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Time for Valley Hospital of Ridgewood to Pay Property Taxes Like Everyone else

Valley_Hospital_theridgewoodblog

July 3,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to state Superior Court Judge Lisa Perez Friscia Ridgewood now has 90 days to clear way for Valley Hospital expansion . The local reactions were swift.

CRR ‘s Pete Mckenna  said , “I think this decision should have a chilling impact on municipalities across the state.  If this decision is upheld it would indicate that localities have no say in controlling land-use within their borders if a hospital is involved.”

Ridgewood Attorney John Hersperger said ,” What was perhaps most disappointing was Judge’s remark (paraphrased) from the bench, in which she described that last decade of Valley’s applications as a “saga” for Valley, but just “history” for Ridgewood.  Clearly, the judge saw the Village as the bad guys in this case .  Honestly, after 60 or so public hearings and all the time and stress that residents endured, it was most painful to hear that kind of comment from a presiding Judge of this County.”

Councilmen Jeff Voigt said at the Village REORG, “Valley Hospital needs to be a better neighbor and come up with solutions that actually make sense for our neighbors in the surrounding Valley area.”

Which brings us once again back to the question of Valley Hospital being assessed property taxes.

In June of 2015 a tax court judge ruled that Morristown Medical Center should pay property taxes on virtually all of its 40-acre property in town.Tax Court Judge Vito Bianco ruled that the hospital failed to meet the legal test that it operated as a non-profit, charitable organization for the tax years 2006 through 2008. Only the auditorium, fitness center and the visitors’ garage should not be assessed for property taxes, he said.

The ruling noted that President and CEO Joseph Trunfio, who recently retired, made more than $5 million in 2005 and other executives made well more than $500,000 a year during the period under review.

Bianco ruled that the hospital failed to establish the “reasonableness” of the salaries it paid to executives. By comparing hospital executive salaries only to those of its peer group hospitals creates a “wholly self-serving” justification for its executive salaries.

Bianco went on , “Non-profit hospitals have changed significantly, however, from their early origins as charitable alms houses providing free basic medical treatment to the infirm poor,” he wrote. “Today they are sophisticated centers of medical care, and in some cases, education, providing a litany of medical services regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.”

Furthermore Bianco’s ruling said,” the medical center failed in its legal burden to show where its non-profit activity ends and where it for-profit activity with physician groups begins.

“The hospital had intermingled interests with other for-profit operations as well, he said, saying it failed to draw a clear line between those operations.”

Clearly Valley Hospital would meet all the court litmus tests to be required to pay property taxes in Ridgewood.

Superior Court Judge Lisa Perez Friscia, told the Bergen Record , “the council ordinance must be consistent with April Planning Board approvals allowing the hospital to nearly double in size, from 565,000 square feet to 961,000.

If the judges ruling holds the hospital should be paying taxes on the new assessed value of the hospital after construction .
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The Fairness Formula and the Impact on Ridgewood Property Taxes

Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi

June 26,2016

Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi

Residents of Ridgewood , for the past 4 years I’ve proposed an amendment to our State’s constitution to end the patently unfair school funding formula. Under a new school funding plan which follows my proposal, the average home in Ramsey would see a reduction in property taxes of $2,411 per year. Call your Mayor, Council and Board of Education. Tell them to support the Fairness Formula! We can’t afford not to.

Join The Movement

The Fairness Formula: Equal Funding for Every Child, Our Path to Lower Property Taxes

Join Governor Christie’s Fairness Formula solution to New Jersey’s two most pressing crises that are hurting all New Jerseyans: the failure of urban education and property taxes. The Governor’s monumental Fairness Formula will provide equal education funding for every pupil throughout the state, valuing every child equally.

