period of municipal tax stability, with average annual increases of less than one percent, while achieving the lowest municipal tax rate in Somerset County.
Those days are long gone since Tax King Mayor Moench took charge.
What happened at the last council meeting was more than the passage of a budget. It was a betrayal of the voters who were promised affordability, and a continuation of the reckless fiscal policies that have made Bridgewater less affordable year after year.
Residents who voted for affordability were betrayed with a 10 percent tax increase.
Residents who voted for change were betrayed with more spending, more debt, and bigger government.
This budget vote made one thing clear: Affordability was simply a campaign slogan, not a governing priority.
