JANUARY 5, 2016 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY MATTHEW MCGRATH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Local officials reacted cautiously to a proposal to charge hospitals a “community service” fee intended to offset, in part, property tax revenue that municipalities lose out on because of the non-profit status of most medical centers.
The proposed bill, which has cleared the state Senate but has not been posted for a vote in the General Assembly, would require hospitals to pay the towns in which they are built $2.50 per bed each day. If the bill becomes law, the fees would infuse about $2.7 million a year into six North Jersey communities that host the medical centers.
Not-for-profits are exempt from paying property taxes for certain uses. The proposal has been endorsed by the New Jersey Hospital Association, which hopes the payments will head off potential lawsuits from towns, but it is opposed by the League of Municipalities, whose members generally think they deserve more from the hospitals than the proposed law would allow.
Parking Utility Revenue – 01/01/15 – 11/30/15
January 5,2015
Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood NJ, This data was obtained via a formal Open Public Records Act request.
As you can see, discounting the insurance company settlement received in connection with the theft of funds by Thomas Rica, the largest source of line item revenue for the Parking Utility during the noted time period is cash from on street parking meters.
Other significant revenue sources include: Fees for annual parking permits, rental fees for dedicated parking at the Route 17 Park & Ride, CBD employee parking at the former Ken Smith Motors facility, metered parking at lots on Cottage Place, North Walnut Street, Prospect Street, Station Plaza, Hudson Street, and the Route 17 Park & Ride, and revenue generated from the Park Mobile smart phone application.
This data should enable you to understand why a proposed increase in metered parking rates, coupled with a extension of the time metered parking is in effect, could significantly boost overall Parking Utility revenues.
I hope the holidays were kind to you and that the power issues at town hall are resolved. In case they aren’t, I’ve also included your other email address.
I wanted to discuss your recent Mayor’s Corner column which appeared in my inbox on January 2nd, where you spoke at length about civility.
Civility is something I am so with you about. It is too easy for people to forget this and to fall into behavior that is shortsighted and damaging to the fabric of our wonderful democracy. For you to keep bringing this up is exemplary and serves as a reminder of us all continuing to raise the bar in this regard.
It’s certainly reminded me, which is why I’m writing to you.
While I applaud your efforts to get things done (certainly as a filmmaker, I know the herculean effort it sometimes requires to do so) I also feel obligated to our community to speak out when I observe actions that fall below this bar of civility you and I hold ourselves to.
When I read in your January 2nd email/column that “We need to honor the votes cast by the 3,236 Ridgewood residents – a full 65% — who voted “yes” to building a 400-car parking deck at Hudson Street” it prompts me to speak out.
I speak out because of what you wrote in the pasted below email from November 1st with the subject heading “Parking Campaign – Please Read and Please Share” (bolding/CAPs from your original email included) :
“Tuesday’s referendum question is ONLY asking if residents support financing and building a garage on the Hudson Street lot. Nothing more. Nothing less. You will NOT be voting on the size, look or any other aspect of a proposed parking deck.”
As you clearly stated in that email, the vote was not a ‘yes’ for a 400 car parking garage. It was a non-binding referendum and to add parking at Hudson, bond the money and work with the public on scale and design.
Furthermore, your intention to vote a bond through the county if you don’t achieve a super majority from our council is not an acceptable path for one who wishes to respect the needs of one’s constituents and to maintain civility.
Lastly, as dictated by September 30th Village Council vote and based on the specificity of the comprehensive traffic study that you voted in favor of that evening, any movement on the traffic garage should be tabled until that study is complete. To override that vote and forcibly move forward with this bond puts the whole process into question.
Paul, many of us, myself included, are in favor of finding ways to assuage the parking situation in town. In the name of civility and for the sake of our village, I urge you to honor the vote you cast on September 30th with regards to completing the comprehensive parking study before moving forward with this traffic garage.
See you Wednesday night at 7:30pm.
Sincerely,
Dana
Dana H. Glazer
61 Clinton Avenue
On Sun, Nov 1, 2015 at 12:53 PM, Paul Aronsohn <[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Neighbor,
Election Day is just around the corner … and the campaign to build Ridgewood’s first parking deck has been gaining support. As I walk through town and talk to literally thousands of residents, I can tell you that people increasingly realize that a “yes” vote for the parking referendum is a “yes” vote for Ridgewood.
And in addition to the many individual residents who have expressed strong support, we now have three important letters of endorsement – all supporting this initiative, all encouraging a “yes” vote on Tuesday.
§ The Ridgewood Financial Advisory Committee § The Ridgewood Historic Preservation Commission § The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce President Without question, this is all very exciting.