75% of all New Jersey districts would get more state aid than they do today. The biggest driver of New Jersey’s nation-high property taxes is the ineffective and unfair state school funding formula. The Fairness Formula will not only be equal for students it may also provide hundreds or even thousands of dollars in annual property tax savings for New Jerseyans in most communities. Join the movement today to being your path to lower property taxes.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT: It’s time for your voices to be heard. It’s time for the people to take back control of this issue and apply common sense to it. Sign up to join the movement and begin your path to lower property taxes.

https://www.nj.gov/governor/taxrelief/pages/join.shtml

For every resident of Bergen County, this is the MOST IMPORTANT issue that directly impacts your property taxes. Bergen County residents on average contribute the MOST money to the State of New Jersey and receive the least school aid in the State. Under the Governor’s proposal, the average school district in Bergen County would see an increase in school aid from the State of over 1000%. Every representative from Bergen County who cares about his or her residents needs to support this proposal. Real numbers of increased aid would be:

Municipality Current Aid New Aid under proposal:

Ridgewood $389.40    $6,110.60   1569%
Closter $400.24 $6,099.76
Demarest $429.61 $6,070.39
Dumont $3,427.95 $6,001.53
Emerson $432.69 $6,067.31
Hillsdale $711.89 $5,788.11
Mahwah $787.46 $5,712.54
Montvale $513.78 $5,986.22
Oakland $463.90 $6,036.10
Park Ridge $488.73 $6,011.27
Ramsey $468.22 $6,031.78
River Vale $405.18 $6,094.82
Westwood $635.27 $5,864.73
Woodcliff Lake $477.13 $6,022.87

https://www.nj.com/…/how_christies_school_aid_proposal_could…

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Governor Chris Christie Proposes Fairness Formula for School Funding ; equal funding for every child in New Jersey

RHS_BEST_theridgewoodblog

Governor Chris Christie’s Speech On The Fairness Formula As Prepared For Delivery (Full text)

Hillsborough, New Jersey
June 21, 2016

We have two separate, but completely intertwined crises in New Jersey that must be dealt with.  They must be dealt with honestly and directly.  We cannot wait any longer to do it.  Property taxes and the failure of urban education.

Both of these crises are hurting all New Jerseyans, those affected both directly and indirectly.

Property taxes are the highest in America and the majority of those taxes are for local school taxes.

Urban education, despite 30 years of Supreme Court required intervention by the state, is still failing students and their parents at an alarming rate.  The theory from the Supreme Court was that money would solve the problem.

They were wrong. Very wrong. And the results prove it.  They have not solved our failures in urban education and, in the process, have led to New Jersey to be amongst the highest taxed states in America.  They have required the legislature and Governors to craft ridiculous school funding formulas that cheat thousands of families out of funding and thousands more from a valuable education.  Those days must end.  It is time to change the failed school funding formulas and replace it with one that will force the end of these two crises—the property tax scandal and the disgrace of failed urban education.

New Jersey spends the 3rd most in the nation per pupil on K-12 education.  For the upcoming fiscal year we spend 13.3 billion dollars on aid to K-12 education.  How do we spend it?  $9.1 billion goes back to school districts in direct aid.  $3.25 billion is to pay for the pensions and health benefits for retired teachers.   $936 million goes to pay the debt on schools, mostly in urban districts, to build new schools.  $13.3 billion—and that does not count the money paid in local property taxes.

Who gets the $9.1 billion? Well, that begins to tell the story.  By order of the Supreme Court, and coerced acquiescence by the elected branches of government, this coming year $5.1 billion goes to the 31 urban or SDA districts.  $4 billion goes to the remaining 546 districts.  That’s right.  58% of the aid from the state’s taxpayers goes to 5% of the state’s school districts. 42% of the aid goes to the remaining 95% of our districts.  This is absurd.  This is unfair.  This is not working.  And it hasn’t been working for 30 years.

Over the last 30 years, New Jersey taxpayers have sent $97 billion to the 31 SDA school districts.  The other 546 districts in the state received $9 billion less over the same 30 years.  $97 billion divided among only 31 SDA districts while the families in 546 other districts had to divide $9 billion less.  The inequity is appalling and it has only gotten worse as the years have passed.

In 1990, 23% of the state’s students, representing the SDA districts, got 41% of the state aid.  Today, while still representing only 23% of the state’s students, they receive 59% of the state aid.

Has that enormous differential in state aid brought greater achievement in the 31 districts?  No. Absolutely not.  Tragically so for the families in those districts and for the taxpayers all across New Jersey who have been footing the bill for the last 30 years.

