Whitney Houston’s high-profile funeral cost New Jersey taxpayers $187,000 — and Newark residents are not happy.
The price tag will cover the overtime salaries of hundreds of extra police officers needed for the service, CBS New York reports. The high cost is approximately five percent of the city’s $4 million annual budget.
Newark residents are upset that the beloved singer’s funeral, while partially funded with taxpayer dollars, was a private event, and only open family members and celebrity mourners.
Nearly 200 police offers were stationed near the funeral, which has held at New Baptist Church, and the Newark Club, where the family gathered after the service.
City officials say that the additional costs were necessary because of safety concerns.
“I was able to be witness to the thousands upon thousands of people who were desperate to attend service but held back by barriers and officers of the law,” said Democratic City Councilwoman Mildred Crump told CBS. “If they had not been there someone may have been trampled, seriously hurt.”