Bergen County’s property taxes among nation’s highest
MARCH 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015, 2:33 PM
BY KATHLEEN LYNN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Bergen County homeowners had the fifth-highest average property tax bill in the nation, at $11,159, last year, according to a new survey by RealtyTrac, a California real estate information company. Passaic County’s single-family tax bill averaged $8,904, according to RealtyTrac.
Nationally, property tax rates average 1.3 percent of the property value, according to RealtyTrac.
Three New York counties — Westchester, Nassau and New York, or Manhattan — as well as Marin County in California had higher average property tax bills than Bergen, according to the survey.
The survey also confirms what Garden State homeowners have found out the hard way: New Jersey’s property taxes are among the highest in the nation, averaging more than 2 percent of a single-family home’s value each year. Passaic actually had a higher tax rate (2.98 percent) than Bergen (2.07 percent), apparently reflecting Passaic County’s lower property values.
Nationally, property tax rates average 1.3 percent of the property value, according to RealtyTrac.
Red-wig suspect in robbery of Glen Rock bank arrested in Atlantic City
MARCH 5, 2015, 9:23 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015, 9:35 PM
BY JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The mysterious woman who is suspected of hiding her identity under a bright red wig to hold up the Glen Rock Savings Bank last month was arrested in Atlantic City by the FBI on Thursday, authorities told The Record.
No details of the arrest were provided, and the name of the woman was not revealed, but law enforcement sources confirmed that her crime wave – which also allegedly took her to the scene of a holdup at the Greenwich Bank & Trust Co. in Greenwich, Conn., on Jan. 30 – was at an end.
“Yeah, they got her,” said one law enforcement source who asked not to be identified because the chief investigative agency in the case was the FBI and not local police departments. “It’s a good pinch,” the source said.
The woman got away with more than $100,000 in the Glen Rock holdup after brandishing a large, long-barreled handgun that authorities later said was a paintball gun.
In the earlier stick-up in Greenwich, authorities said security video showed that the woman did not wear a wig at that time, but appeared have dark hair cut in a short style, and appeared to use the same gun. The amount that she took in Greenwich has never been revealed, but was believed to be far less than the haul in Glen Rock, a source said.
Glen Rock police had described the robber as about 5-foot-7, of medium build and wearing a black coat and white boots. As she ran out of the bank, the woman dropped the weapon nearby.
In Greenwich, police said the robber had the same build and had worn a dark coat and light-colored boots.
The Highway Trust Fund: Politics and Permanent Solutions
March 5th 2015
Washington, DC , the Highway Trust Fund’s shortfall has been hot topic lately. Increased spending and the erosion of the gas tax has led to an ongoing deficit, which is estimated to accumulate a $168 billion shortfall over the next decade. Unless something is done to fix it, the trust fund will run dry by mid-year 2015.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have put forth permanent solutions that either cut trust fund spending or increase revenue. However, due to political differences, lawmakers will likely opt to pass poor temporary policy such as pension smoothing or compulsory or voluntary taxes on multinationals’ offshore earnings in order to keep the trust fund from going broke this May.
If lawmakers decide to look for revenue instead of cutting trust fund spending, their source of revenue should be long-term and should connect drivers as closely to the cost of funding the roads as possible, according to the latest report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
One option is to increase the gas tax, adjust it to inflation, and offset that increase by reducing another tax by the same amount of revenue. Besides being revenue neutral, there are good policy reasons for this swap:
Unlike some other taxes, the gas tax is relatively less distortive. It doesn’t significantly impact economy or reduce the incentive to invest. By lowering more distortive taxes, such as the capital gains tax, and raising the same amount of revenue from non-distortive taxes, not only would the Highway Trust Fund have enough revenue, but the economy would grow as a result.
Although the gas tax isn’t perfect, it more effectively connects government revenue to related expenditures than, say, the individual income tax.
By closing the funding gap in the Highway Trust Fund, lawmakers would have additional time to focus on bigger questions, such as: To what extent should the federal government be involved in infrastructure spending? How much should the federal government spend? What alternative funding mechanisms for the trust fund would best ensure its long-term solvency?