Unfortunately, however, an anonymous mailer was sent to many Ridgewood homes this weekend – an anonymous mailer that was sent from a Newark Post Office and that is full of misinformation and distortions. And although no one was willing to take responsibility for the mailer, the language in it is strikingly similar to that used recently by others trying to undermine this important project for the Village.
So, let me set the record straight on some of the key issues being discussed:
ü Parking revenues – NOT taxes – would pay for this parking deck. We have commissioned an independent financial analysis that demonstrates that we could easily pay for a parking deck using only parking revenues. Here is that analysis.
ü There would be NO charge for parking on Sundays. We don’t charge for parking on Sundays. Period. That’s true now. That will be true if/when we build a parking deck.
ü There have been NO decisions taken with respect to meter times or rates. The independent financial analysis gave us a menu of options for paying for a parking deck without raising taxes. It would be up to the Council – with public input – to decide on any rate or time changes.
ü The size and appearance of the proposed parking deck have NOT yet been decided. Our design team – with a great deal of public input – has been developing renderings of what a parking deck could look like, but we have NOT decided on size or appearance. Those two issues would be decided after the vote on the referendum.
ü Tuesday’s referendum question is ONLY asking if residents support financing and building a garage on the Hudson Street lot. Nothing more. Nothing less. You will NOT be voting on the size, look or any other aspect of a proposed parking deck. Here is a copy of the official ballot question.
ü The anonymous mailer greatly DISTORTS the size of the proposed parking deck. As noted on the mailer in very small letters, “artist rendering, not to exact scale.”
ü A parking deck would likely lead to a significant DECREASE in traffic. According to our independent traffic consultant, a parking deck on the Hudson Street lot would have a very positive affect on the overall downtown traffic situation. The primary reason for this is that a parking deck would eliminate the need to drive around and around and around looking for a parking space. ü A parking deck would benefit ALL Ridgewood residents … commuters as well as shoppers/diners. The Council would have to decide how best to use the parking deck, but we would likely set aside some parking for commuters and some for those shopping, dining and working downtown.
ü Tuesday’s vote provides ALL Ridgewood residents with a unique opportunity. As outlined in my letter-to-the-editor, we have an opportunity to do something smart, important and wonderful for our community.
As always, thank you….
Best,
Paul
Paul Aronsohn, Mayor Village of Ridgewood @paularonsohn
Economy in close second, followed by unemployment and immigration
BY: Ali Meyer
January 4, 2016 3:31 pm
For two years in a row, the federal government was named the number one problem in the United States, according to areport from Gallup. Sixteen percent of Americans said they were dissatisfied with some facet of government, whether it be President Barack Obama, Congress, or political conflict.
Americans named the economy as the nation’s second chief problem, and 34 percent mentioned either inflation, the budget deficit, or unemployment as cause for concern.
January 4, 2016 — 8:00 AM EST
Americans are increasingly foregoing paychecks due to disability, school or retirement
Kasia Klimasinska kklimasinska
How come more people are retiring in their early 20s? Why are middle-age men becoming stay-at-home dads? What’s keeping women out of the workforce other than illness, kids or school?
Those are some of the questions raised in a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report that shows changes over the past decade in why people stay out of the labor
Here’s what the bureau found, broadly: Thirty-five percent of the U.S. population wasn’t in the labor force in 2014, up from 31.3 percent a decade earlier. (You’re considered out of the workforce if you don’t have a job and aren’t looking for one. That’s distinct from the official unemployment rate, which tracks those out of work who are actively job hunting.)
Drilling down into the numbers reveals more about the shifts in the reasons some people forego a paycheck. In all age groups, for instance, more people cited retirement as the reason for being out of the labor force, and it wasn’t just older people.
For Americans between the ages of 20 and 24, the share of those sidelined over the past decade because they were in school increased, unsurprisingly, during the decade that included the Great Recession. What’s more unusual is that the share of 20- to 24-year-olds who say they’re retired doubled from 2004 to 2014.
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Those fearing that China is the big risk in the year ahead for global markets hope that the first trading day of 2016 does not set the tone for the rest of the year.
Between a 7% fall in shares that triggered new circuit breakers on the ShanghaiSHCOMP, -6.86% and Shenzhen stock exchanges 399100, -8.21% and accelerated weakness in the yuan, there is ample fodder for China bears.
The question being posed anew is whether 2016 will be the year Beijing finally throws in the towel on its attempts to coerce multiple asset markets upwards, while its economy continues to sink in a sea of debt.
While yet more weak industrial activity numbers from the Caixin China December PMI got the new year off to a flat start, the bigger concern is whether the leadership still has the will or the ability to continue holding up stock prices as its confrontsever more painful policy choices.
During a radio interview on Sunday, Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state employee who notoriously sued President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment, demanded Hillary Clinton personally apologize for “allowing” her husband to “abuse” and “sexually harass” women.