Just take a sample of graduation rates.  The statewide graduation rate is 90%.  How have we done in the 31 districts where we have invested $97 billion over the last 30 years?  Asbury Park—66%.  Camden—63%.  New Brunswick—68%.  Newark—69%.  Trenton—68%.  27 of the 31 districts are below the state average, despite the exorbitant spending over the last 30 years.  Spending does not equal achievement—never has and never will.  There are  exceptions and those should be noted right here.  In Harrison, Long Branch, Millville and Pemberton they have exceeded the statewide graduation rate.  In Union City, the have seen extraordinary growth under very trying circumstances and the leadership in those districts deserve great credit.  But despite nearly $100 billion to those 31 districts in the last 30 years from taxpayers all over New Jersey, failure is still the rule, not the exception.  That is an unacceptable, immoral waste of the hard earned money of the people of New Jersey.

Worse than the wasted money is the lives that were not given the chance to reach their full potential.  We accept that subpar performance and pay a fortune for it.

Do not let anyone tell you that failure is inevitable for children in those 31 districts or that money is the answer.  The Academy Charter High School in Asbury Park had an 89% graduation rate compared to 66% in Asbury Park; Academy spends $17,000 per pupil while the traditional public schools spend $33,000 per pupil.  The LEAP Academy Charter School has a 98% graduation rate in Camden, while the district has a 63% rate; LEAP spends 16,000 per pupil while the school district spends $25,000 per pupil.  In Newark, the North Star Academy Charter has an 87% graduation compared to the citywide rate of 69%; North Star spends $13,000 per pupil compared to $22,000 per pupil district wide.

Over and over again we see the same issue:  money spent without results for the families we are meant to serve.  It is a false claim and always has been.  It is failing families and their children.  It is bankrupting our state. It is driving families from their homes and New Jersey.
The failure of the educational system in those 31 districts is the first tragedy.  The second tragedy is this system has caused us to have the highest property taxes in the nation.

New Jerseyans regularly say that the issue that is their number one concern is property taxes.  The highest in the nation and a burden on families in every corner of New Jersey.  What drives these taxes?  52% of property taxes statewide are spent on the school tax and in many districts it is as high as two-thirds.  But here is the unintended consequence of the unfair school funding formula:  in those 31 SDA districts, they spend a fraction of their property taxes on schools as compared to the rest of the state.  That’s right—the statewide average percentage of property taxes spent on schools is 52%; in the 31 SDA districts it is half that—only 26%.  Are they taxing less? Oh no, they are just growing the size of their municipal government.  The statewide average percentage spent on municipal government is 30%; in the 31 SDA districts it is nearly double—a whopping 54%!  When you look at some of the individual districts, it is appalling.  Asbury Park spends 60% less of their property tax dollars on schools than the state average, while their city spends 64% more than the state average on their municipal government.  Trenton spends 18% less of their property taxes than the state average on schools but spends an enormous 387% more than the state average on their municipal government.  In Paterson, 49% less on schools; 251% more on their city government.  East Orange, 39% less on schools; 379% more on city government.  It is outrageous.  It is unacceptable.  But it is perfectly predictable.

If you require the state to pay the overwhelming percentage of the school costs in these 31 districts, they are left with the choice:  do we tax less or just spend more on the growth of government?  The answer is resounding in most of the 31 SDA districts—the people of the rest of the state pay over 80% of the costs of our schools and we will spend our money to build oversized municipal governments—with no relief for local or state taxpayers.  The abuses abound.  Take Trenton for example.  The Presidents of both the PBA and AFSCME locals receive full municipal pay to work only for the unions.  No time working for the people; only for the unions.  No wonder it costs so much.

How do we fix these problems? First, we must fix the tax problem because that is the one that affects each and every New Jerseyan and threatens the future of the affordability of our state.  I propose we do this by changing the school funding formula.  I propose the Fairness Formula; equal funding for every child in New Jersey.

If we were to take the amount of aid we send directly to the school districts today (in excess of $9.1 billion) and send it equally to every K-12 student in New Jersey, each student would receive $6,599 from the State of New Jersey and its taxpayers.  Every child has potential.  Every child has goals.  Every child has dreams.  No child’s dreams are less worthy than any others.  No child deserves less funding from the state’s taxpayers.  That goal must be reached, especially after watching the last 30 years of failed governmental engineering which has failed families in the 31 SDA districts and taxpayers all across New Jersey.