The foundation’s report examines the option of increasing the gas tax by about $168 billion over the next decade ($15 to $17 billion annually) and offsetting the costs with one of five different tax cuts. Using the Taxes and Growth Model, the paper illustrates the impact these tax changes would have on the U.S. economy.
“Our model reveals a number of tradeoffs in this swap” said Tax Foundation Economist Kyle Pomerleau. “If Congress would like to make this change pro-growth, one option would be to lower the capital gains tax rate. If Congress would like to address distributional concerns with the gas tax but aren’t concerned with economic growth, an option would be to expand the earned income tax credit. If Congress would like to maintain neutral distribution and growth while fixing the trust fund, one option would be to expand the standard deduction.”
Full report: Options to Fix the Highway Trust Fund
New Jersey reform plan won’t stop double-dips or $100,000 pensions
By Mark Lagerkvist / March 5, 2015
3 SCOOPS – Sen. Fred Madden is a triple-dipper collecting $248,000 a year from a state pension and two public jobs
By Mark Lagerkvist | New Jersey Watchdog
Double-dipping public officials and retirees collecting $100,000 a year or more from New Jersey state pensions have little to fear from the sweeping reforms proposed by Gov. Chris Christie.
The blueprint drafted by the governor’s Pension and Health Benefit Study Commissionpromises to help the state retirement system escape a $170 billion funding deficit by cutting benefits, freezing existing pension plans and eventually ceding the risks and responsibilities to the labor unions of public employees.
“We will tackle this problem, and we will solve it,” declared Christie last week in his annual budget address. “This is what real leadership produces for our people.”
Yet numerous excesses and abuses will remain – with or without the proposed reforms.
For openers, roughly 2,000 retired public officials would continue to draw six-figure pensions for the rest of their lives. The recommended changes would not affect anyone already retired, including members of the unofficial ‘$100K Club.’
Double-dipping would continue to be legal in New Jersey.
The task force cited New Jersey Watchdog’s investigations of abuses including double-dipping – the common practice of early retirees returning to public payrolls to collect both a salary and pension from government coffers.
“The commission’s sense is that, given the size of the system and the extent of its other problems, the double-dipper issue may not be financially material,” stated the study, which did not offer any data to support that conclusion.
“It has great symbolic importance, however, as the double-dippers have become the ‘face’ of a dysfunctional public pension system,” it continued. “For this reason, the task force should consider ways to further limit this practice.”
The commission suggested that double-dippers should contribute to the cost of their medical coverage just as other public employees do. But such a measure may only amount to a minor disincentive.
Consider the case of Fred Madden, a triple-dipping state senator from Gloucester County.
Madden rakes in $248,082 a year — $85,272 as a State Police retiree, $49,000 as a state legislator and $113,810 as dean of law and justice of Rowan College at Gloucester County. Since he retired at age 48 in 2002, Madden has collected $1 million in pension checks in addition to his public salaries.
“Obviously, I don’t have a problem with people doing it,” Madden told New Jersey Watchdog in 2012. “I don’t have a problem with it at all.”
Under the task force’s proposal, Madden could keep collecting all three paychecks under the task force plan, though he might have to start contributing to the cost of his state medical plan.
Ultimately, Madden and his colleagues in the Democratic-controlled State Legislature will decide whether to adopt any or all of the reforms being proposed by a Republican governor with presidential aspirations.
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s pension dilemma grows bleaker for both pensioners and taxpayers.
The unfunded liability of the state retirement system is $170 billion, according to the most recent official numbers from the state Treasury. That figure includes:
$82.7 billion in unfunded liability for the pension plans of state workers.
A $20.7 billion shortfall for the pensions of local government employees who collect retirement checks from the state.
$53 billion in unfunded health benefits for state retirees.
$13.8 billion to cover the post-employment benefits of local government workers.
“The situation is not only getting worse, it is fast approaching the point at which it will be beyond remedy,” warned the task force study.
Ridgewood Library Offers Organic Farming & Backyard Gardening Class
Mon, March 09, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM
Ridgewood Public Library, 125 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Organic Farming & Backyard Gardening,
Monday, March 9, 7pm.
