They are having committees to study why people over 55 are leaving. Shiela Brogan is on the committee. The survey showed that moving is a financial decision. She needs to pay attention.
Complete agreement with all of the above. Taxes are out of control. And as for the moving truck option, don’t think for a minute that Ridgewood taxes will make the town and your home desirable to young families. Nice towns with lower taxes and higher rated schools surround us. Pay for your own pre-K and Ridgewood teachers need to get a grip on reality when it comes to their demands.
Driving out seniors is not going to help the school population or tax base. Add-ons like this may be the last straw for many who already get nothing from approximately 2/3 of their enormous property tax bite. Tired of hearing that good schools help property values, etc. The fact is that this school system has been going down the tubes for years and the world at large is finally starting to realize it. Throwing more millions at it won’t help. Eliminate half the jobs at the Ed Center and resolve the teachers’ contract dispute before coming to taxpayers for more and more.
As for property values: People will just look at other towns – Allendale, Wyckoff, HoHoKus Upper Saddle River, Ramsey, Montvale, Woodcliff Lake all have lower taxes and comparable if not better schools. Yes, Ridgewood may have a certain status and reputation in its favor but times are different now. The town has changed and more changes are could be on their way. BOE needs to keep a strong position that considers taxpayers. Our teachers are already higher paid than most and pre-school should be the parents’ responsibility.
Schools used to be top class in the entire country 25 years ago. Now it’s all on fumes of past reputation. Current teachers care more about their health benefits than they do about our students, which is sad.
The village is becoming a flip model of graduations then For Sales signs as TAXES ,financial pressure ON JOB holders and families impacted by corporate downsizing and then college costs ,drive midlife families and seniors who have paid dearly for decades .We all loose unless we work to change this Tax and Spend model.Cost of money finding can only go up from current low interest rate and low energy costs environment ..more risks ahead..taxes likely to rise to meet
Inflation and general funding requirements.FEEL GOOD PROJECTS SHOULD BE derailed.Health Barn,full day Kindergarden. Ideas about performing arts and other build outs should be shelved.Ridgewood is worth the Fight. Versus the moving truck solution..
Ridgewood NJ, A new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University ranks each US state’s financial health based on short- and long-term debt and other key fiscal obligations, such as unfunded pensions and healthcare benefits. This 2016 edition updates theversion the Mercatus Center published in 2015. Using the approach pioneered in 2015, the 2016 edition presents information from each state’s audited financial report in an easily accessible format, this time including Puerto Rico to provide a benchmark of poor fiscal performance.
Growing long-term obligations for pensions and healthcare benefits continue to strain the finances of state governments, highlighting the fact that state policymakers must be vigilant to consider both the short-term and the long-term consequences of their decisions. Understanding how each state is performing in regard to a variety of fiscal indicators can help policymakers as they consider the consequences of policy decisions.
The study also highlights some of the limits of the financial data reported by state governments. States release these data years after they are most relevant, and because the information is highly aggregated, analysts and the public have difficulty discerning the true fiscal position of any state.
The financial health of each state can be analyzed through the states’ own audited financial reports. By looking at states’ basic financial statistics on revenues, expenditures, cash, assets, liabilities, and debt, states may be ranked according to how easily they will be able to cover short-term and long-term bills, including pension obligations.
And of coarse New Jersey ranked in the bottom 5 along with Kentucky, Illinois,Massachusetts, and Connecticut ranked in the bottom five states, largely owing to the low amounts of cash they have on hand and their large debt obligations.
Each state has massive debt obligations. Each of the bottom five states exhibits serious signs of fiscal distress. Though their economies may be stronger than Puerto Rico’s, allowing them to better navigate fiscal crises, their large liabilities still raise serious concerns.
Unfunded liabilities continue to be a problem. High deficits and debt obligations in the forms of unfunded pensions and healthcare benefits continue to drive each state into fiscal peril. Each holds tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars in unfunded liabilities—constituting a significant risk to taxpayers in both the short and the long term.
The bottom five states have changed since last year. Kentucky’s position has declined, placing it in the bottom five this year. New York is no longer in the bottom five. New Jersey and Illinois improved slightly, but remain in the bottom five. Connecticut and Massachusetts also remain in the bottom five, in slightly worse positions than last year.
Now nearly three full weeks old, the political impasse in Trenton over transportation funding is no closer to being resolved, and there are some signs key leaders may actually be moving further apart John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlight Read more
A retooled income-tax withholding policy for lottery jackpots just went into effect at the beginning of the month in New Jersey that should help the state collect more money upfront from those winning big payouts. John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlight Read more
The New Jersey Business & Industry Association released a report Thursday indicating that the outmigration of some 2 million New Jersey residents cost the state approximately $18 billion in net adjusted gross income in the years between 2004 and 2013.