What would the effect of this change be for school aid in New Jersey?  75% of all New Jersey would get more state aid under the Fairness Formula.  That is how fundamentally unfair the current formula is to students and taxpayers.  And it is unfair in every part of this state.

In Margate, they would receive 428% more in aid.  In Fairlawn, 815% more in aid. In that town, when combined with our 2% property tax cap, this new aid would result in average drop in their school property tax of over 2,200 per household.  In Teaneck, 389% more in aid and an average drop in property taxes of nearly $1,600.  In Wood-Ridge, an 801% increase in aid and a drop in property taxes of over $1,800.  How about South Jersey?  In Cherry Hill, an increase in aid of 411% and a drop in property taxes of over $1,700.  In Haddonfield, an increase in aid of 1705% and a drop in property taxes of nearly $3,600.

The pattern is repeated everywhere.  South Orange aid up 912%, taxes down over $3,700. In Readington Township, aid up 410%, taxes down nearly $2,000. In Robbinsville, aid up 666%, taxes down over $2,600.  In Freehold Township, aid up 153%, taxes down over $1,500. In Chatham Township, aid up 1271%, taxes down $3,800.  In Wayne, aid up 1181%, taxes down over $2,100.  All over the state, we slay the dragon of property taxes by implementing the Fairness Formula.  For the first time in anyone’s memory, property taxes plummeting not rising.  And all through valuing each child and their hopes, dreams and potential the same.

Of course, we will make sure that we have the aid for special needs students so that they may reach their potential too.  They are the exception though; the overwhelming majority of students deserve the Fairness Formula and we intend to pursue it for them.

We want to see major changes to the failed model of education in so many of these 31 SDA districts.  We now see definitively that money has not made the difference over these 30 years but reforms have made the difference.  We will continue to advocate for those reforms and we will insist that this new funding formula reward our successful charter schools with funding that comports with their success.

It is fundamentally wrong that students in the SDA districts receive 5 times more in state aid than students in non-SDA districts; it is unfair to those students and unfair to the residents of those towns who have been forced for more than three decades to foot the cost of that failure and unfairness.

A funding formula that puts a higher value on one child over another is morally wrong and it has been economically destructive.  We cannot let it continue.

I will travel across the state this summer to talk about this plan to, for the first time in my lifetime, lower property taxes for the people of New Jersey and bring fairness to the funding of our schools.

We can do better and we must—in educating all of our children and in bringing fairness to our taxpayers.  No one should be denied an education because of where they call home—an no one should have to sell their home because they can any longer afford the property taxes caused by a perverse school funding formula that devalues their children in the eyes of the state budget.  After all, it is their tax dollars that, in part, fund that aid itself.

I have 18 months left in office and I will not permit these fundamental truths to not be spoken and acted upon.  I will demand that the Legislature try defend the indefensible—that one child is worth more than another in the eyes of the state depending upon their zip code; or they can come along with me to fix this issue and put an end to the misery of our property taxpayers and make history in New Jersey.  I am ready for the fight and I know the taxpayers of New Jersey are looking for us to finally solve this problem.

Thank you for your attention and, now, lets get to work.

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Christie takes aim at gas taxes, pensions, property taxes and teachers union

Chris_christie_theridgewoodblog

 

With the state’s Transportation Trust Fund less than three weeks away from running out of money for new road, bridge and rail projects, Gov. Chris Christie said the fix being pushed by the Democratic-controlled legislature lacked sufficient tax breaks to be signed into law. Claude Brodesser-Akner, NJ.comJ Read more

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Reader says The high Ridgewood tax burden is taking a toll and will only get worse quickly without some real action

RHSFfieldflood_theridgewood-blog

file photo by Boyd Loving

All If we take a step back it all seem very clear. $100+ million a year for a school budget is just not sustainable and needs to be reduced quickly. We are at a point now where housing values in our town (and Bergen county) have stalled and in many cases are retreating. The high tax burden is taking a toll and will only get worse quickly without some real action.