Natural and sustainable growing methods, safe seed/fertilizer sources, how to compost, natural pesticide control and more.Ridgewood Library Valley Hospital Wellness Partnership
Tue, March 10, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Ridgewood Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Brain Food and Brain Health
Tuesday, March 10, 7-8:30pm.
Did you know some foods can promote alertness while others keep us calm? Learn to make food choices for your body’s needs. All welcome, registration required.
Please call 1-800-825-5391 or visit www.valleyhealth.com/events. Please note location: Annie Zusy Youth Lounge at the Community Center.
Ridgewood Library 26th Annual Author Luncheon
Wed, March 11, 2015
Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Seasons, Washington Tsp, NJ 07676
26th Annual Author Luncheon
Wednesday, March 11, 11am-3pm.
Featuring Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train,
Seasons, Washington Township, NJ.
Reservation forms available at Ridgewood Library service desks
Church in Ridgewood seeking permits for repair work it did in 2011.
MARCH 5, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Congregants from the World Mission Society Church of God are seeking retroactive approval from the Planning Board for work performed on the grounds of its church four years ago.
A lawyer and engineer representing the religious group appeared before Ridgewood’s Planning Board on Tuesday night requesting the permits the Godwin Avenue religious institution needs for work that was done in 2011.
The unauthorized work was detected by village officials during an inspection of the Church of God site, and included re-striping of parking spots, installation of solar-powered light fixtures, and the addition of pavement and retaining walls.
Complaints from neighbors about traffic to the church and allegations regarding after-hours operations prompted the inspection, officials said.
Ridgewood announces $2.1 million settlement in lawsuit over boy’s drowning at Graydon Pool
MARCH 4, 2015, 11:23 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015, 11:30 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — A wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the village by the family of a 13-year-old boy who drowned in Graydon Pool in 2008 has been settled.
Ridgewood’s manager, Roberta Sonenfeld, said BetWinner Argentina ,the $2.1 million settlement was reached Wednesday.
Sonenfeld briefly discussed the settlement during Wednesday night’s council meeting.
Soo Hyeon Park, his sister and parents had just arrived from South Korea when they went to visit friends in Ridgewood on July 15, 2008. As he swam to a dock in the deep end of the pool with the two sons of his host, the boy began struggling to stay afloat and went under.
None of the nine lifeguards on the stands around the pool that day saw the boy while he was in distress.
In 2011, a jury had awarded Soo’s family $10 million in damages. That decision was vacated in January by the state’s Appellate Court and a new trial was ordered.
NJ Attorney General’s Office rules out probe of stolen meter coins in Ridgewood
MARCH 4, 2015, 11:33 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015, 11:38 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — The state Attorney General’s Office will not conduct its own investigation into the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in quarters from a storage room in Village Hall, it was announced Wednesday night.
Instead, Ridgewood’s police department will be looking further into the disappearance of $850,000 in collected parking meter coins on its own, according to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld.
Former Ridgewood public works inspector Thomas Rica pleaded guilty last spring to stealing $460,000 of that missing $850,000. Rica had been arrested for stealing collected parking meter quarters over a three-year period.
Sonenfeld said village officials met this week with representatives from the Attorney General’s office. Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli also was present at the meeting, she said.
BRACE FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
349 PM EST WED MAR 4 2015
…ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY…
…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO
7 PM EST THURSDAY…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW YORK HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS
EVENING TO 7 PM EST THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER
IN EFFECT.
* LOCATIONS…COASTAL CONNECTICUT…INTERIOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST
NEW JERSEY…AND SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER COUNTY IN NEW YORK.
* HAZARD TYPES…SNOW.
* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 5 INCHES.
* TIMING…RAIN MIXES WITH SLEET AND SNOW BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL
SNOW THIS EVENING. SNOW MAY BE MODERATE AT TIMES LATE TONIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING…BEFORE TAPERING OFF LATE THURSDAY
AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY EVENING.
* IMPACTS…HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE DUE TO
GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND ACCUMULATING SNOW.
