Ridgewood NJ, Reddit site’s volunteer moderators have been in open rebellion for weeks at fees the company has imposed on apps that are popular with Reddit moderators and users causing some of these apps to permanently shut down . Moderators claim Reddit’s recent changes to API pricing threaten to destroy user access to a huge variety of quality-of-life features exclusive to apps like Apollo, Narwhal and Reddit is Fun.
River Vale NJ, Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi lays out all the Phil Murphy tax increases :
“Governor Murphy promised to raise your taxes and boy has he kept that promise. Rather than cut spending, rather than eliminate government waste, he has increased spending by BILLIONS each year. Our tolls just went up by over 36% on the Turnpike and 27% on the Garden State Parkway. Our gas tax increases by another 9 cents on October 1. A new multi-billion dollar borrowing plan created a new “Statewide Property Tax” and yet these tax increases aren’t enough. Now we have the following coming soon to NJ courtesy of the tax and spend Democrats. Ask yourself one question, has your life in NJ become ANY easier over the past several years as a result of all of the new taxes and increased BILLIONS in spending? If no, where is this money actually going?”
NJ Ez pass is a scam. My personal experience (I have ny account take was issued before nj had the ezpass ). My account has always been in good standing, automatic credit card reimbursement, etc. I have 4 current tags. I put a tag in my newly obtained vehicle with out of state plates while it was here for a month. The garden state parkway toll in wash twps said “tag not read”. To avoid issues, that plate was added to the account 15 minutes later. I received a violation notice (despite meeting all the criteria for NOT being a violation) demanding 1.50 toll and $50 administration fee. I replied as requested online, on the phone, and using their automated system 11 times. They kept sending their lying bs notice. I finally had the last clerk on the phone admit that “their new system was having problems “. I paid the 1.50 toll with a credit card, and made it clear if she tried to ding me the 50 I would dispute the charge and suggest that the local us attorney investigate their practices. Apparently that is how NJ tries to strong arm payments that ate NOT due from unsuspecting motorists who think they may have a registration revoked (it’s not possible ). NJ EZ pass is a corrupt organization (based on my personal experience) and should be investigated. If it was a private company the executives would be indicted for mail fraud wire fraud and corruption for extorting money from motorists that is not due.
Return all the money generated as ‘fines’ in a year as equal cash payment annually to all residents in that municipality instead of keeping it in the black hole called the municipal budget. It should be a separate equal cash payment and municipalities should not be able to call it a ‘rebate’ against property taxes or tie them together in any way.
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When you take away the ability of those in power to benefit from their misbehavior, the abuses will stop!
There’s a growing sentiment to do something about tamping down use of municipal courts to generate fines to support a city or town’s budget.
Committees of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the state Supreme Court are each looking at the issue now, and a state Assembly committee recently did the same. Lawmakers floated ideas such as regionalization, making municipal courts a division of Superior Court and pooling all revenues from fines.
Paul Catanese, who was a judge for 20 years in South Brunswick, Lawrence and Hamilton, said judges need to be freed up to be independent, not worrying about whether they’ll be reappointed if they levy small or no fines in cases when that’s appropriate.
“There’s always this if not explicit this implicit sense that you need more revenues from the court,” said Catanese, who said a few years ago one Middlesex County town switched judges specifically because it wanted more revenue from court fines.
“Judges know what their job is,” Catanese said. “It’s to do individual justice in individual cases. That’s what our role is. It’s not our job to raise revenues for the town.”
Ridgewood NJ, at Wednesday night meeting the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) presented a review of the fees. This is to be a context for fee reviews in various departments . This blog has never been a friend of the FAC , but we are a fan of stream lining fees, eliminating out dated fees and fees that cost more to collect than the Village earns .
The focus of the FAC report was three major issues :
majority of fees are outdated sample fees were below comparable towns Village can improve the bottom line , some fee cost more to collect than they take in
The FAC presentation focused on , process enhancement , review of the fees that matter , cost recovery , regulate activities , market approach compare to neighboring towns
The FAC report suggested to eliminate fees that are gratuitous or inconsequential and create a process to update or review fees.
According to the FAC most fees were set in the 90’s . Often the cost of collection out weights fees themselves . Some fees could also be paid on line like the garage sale fee
There are over 600 line items of various fees , the FAC just looked at the fees that the Village Council can do something about ,the FAC focused on significant fees that matter.
The FAC mentioned that fees a remarkable lack on uniformity , comparing against Redbank, Monclair and Summitt . Council is looking for comparisons with more local town.
Its all about “fees” Christie changes course on fee hikes
Everything but spending cuts
MAY 12, 2014, 10:29 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MAY 12, 2014, 10:29 PM
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD
Two months ago, Governor Christie proposed a $34.4 billion budget, promising “no new taxes on the people of New Jersey.”
Now his administration is detailing nearly two dozen fees and fines that he wants increased — none of which was made public at the time.
The tax policy changes would increase revenue for five different state departments.
They include boosting the $2 fee added to motor vehicle fines to fund the state’s forensic DNA lab by 75 cents. The fingerprint fees for non-criminal background checks would go from $30 to $45.
Home improvement contractors would be forced to pay $110 instead of $90 to register with the state, and $90 instead of $75 to renew their registration.
The state’s Division Alcoholic Beverage Control, which regulates the sale of alcohol in New Jersey, would also increase fees across the board, according to Christie’s proposal.
For state taxpayers and businesses, the new fee and fine hikes — 23 in all, according to information made public last week by the state Department of Treasury — would mean giving more money to Trenton. But for Christie, a Republican seen as a possible contender for his party’s 2016 presidential nomination, the increases might pose a political problem.
He frequently and very publicly attacks Democrats for raising fees and taxes — including many of the same lawmakers he now needs to pass this budget.
And even as Democrats have questioned Christie’s proposal, which would bring in an estimated $32 million in new revenue, the governor is blaming the Democrats for having to hike the fees and fines in the first place.
“Quite frankly, I’ve had my teeth kicked in by this administration that we’ve raised taxes 115 times,” said Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, when the issue came up during a meeting Thursday. “We’ve all been kicked around about how many taxes and fee increases we’ve voted on it recent years.”
After the meeting, Sarlo said it will take Republican votes to get the increases Christie wants adopted to balance his budget.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-changes-course-on-fee-hikes-1.1014656#sthash.YpAsjTuy.dpuf