The best way to do this is to reduce benefits, (healthcare, vacation, reimbursement, free schooling for teachers out of district children, retirement, etc.), change the package for new hires, and also attack administrative costs.

Homeowners and more important the children are getting shortchanged. Just try to get a teacher or guidance counselor to help with a college letter, direction, or just recommendations. There is certainly no passion demonstrated or doing anything above the contract.

We cant afford year after year increases, real no other way

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Reader says Thank you tonight BOE, for supporting Ridgewood properly!

Ridgewood EA teachers protest

Thank you tonight BOE, for supporting Ridgewood properly. Not easy with all these teachers barking at you. The unions need to all be abolished. There was a time and place for these in the early nineteen hundreds. The kids are the real losers here. How can we have fair negotiations if every time it does not go their way. The sick outs start, the field trips are without teachers, and now after school clubs are being cancelled. So one sided and unfair. Shame on the teachers and their unions not the BOE. Some women had the nerve to say we will pay more taxes for these teachers…she is a party of one…even her husband won’t support that! Chuck talking about the bottom half of the county per student? Why weren’t you talking about your second shore home? That you are able to buy because of Cadillac healthcare and pensions we provide? Maybe it’s time for the truly aging overpaid teachers to go? Unions won’t allow it, That’s discrimination, etc. The fact is our teachers are paid fairly and must now use some of this pay to cover more healthcare. Same as everyone else. No one likes it but it has to be done. Healthcare is going to be the death of us all. Fact, I’d pay for the teachers healthcare premiums now if we could…my family now pays 20,000 per year, plus deductibles and $45 co-pays. Wake up teachers and know the facts not what the unions feed you. Enjoy your summer off, we”l be working to pay our very high taxes for you!

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Reader says time to tell Ridgewood Teachers “Enough is Enough”

for sale Ridgewood_Real_Estate_theRodgewopodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving

Wake up teachers and your rotten unions. Time to pay more and your fair share. That is the real need here. You Gimme, Gimme, Gimmes are wrong and this why the intelligent BOE is right. Thank you BOE for doing your jobs and not rubber stamping these unreasonable demands. The parents and students should wake up and know these facts. When these reasons are known by all, the educated will support the students and the BOE. The upcoming meeting at BF will have bus loads of teachers wearing RED. While the BOE, Tax Payers should be SEEING RED! Enough is enogh, stop kicking the unions can and caving in. All contracts are shoot high and hope to reach a middle ground. No, not any more. Thank you to all o0n the BOE for standing up for us and the students. The teachers have ruined this year for all our students and we can’t get that back. Shame on the unions more than the lemming teachers. Not to be mean but to bring up an old statement. Those who can’t do teach….I’d like to add those who can’t negotiate for themselves stand behind their cowardly oh so powerful Unions…ugh, makes me sick

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Ridgewood Board of Education Meets on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at BFMS Auditorium

BOE_theridgewoodblog

BOE Meets on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at BFMS Auditorium

June 5,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, June 6, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

The Regular Public Meeting, originally scheduled to be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, will begin at 7:30 p.m., in the Auditorium at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.  Action will be taken at this meeting.

 The public is invited to attend the meeting at BFMS or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the  the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website.

Click here to view the agenda for the June 6, 2016  Regular Public Meeting.

Click here to view the 2016-2017 Budget presented at the May 2, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.

Click here to view the Full Day Kindergarten Recommendation presented to the Board at their March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.

Click here to view the backup for the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
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North Jersey home values trapped in a time warp

village Council election

photo by Boyd Loving

BY KATHLEEN LYNN AND DAVID SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

In the overheated housing market of 2005, Barbara O’Leary and Dennis Poletto bought a Bergenfield colonial for $440,000 — just five years after the previous owner had paid $175,000.

Now, they’d like to downsize into a place with no stairs. But they feel they can’t move, because real estate agents have told them their home would probably sell for about $330,000.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/north-jersey-home-values-trapped-in-a-time-warp-1.1610704

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Ridgewood Teacher Contract Negotiations

Ridgewood EA teachers protest

June 3,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In recent days there have been many heated arguments on social media in regards to the lack of a teacher contract.  We parents have been accused of not reacting sooner to the stalled contract negotiations.  We have placed our faith in the elected officials of the Board of Education (BOE).  The BOE officials are educated professionals who are expected to formulate opinions and make decisions regarding contract negotiations.   They have access to information which is readily available. As parents our days are filled with work, sports and other activities.  We don’t have the time to research and review this information ourselves.