* VISIBILITIES…ONE HALF MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW…SLEET…OR
FREEZING RAIN WILL CA– USE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES…AND — USE CAUTION WHILE
DRIVING.
Martin O’Malley sticks with Plan A: try to upend Hillary Clinton
Former Governor O’Malley of Maryland announced Tuesday he will not run for Senate, a signal he is still running for president. Clinton’s latest woes could give O’Malley hope.
By Linda Feldmann, Staff writer MARCH 3, 2015
WASHINGTON — Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) of Maryland isn’t running for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D), who is retiring at the end of her term.
“I am hopeful and confident that very capable public servants with a desire to serve in the Senate will step up as candidates for this important office,” the former governor said Tuesday, in a statement. “I will not be one of them.”
Mr. O’Malley, it appears, is keeping his eyes on the prize: the presidency. O’Malley has been quietly preparing for months to run for president, despite the appearance that Hillary Rodham Clinton has the Democratic nomination all but locked up, without even having announced.
Breaking the law doesn’t come with the same consequences for government officials as it does for the rest of us.
An explosive report from The New York Timesreveals that while she was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton did not have a government e-mail address. Instead she used her own private e-mail address and her staffers made no effort at the time to retain those e-mails on government servers, a violation of federal law.
The Times reports:
It was only two months ago, in response to a new State Department effort to comply with federal record-keeping practices, that Mrs. Clinton’s advisers reviewed tens of thousands of pages of her personal emails and decided which ones to turn over to the State Department. All told, 55,000 pages of emails were given to the department.
What difference, at this point, does it make, most transparent administration in history and all that.
Clinton is not the only government official to use her personal email for official business—Lois Lerner was found to have done the same as questions arose over what kind of inappropriate communications the former IRS bureaucrat was engaged in. Using personal email for government business, while it may be against the law, is relatively popularamong government officials who don’t fear repercussions from breaking government laws.
MARCH 4, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015, 1:21 AM
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Mark Biedron, the president of the state Board of Education, will meet next week with village residents to address questions and concerns about Common Core standards and the computer-based PARCC tests.
Marlene Burton said she will open her Liberty Street home to accommodate Biedron’s visit to Ridgewood on Tuesday.
Burton said she’s moving furniture out of her house to make room for the 60-plus residents expected to attend the forum with Biedron. State education officials also confirmed the event.
Burton said Biedron agreed to the Ridgewood meeting following an email exchange on Common Core issues and the controversial PARCC tests.
The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. at 123 Liberty St.
PROFILE: STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION PRESIDENT BRINGS UNIQUE PEDIGREE TO POST
JOHN MOONEY | JANUARY 7, 2015
Mark Biedron cofounded a progressive private school that’s a far cry from the testing-centric culture of public schools
Mark Biedron, president of the state Board of Education.
Name: Mark Biedron
Title: President of the State Board of Education, 2014 to present. Appointed to the board in 2011 by Gov. Chris Christie.
Why he matters: Biedron has taken an activist role in leading the 13-member board that is responsible for reviewing and approving state administrative code and school regulations. He has traveled the state to query stakeholders and pressed the administration to explain its policies, from testing to school monitoring.
Where he comes from: The board president is a cofounder of the Willow School in Gladstone, a small independent school that focuses on ethics and language as the cornerstones of its curriculum. Founded with his former wife in 2002, the school’s progressive model is quite a bit different from the testing-focused culture of the public education system that Biedron is now charged with overseeing.
Not incongruous: Biedron maintains that for all the evident differences, he feels that public schools are moving toward a more holistic approach to education via the new Common Core State Standards and the advent of PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) testing.
Quote: “In the old way and my way of learning, it was to put answers on paper. But your look at PARCC and Common Core, while not perfect, it is about how you got to the answers.”
Not happening fast enough: “I am the first person to say that testing doesn’t show everything about a student, but we have to take a lot of steps moving from Point A to Point B … This big behemoth called education moves slowly.”
How he started a school: Biedron said he was looking for a school for his children that would address both personal virtues and academic rigor, and finding none, he and his former wife were left with the decision to either move or start their own school. They decided on the latter.