“The $18 billion we lost during the years we studied had a significant economic impact on the state,” NJBIA CEO and President Michele Siekerka said. “During that period, we lost $8.4 billion in household spending, $11.4 billion in economic output, 75,000 jobs and $4 billion in total lost labor income.”
The study found that the majority of New Jersey residents leaving the state are migrating to Pennsylvania. New York was the second-most-popular destination for those relocating from the Garden State, showcasing that, while people are leaving in search of lower taxes, they also want to maintain a relatively close proximity to family and friends.
“This pattern underscores New Jersey’s need to stay competitive with its neighbors and those other states vying for our residents and businesses,” Siekerka said.
And it’s not just retirees, either. According to the report, millennials, which it defined as those between the ages of 18 and 34, are leaving New Jersey in the highest numbers.
Steve Adubato goes on location to the CIANJ Annual Legislative Dinner and speaks with Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R) who says our tax code needs to change if we want to improve our economy. As just one example, Ciattarelli believes we need to eliminate the Estate Tax to keep people in the state. Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ Read more
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.
As the Jersey Shore swells in population from tourists this summer, something is still missing — the full-time residents it has lost in the past 10 years. Erin Petenko, NJ.com Read more
With two major government worker pension court battles concluded, the next front in public workers’ fight for retirement benefits is a ballot question considering a constitutional amendment forcing the state to make annual contributions in the pension system. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more
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
TRENTON NJ, Under a proposed bill customers would be required to pay 5 cents for every plastic or paper bag they use to carry their purchases .
An previous version of the bill (A3671) called for a bag ban by 2025, but sponsors discarded that idea. Efforts to curb plastic bag use have been under consideration since 2008 in the state legislature, including in 2012, although each time they have stalled.
California is the state that has a statewide ban on plastic bags and Hawaii has a de facto state ban because every county has adopted the policy.
If the bill becomes law, retail operators in New Jersey would begin charging 5-cent fee for each single-use carryout bag on June 1, 2017. Stores would keep a penny, as would the state Division of Taxation to administer the program.
The remaining 3 cents would be used to create the “Healthy Schools and Community Lead Abatement Fund” to support the testing of homes and schools’ water supply – a major cause of concern in the state.
While proponents of the ban claim “Plastic bags are a source of numerous environmental concerns,” We are still not sure how an additional tax is going to fix any environmental problems . Seems more to be another Trenton money grab using a “Feel good” ruse . Opponents say better yet to send the bags to Trenton so law makers can place them over their heads saving the taxpayers money and improving the quality of life in the state .
Ridgewood NJ, Mayor Paul Aronsohn and his coalition Village council candidates Wietz , Brooks, Willett are trying to play the “Gabbert Card”once again but don’t be fooled.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn voted yes to every single budget from the day he got on the council until now. And was there during Tom Rica theft and never noticed parking utility discrepancies until then.
While Bernie Walsh’s record is far more thoughtfull, she didn’t vote in 2011 and voted no in 2012. Voted yes in 2013 and no to operating budget but yes to Capital budget in 2014.
During Bernie’s tenure the Police contract was renegotiated saving Ridgewood $250K for the lifetime of each new officer hired. and the Village reduced to one Captain and two Lieutenants.
The Ridgewood news reported that the Village Council at a special public meeting on Monday will lower the starting salary for officers coming into the department after Dec. 1 to $32,000, down from the previous starting salary of $49,273, according to the ordinance.
By the way unlike some current candidates and council members Mayor Killion ,do to a “30-year distinguished career” in the Ridgewood police department,recused himeself from all police contract negotiations .
And if they really want to play the Gabbert card maybe they should remember how many new people Queen Bee Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld hired help her do her job such as the HR person for about hundred thousand and that not counting her platinum health care and pension. In hind sight Gabbert’s raise does not bad compared hiring a new HR person. It is important to note that even after Gabberts raise he still made far less than his predecessor and far less that the new combo of Village Manager plus HR person .
According to the Kelly Ebbels of the Ridgewood News an article Paul has on his own website , the “Incentive bonuses can be awarded from a total pool of more than $80,000, Gabbert said. He estimated that the change from automatic raises to incentive bonuses could yield more than $40,000 a year in savings”, which then Councilman Paul Aronsohn voted against the proposal.
Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday assailed Democrats and warned the state’s business community that “the animals are at the gate” and are prepared to pounce on their wallets. Matt Arco, NJ.com Read more
In Trenton, Senate Democrats now propose to continue bankrupting the state by cutting taxes when we can’t remotely afford it, while offering no means to cover the cost. Tom Moran, Star-Ledger Editorial Board Read more