The teachers think we ignore their protests.  We witness their protests but we choose to ignore them because their actions are offensive.  With every protest our indignation grows: with every field trip the teachers have elected to miss, with the Halloween parade where the chosen costume was a red shirt, with all the school events where the teachers were absent, with the recommendation letters the teachers have either refused to write or have written the bare minimum , with all the mornings we have watched the teachers stand outside the school and march in together, with every mass exodus at the end of the day and with the countless other signs we noticed.

Now they are threatening to take our clubs away from our children.  They want us to react and so we will.  We will educate ourselves so that we as parents can make a decision.  The following facts collected from public sources should help us parents better understand the issues behind the contract negotiations:

FACTS:

Among the top 100 schools with the highest teacher salaries, Ridgewood is listed at #17.  https://patch.com/new-jersey/pointpleasant/these-100-nj-school-districts-pay-their-teachers-most… if this is the case, why are teachers saying they are underpaid?

The median teacher salary for Ridgewood is $78,318
https://www.nj.com/education/2016/04/whats_the_median_salary_for_teachers_in_your_district.html…If you compare this to the rest of Bergen County, we are very competitive.

There are teachers in our school system who make triple figure salaries.https://board-of-education.ridgewood.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=944840&fid=29038756&sessionid=c671c2e4ae1b4ddcb065cbe448f221ca
It is hard to believe there are elementary school librarians earning triple figures.
It should be noted that if there is a large number of teachers in the district who have been here a long time, this will shoot the median up as in any school district.

It is being said that by not giving the teachers what they want, we will force them to retire and we will lose good teachers.  It seems that some of the teachers who are paid well are very vocal yet they are the ones pushing the median up.  It also implies that the young teachers are not as good as the older ones because if the seasoned teachers leave we will be left with poor educators.

When compared to the private sector, the teachers’ salaries are competitive.

The private sector has a 40-hour work week for 48 weeks.  Teachers work 37.5 hours 37.5 weeks a year.

The teachers are guaranteed some type of a raise.  Private sector positions have received few to no raises over the past several years.

The argument that the raises don’t cover the increase the teachers have to contribute into health care is the same across all industries.

Private sector positions are paying the same if not more into their healthcare and get fewer benefits.

Teachers have a union that they pay $840 a year to fight for them.
https://www.njea.org/members/about-membership/njea%20membership%20categories

If the private sector employee is not in agreement with what they are receiving, they have to accept it or move on.

With all of this being said, we try to raise our children by example.  There are many good teachers in this community.  We want to support our teachers.  We all want what is fair, but the arguments that they are not treated fairly and are overworked and underpaid are no longer valid.

Many of these teachers are our friends and neighbors.  As parents we should be able to express our opinions.  The reason many people are afraid to speak up is due to the fact that we are put down and made to feel that our jobs are less important than that of a teacher’s.  Just because we entrust you with our children does not mean that you should be treated any better than the rest of us.

We try to teach our children by example. What example are you teaching them- that if I don’t get what I want, I will make sure I will use all my sick days;  that if I don’t get paid to start work until a certain time, I will stand outside until I am required to enter the building.  The fact is that we will be sending our children into the world soon. Our children will not survive in the private sector if they choose to follow the example set by their teachers.

Shame on you teachers for saying that you care about our children because if you did, you would have attended the field trips, you would have incorporated your red shirts into Halloween costumes, you would have put effort into the letters of recommendation and you would have continued to do what make you happy- teach.  Your recent actions, however, say otherwise.

To the parents- please read the information provided.  The teachers will get a contract, they will get their raises, they will contribute to their health care and we will all be back in the same situation in three years.

Know the facts and support our children.