Photo from Congressman Darrell Issa ,had a great seat for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech this morning.For Israel, the Iranian pursuit of a nuclear bomb is an existential threat. Is it any wonder they do not trust this administration to decide when Iran will obtain the weapon with which it threatens to wipe Israel off the map?
Obama’s ‘shameful’ snub of Netanyahu
By Darrell Issa5 P.M.MARCH 2, 2015
For all of the attention being given to the fact that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to address Congress Tuesday, so many of those covering the upcoming speech have gotten it backward. The story is not that Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the United States at the behest of congressional leaders. The story is that one of America’s closest allies in the world feels so alienated by President Obama that he believes his best hope in protecting his nation from a nuclear Iran lies in making his case directly to the American people, having lost confidence in a U.S. president who has rejected his counsel and sought to demonize and marginalize him. Put simply, rather than standing behind our allies, President Obama has thrown himself decisively in front of them, as an obstacle to be circumvented.
Though it is shameful that a staunch ally feels the need to go directly to the American people, it should not be surprising to those who have watched this administration’s actions. The attacks on Israel’s leader continued this week, as Secretary of State John Kerry questioned Prime Minister Netanyahu’s judgment, suggesting that Netanyahu’s support of American involvement in Iraq (involvement Kerry himself supported) somehow rendered him untrustworthy. National Security Adviser Susan Rice called his upcoming Capitol Hill speech “destructive.”
For Israel, the Iranian pursuit of a nuclear bomb is an existential threat. Is it any wonder they do not trust this administration to decide when Iran will obtain the weapon with which it threatens to wipe Israel off the map?
PSE&G Unveils 5-Year Proposal to Continue to Replace Aging Gas Infrastructure
March 2,2015
$320 million a year program to modernize 800 miles of cast iron and unprotected steel
Low gas supply prices make this the ideal time to upgrade system
(March 2, 2015 – Newark, N.J.) – Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility, announced a proposal to invest $1.6 billion over the next 5 years to proactively modernize its gas systems – supporting a safe, clean, reliable gas system well into the future. The utility requested the funding, about $320 million per year, in a filing with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
PSE&G’s Gas System Modernization Program would include replacing an average of approximately 160 miles of cast iron and unprotected steel gas mains, and about 11,000 unprotected steel service lines to homes and businesses per year, over five years.
The mains and service lines would be replaced with strong, durable plastic piping, which is much less likely to have leaks and release methane gas. The new elevated pressure systems also enable the installation of excess flow valves that automatically shut off gas flow if a service line is damaged, and better support the use of high-efficiency appliances.
“While our cast iron and unprotected steel gas pipes represent less than 30 percent of our infrastructure, they account for 80 percent of distribution systems leaks each year, excluding third-party damages,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G president and COO. “The Gas System Modernization Program will provide our customers and the communities we serve with the environmental benefit of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and a positive impact on employment and the New Jersey economy.”
Pointing to lower gas bills, LaRossa said it makes sense to make these added investments now.
Since 2008, residential gas heating bills are down 44 percent because of the lower cost of natural gas supply. “We are in a time of unprecedented low interest rates and natural gas prices,” LaRossa said. “The timing is right to make these infrastructure investments.”
The Gas System Modernization Program would support more than 500 direct jobs to help boost New Jersey’s economy. “A number of labor and business leaders have already expressed support for our proposal,” said LaRossa. “They know that these are important investments for New Jersey.”
The Gas System Modernization Program is a next step in a series of modernization programs, including PSE&G’s ongoing Energy Strong work that is focused largely on building the resiliency into its systems required to withstand the kind of severe weather that has devastated our state over the past five years. Approved last year, the $1.22 billion Energy Strong program includes raising, relocating and protecting electrical switching and substations, and replacing 250 miles of low-pressure cast iron gas mains in or near flood areas.
“We operate and maintain more than 17,000 miles of gas distribution mains that transport natural gas to 1.87 million customers in the most densely populated parts of our state,” LaRossa said. ”We’ve been providing safe, reliable gas service to customers in New Jersey for more than 100 years, and believe strongly that now is the right time to modernize our infrastructure.”