Speaking to weekend talk radio host Aaron Klein, Jones slammed Hillary as a “two-faced” “liar” who waged a war on women by trying to discredit “predator” Bill’s sexual accusers.
“And how dare her. You know what? She don’t care nothing about women. Because if she did she would believe what I had to say. She would believe what the other women had to say. ”
Jones further accused the media of practicing a double standard by “protecting” the Clintons while deservedly scrutinizing Bill Cosby’s alleged sexual assaults.
Stated Jones: “It’s really a sad, sad day if Hillary becomes president, because she has allowed her husband to get by with this type of stuff. Why does he have a right to be back in the White House, the people’s house?
“Why is he allowed to be back there with the track record that he has and his wife and the lying that she does and how she tried to discredit all of these women that her husband abused and sexually harassed?”
Jones slammed Hillary as “such a liar. And she’s so two faced. I never once was contacted by her. Not one time and apologized about what her husband did to me.”
Those remarks prompted Klein to ask specifically whether Jones thinks Hillary owes her an apology. Jones replied that “she needs to do a public apology or something or other (for) all the women who have come out and said publicly what her husband did to them. Yes, she does. I believe she does.”
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 04, 2016 at 8:11 AM, updated January 04, 2016 at 10:59 AM
Replacing bridge decks on several ramps and overpasses between I-78 and Route 1&9 in Newark: The $17.9 million project is expected to start in early 2016 and be completed in early 2017
Repaving 6.6 miles of I- 80 East express and local lanes between Paterson, Elmwood Park and Hackensack: The project is scheduled to start this summer and be completed before the winter of 2016,
While there is uncertainty about how the state will pay for road and bridge projects after 2016, drivers will see plenty of flashing arrows and orange cones that come with the promise of smooth pavement, wider lanes and sturdier bridges.
Drivers might consider 2016 the year of the bridge, because the state has many massive multi-year bridge projects. Work continues on the $1 billionrehabilitation of the Pulaski Skyway, building a new Route 7 Wittpenn bridge, finishing the Route 18 overpass over Route 1, and replacement of the Routes 37 and 72 bridges to Jersey Shore barrier islands.
Drivers also will see large projects continuing on the states major toll roads, including the last phase of Garden State Parkway widening in Atlantic County, the continued work on new interchanges at Exit 14A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike and on a new deck on the turnpike’s Hudson County extension.
Work also is starting on new projects in 2016, including:
The first phase of a larger project to rebuild the interchange between Routes 3, 46, Valley, Notch and Rifle Camp Roads in Clifton. This includes construction of a new service road on Great Notch Road, a new bridge over Route 46 at Clove Road and reconstruction of the existing Notch Road Bridge, said Dan Triana, a state department of transportation spokesman.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the setting of Fish Urban Dining is striking. Situated in a former Bank of America branch on East Ridgewood Avenue, the restaurant has 30-foot-high ceilings with six huge chandeliers, and its sleek dining room extends into what was the bank’s vault, complete with a five-ton steel door.
Jim and Karen DeGilio, the married couple who own the restaurant and a second Fish Urban Dining, in Asbury Park, opened their Ridgewood place in July. It has been packed ever since. It has high-quality seafood, attentive service and some excellent nonaquatic dishes, too.
“We pride ourselves on serving fresh, uncomplicated seafood with fair prices in a comfortable, fun setting,” Mr. DeGilio said in a phone interview following my visits.
Dave Symniuk, the executive chef at both locations, has worked with the couple for over a decade and oversees a team of cooks that handles day-to-day preparations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 400 points in early trade Monday as a 7% drop in Chinese shares stoked a global selloff in stocks.
The Dow DJIA, -2.42% plunged nearly 411 points to 17,015, led by a drop in DuPont Co. DD, -4.08% and American Express Co. AXP, -3.24%
The S&P 500 SPX, -2.32% fell about 45 points to 1,998, led by a decline in technology stocks, financials and industrials. Only the S&P 500’s energy sector showed a modest gain as Middle Eastern tensions helped lift crude-oil prices.
“It is not surprising to see such a selloff considering negative headlines from China and tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. What is surprising is that it is happening on the first day of the year,” said Ryan Larson, head of equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management.
“While trading desk are busier than they normally would be on Mondays, this is not a panic selling, it’s orderly. We are likely to see this kind of volatility a lot in 2016,” Larson said.
The S&P 500-tracking “SPY” ETF opened down nearly 2%. According to Bespoke Investment Group analysts, since the SPY SPY, -2.24% began trading in 1994, the ETF has opened lower on the first trading day of the year only twice in 22 years, and never by more than 1%.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -2.86% tumbled by 138 points to 4,869 as tech stocks took the brunt of Monday’s drop.
JANUARY 4, 2016, 6:47 AM
BY JOHN CICHOWSKI
NORTHJERSEY.COM
Officer Tim Franco offered one final wish as he left his job for the final time last week.