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Morristown Medical Center Tax Court Ruling Opens door for Valley Hospital to pay Property Taxes in Ridgewood

Valley_Hospital_theridgewoodblog

May 17,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In a closely watched property tax case with significant financial and policy implications for hospitals and possibly the broader non-profit community statewide,and the Village of Ridgewood , a Tax Court of New Jersey judge on June 25, 2015, ruled that Morristown Medical Center is not entitled to tax exemption on nearly all of its property in Morristown.

In Ridgewood ,Valley’s main campus would be rated for tax purposes at over $4 million per year. EVERY district was won by Voight, Walsh and Hache in a total rejection of the mayor and his policies .Given the statement made in Tuesday’s election, there would be popular support behind pursing this revenue using any and all means necessary.

Noteworthy elements of the Morristown decision:

Except for some very narrow exceptions such as its parking garage, auditorium and fitness center, almost all of the hospital’s property was deemed to be taxable for failing the “profit” test (see below) because non-profit and for-profit activities were significantly commingled and conferred substantial benefits on the for-profit entities as a result.

Compensation was a significant factor in the opinion.  Although IRS guidelines have for years allowed exempt organizations to establish the reasonableness of compensation under federal law by analyzing compensation levels against those of comparable organizations, the judge dismissed such a standard as insufficient because the hospital failed to also verify that the compensation at the other comparable institutions was itself also reasonable.  In essence, this ruling disregards the IRS framework for reasonableness of compensation in use by thousands of charities nationwide.

In his conclusion, the judge stated that if all hospitals in their current form are structured like Morristown then none are justified in receiving property tax exemption, and it’s up to the legislature to enact statutory changes that would change this framework.

On November 11, 2015, a settlement was announced between Atlantic Health System (the parent of Morristown Medical Center) and the Town of Morristown, in which the hospital agreed to pay $15.5 million in back taxes and penalties, plus annual property taxes on 24 percent of the hospital’s property from 2016 to 2 . (https://www.njnonprofits.org/PropertyTax_MorristownMedical.html)

It is hard to argue that these same or similar elements would apply Valley Hospital as Well.

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New Ridgewood Council Needs to press Valley Hospital to Contribute

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog
May 15,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, a reader commented that , “hopefully the new Council pushes hard on challenging Valley’s not-for-profit status. If we can capture $4.5mn in annual property taxes from Valley for everything they own in Ridgewood, then the property tax burden on residents could be reduced. This would be enlightened tax policy from the new Council and smarter governance. They pay their CEO $2mn a year to run a single hospital – not a system – and acquire every building they can yet pay no property taxes?!?! Not fair to village residents who effectively subsidize their public safety services, snow plowing around the local roads by Valley’s properties (which get removed from rateables), etc. time to pay your fair share.”

New Jersey courts have established a three-part test that, in essence, provides that for an organization to be entitled to property tax exemption, it must show that:

1. it is organized exclusively for a charitable purpose (or other qualifying purpose enumerated in the statute);
2. its property is actually used for such a charitable purpose (or the specific qualifying purpose applicable to that organization); and
3. its use and operation of the property is not for profit.

Morristown Hospital failed the third test, so will Valley.

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Report: Two companies have ‘effectively monopolized’ online sale of tax liens in N.J.

CORRUPTION

 

Two companies sanctioned by state officials to operate under their own rules have come to dominate a growing and lucrative industry in New Jersey, collecting nearly $1 million in fees last year after arranging online auctions for municipalities selling off their residents’ tax liens, according to a report released Tuesday. Salvador Rizzo, The Record Read more

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Ridgewood Council Member Late Payment of Taxes Resurfaces as Issue with Tax Increase Looming

gwenn hauck late tax payments
April 15,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, The Village Council’s move to increase taxes in the Village brings up an old issue that never seems to die . OPRA Request submitted to the Clerk’s Office on April 24, 2015 regarding: Property tax payment history from 1/1/2012 through 4/1/2015, date payment received, amount of payment, interest charged, if any, for blocks & lots #3214-23, #2011-3, #1601-27, #2901-2, #4201-22.02.

The OPRA  request indicated Council Women Gwenn Hauck has had issues in the past paying her property taxes on time .

In case you did not know, generally payments are considered late only they are received after the 10th calendar day; if day 10 falls on a weekend, it’s moved to the next day of business at Village Hall.