Jersey City votes 9-0 to bump Wielkotz contract $50k to $157,000

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The Municipal Council on Wednesday voted 9–0 to amend Jersey City’s professional services contract with Wielkotz & Company LLC, adding $50,000 and raising the calendar-year 2026 engagement from $107,000 to $157,000.

Resolution 26-583, approved at the Sept. 23, 2026 regular meeting, amends the contract first awarded under Resolution 25-806 (Dec. 10, 2025). Funding is booked to operating account 6-01-20-134-312.

Voting aye were Council Members Brooks, Zuppa, Ephros, Little, Gilmore, Griffin, Singh, and Lavarro, and Council President Ridley.

What Wielkotz does for the city

Wielkotz & Company LLC is a Pompton Lakes, N.J., certified public accounting firm. Under Res. 25-806, Jersey City hired the firm for calendar 2026 to provide accounting services and financial advisory services — not a blank consulting retainer.

The firm is not the city’s 2025 financial auditor. That audit was by Donohue, Gironda, Doria & Tomkins, LLC. Wielkotz is outside accounting and advisory help Finance is using to implement corrective actions from that audit.

The $50,000 amendment reflects increased demand tied to those 2025 audit corrective actions; Finance cites the firm’s expertise and familiarity with city systems, according to the fact sheet and a Sept. 2 memo from Comptroller Walkidia Staten. A packet attachment includes an engagement for agreed-upon procedures analyzing select payments to former employees for compensated absences at separation (tied to findings 2025-007 and 2025-008). Matthew B. Wielkotz is listed as engagement member; work is billed hourly under the Res. 25-806 rates.

Tied to 2025 audit corrective work

According to the resolution fact sheet and Staten’s memo, Finance is addressing several corrective-action items from the city’s 2025 audit that need specialized accounting and operational guidance beyond the original engagement.

Staten’s memo lists the additional work against these findings:

• 2025-001 — Financial closing and reporting
• 2025-007 — Accumulated absences
• 2025-008 — Severance payments
• 2025-013 — Aging of grant receivables and reserves
• 2025-015 — Revenue collection and reconciliation controls

The fact sheet states that many of the corrective actions involve process redesign, documentation, stronger internal controls, and revisions to financial reporting practices. Packet approvals include CFO William Viqueira and Business Administrator Ruby B. Choi.

Same night: $1.76M inactive grant reserve cleanup

Also on the Sept. 23 agenda, the council passed Resolution 26-582 by the same 9–0 tally, canceling $1,755,695.04 in inactive grant reserve appropriation balances. Receivables on the listed lines were already $0.

Canceled reserve lines include JTPA (~$970,000 combined), Summer Food / SFSP programs, WIC, UEZ Powerhouse Stabilization, ROID, Municipal Drug Alliance 24, and a $5 Hyacinth Monkeypox residual, among others.

The fact sheet for Res. 26-582 says the action is cleanup only: it does not authorize new spending, does not reduce an active grant award, and does not affect current programs. The cancellation is part of the city’s response to audit Finding 2025-013; Finance has inventoried expired grants and is advancing rolling cancellation batches.

Sources: Res. 26-583 (Wielkotz amendment PDF); Comptroller Walkidia Staten memo (Sept. 2, 2026) and resolution fact sheet; Res. 26-582 (grant cancellation PDF); Sept. 23, 2026 agenda.