“Cameras,” said Fair Lawn’s retiring traffic safety officer.
Most cops love recent improvements in law-enforcement technology, especially surveillance cameras that provide powerful evidence for documenting shoplifters, cheats, liars and worse. But Franco likes them for recording what happens at busy intersections.
“Not just crashes,” he said. “Close calls, too.”
Police usually know crash details from accident reports. But unlike pilots who must report close calls to aviation authorities, it’s rare for drivers or police to document events that almost happen – except when regaling colleagues or reporters about the harrowing experiences that nearly become the big events of their day.
But as Franco learned over his 31½-year career, these experiences have value beyond locker-room chatter.
That’s because workplace bean counters figured out years ago that there are about 30 close calls for each accident. If cops and engineers had access to a huge sample of these “what ifs,” as Franco calls them, they could be added to the small number of crashes they record. Doing so would add more precision to their ability to improve road safety – either through enforcement or through charges made in signage or the design of troublesome intersections.
“Right now, the system for gathering crash data is very limited,” Franco said. “But the camera technology exists to do a better job,”
RIDGEWOOD NJ ,Yesterday more than 500 PSE&G customers in the Village of Ridgewood lost power on Sunday due to an outage.
The outage was first reported by PSE&G at 11 a.m. The area effected was around Linwood Avenue and Oak Street . The Village website reported that
“Between 10 am & 12 pm there was a localized power outage that effected small areas by Linwood Ave. Village Hall was effected and lost communications for Website/Email. All system where back online by 2pm.”
Questions remain as to why the Village failed to use the emergency generators . The emergency generator would provide lights and some power to the computers. So why isn’t it used to supply the website ? If they are going to use the excuse that their e mail was down because of the power outage what would have happened if it were a real emergency ?
In landmark shift, hospitals agree to fees in lieu of property taxes
JANUARY 3, 2016, 10:59 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2016, 11:00 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
For more than a century, New Jersey’s non-profit hospitals have been exempt from paying property taxes, despite relying on their communities to maintain local roads and provide police and fire protection. Now the state’s largest hospital association says its members are willing to make payments to towns they reside in — but many municipalities want more.
In a historic change, the New Jersey Hospital Association recently declared its support for a proposal in the Legislature to require non-profit hospitals to make “community service contributions” to municipalities. The move came after a tax court decision this summer that Morristown Medical Center was not entitled to its property-tax exemption because its operations were little different from those of a for-profit company. That hospital has since agreed to pay $15.5 million over 10 years.
Concerned that Judge Vito Bianco’s decision would lead to tax battles involving many other hospitals, the hospital association endorsed a proposal by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. The measure would assess non-profit hospitals a fixed daily contribution — not a tax — of $2.50 per bed, to be used for public safety expenses or to reduce property taxes.
The association estimated that the payments from all of the state’s s would total $21 million to $25 million, including about $2.7 million annually from the six non-profits in Bergen and Passaic counties, if the measure is enacted as written. They are Hackensack University Medical Center; The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood; St. Joseph’s Healthcare System’s two hospitals in Paterson and Wayne; Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. Hospitals owned by for-profit companies — HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley in Westwood and St. Mary’s General Hospital in Passaic — already pay property taxes.
Ridgewood NJ, It seems that many who voted YES, voted ‘yes” for more parking. More parking yes , but not a monstrosity of a parking high-rise building being proposed for the Hudson Street parking lot. Many feel they were misled into thinking that a particular design had not been decided upon, even though this giant megastructure was the only option that was ever, in reality, on the table.
Everyone is quite aware of the peak demand parking shortage in our Village. The above is an image of what the proposed garage would look like. As you can see if dwarfs all the surrounding buikdings. If this monstrosity of a garage is not what you signed up for, when you voted YES for parking, please attend this Wednesdays Village Council meeting and let the Mayor and members of the Village Council know that this mega garage may work for Hackensack or Ft Lee but definitely does not fit in to the character of our Village. Furthermore, plans for any garage should be held off until the 4 impact studies are concluded. What is the point of having impact studies on traffic, etc… if our Village Council pushes through this huge garage.
Accident Closes Down East Ridgewood Ave, North Pleasant Intersection Sunday Afternoon in Ridgewood
January 3,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The driver and passenger of a Ford Explorer were transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital with non-life threatening injuries following a Sunday afternoon, 01/03 collision with a Ford Edge at the intersection of East Ridgewood and North Pleasant Avenues, Ridgewood. RIdgewood PD, EMS, and FD personnel responded to the 1 PM incident.
Both vehicles were removed from the scene by separate flatbed tow trucks. The Explorer appeared to have broadsided the Edge in the middle of the intersection. The accident remains under investigation by Ridgewood PD.
