The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Palisades Park NJ, is once again witnessing a shift in leadership within its Police Department, marking the sixth officer in charge in just five years. This change comes amid a long history of internal strife, lawsuits, and frequent turnover in top positions.
Continue reading Palisades Park Police Department Faces Yet Another Leadership Change
Legal terminology can often be confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with law yourself. There are many seemingly synonymous terms being used in law that have very different meanings. One such case is personal vs bodily injuries.
Continue reading How Do You Differentiate Personal and Bodily Injuries From One Another?
Municipalities may try to levy property taxes against non-profit hospitals now that Governor Christie has vetoed legislation that enshrined the property tax exemption of the non-profits and instead would have required them to pay a community-service fee.
Advocates of the measure said they planned to return this session with a bill that satisfies the governor, while protecting hospitals from costly lawsuits and compensating local governments for some of the services they provide.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he was “extremely disappointed” with the governor’s action, which he attributed to the governor’s “personal political ambitions.” By assessing a fee on non-profit institutions, the measure might have been construed as a new tax by Christie’s conservative competitors for the Republican presidential nomination, Democrats said.
The measure followed last summer’s Tax Court decision that invalidated the property-tax exemption enjoyed by non-profit Morristown Medical Center. The hospital’s parent company, Atlantic Health System, eventually agreed to pay $15.5 million to satisfy back taxes and interest, and will make future payments of about $1 million annually as tax on the for-profit part of its operations.
Non-profit hospitals across the state have been concerned that they, too, will face costly litigation — and big tax bills. In a historic shift, those hospitals had volunteered to make the “community contributions” outlined by the measure that went before the governor.
“We are disappointed with the pocket veto,” said Betsy Ryan, president and CEO of the state’s largest hospital association.
But critics had considered the measure lenient on the hospitals. Several local governments had expressed concern that the measure shortchanged local governments. Its $2.50 per-bed, per-day fee was far too little, they said. The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, for example, would have been assessed about $407,000 annually, less than one-tenth of the potential property taxes on its full 15.5-acre property.
Some municipalities already are in “fact-finding mode” and are requesting information from their hospitals about their for-profit and non-profit operations, said Michael Cerra, vice president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, which opposed the measure. “No one is looking to put anyone out of business,” he said.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/veto-leaves-hospitals-open-to-lawsuits-1.1495249
Lawsuits put focus on Glen Rock police
March 2, 2015, 7:03 AM Last updated: Monday, March 2, 2015, 12:22 PM
By Chris Harris
staff writer |
The Record
GLEN ROCK — Several lawsuits and disciplinary actions against police officers have placed the department under a microscope, with some residents calling for a change in leadership.
Since October, Glen Rock and its Police Department have been named in three suits alleging retaliation, intimidation and harassment. Those cases — involving one officer fired last year and two others who were suspended — have continued to play out in public.
Resident Rebecca Coll asked whether changes in the department’s leadership were being considered “in light of these credible claims by respected members of our community,” and if investigations into the suits’ allegations would be conducted.
Borough officials said they would await the outcome of the pending litigation before considering whether to initiate an inquiry.
The council has a “high level of confidence” in the entire Police Department, Borough Attorney Robert Garibaldi said after a meeting last week. He also said the borough will mount “aggressive defenses” against all three civil suits, adding that he believes “the Police Department will be vindicated” in court.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/lawsuits-put-focus-on-glen-rock-police-1.1280935
Top 10 lawsuits that cost N.J. taxpayers most in 2014
By Christopher Baxter | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
TRENTON — The state paid out $78.8 million in taxpayer money last year to resolve lawsuits filed against it, an increase of $6.1 million from 2013 and the most since at least 2006, according to records obtained by NJ Advance Media under the Open Public Records Act.
That amount, however, was eclipsed by the more than $346 million the state brought home through litigation, a $42 million increase from 2013, records show. More than half came through a settlement related to the clean-up of the polluted Passaic River.
The state paid out in cases ranging from medical malpractice to train accidents and State Police trooper misconduct. Below is a list of the 10 largest payouts last year, as well as a database of every case in which the state handed over taxpayer money:
$10 million: Angelique Marlene Delaney Baker vs. Jean Dalme and NJ Transit
Angelique Marlene Delaney Baker sued in 2011 in state Superior Court in Essex County alleging her purse got stuck in a door of an NJ Transit bus in East Orange. She freed herself from the strap, the lawsuit said, but fell underneath the bus, which crushed her arm, legs and pelvis. She suffered serious injuries that require ongoing care.
Bergen County Exec’s race: Attempt to add two freeholders to county police merger lawsuits fans family ties flames
HACKENSACK – The ongoing legal battle related to the proposed merger of the Bergen County Police Department and the county’s Sheriff’s Office took another twist last week when County Executive Kathleen Donovan, the Republican incumbent seeking re-election in November, attempted to add an ethics complaint against two Democratic freeholders into the police merger lawsuit.
Donovan has struggled with the freeholder board over plans to merge the Bergen County Police Department and the county Sheriff’s Office. Donovan is opposed to the plan, while the majority of the freeholder board, now controlled by the Democrats by a 5-2 veto-proof margin, supports the move. The final decision depends on the outcome of ongoing legal battles related to the merger proposal.
As part of this wider struggle, Donovan has called on two Democratic freeholders, Steve Tanelli and David Ganz, whose son and daughter respectively are employed by the Sherriff”s Office, to recuse themselves from law enforcement issues.
Tanelli, whose son Dan is an investigator with the crime scene unit, and Ganz, whose daughter Pam works a a clerk for the sheriff, declined to do so. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)