In the fast-paced world of logistics and transportation, every moment counts. Maximizing efficiency and revenue is at the forefront of every carrier’s mind. One essential tool that can significantly impact your income as a carrier is the carrier packet. A carrier packet is a compilation of documents and information requested by shippers and brokers, and its proper completion and submission can lead to an array of benefits that supercharge your income.
Moving to a new place can be both exciting and overwhelming, especially if it’s a long-distance move. Whether you’re moving across the country or to a different continent, there are many factors to consider and steps to take in order to ensure a successful relocation. In this article, we will explore the key aspects of how a long-distance move works, from planning and preparation to transportation and settling in. We’ll provide you with practical tips and advice to help you navigate the process with ease and confidence. So, if you’re planning a long-distance move in the near future, keep reading to learn more and start looking for the best West Hollywood movers for your relocations!
Ridgewood NJ, the micro-mobility revolution refers to the recent trend and transformation in transportation that involves the increased adoption of small, lightweight, and often electric-powered vehicles for short-distance travel within urban areas. These vehicles are typically designed for individual use and are well-suited for trips that are too long to walk but too short for traditional modes of transportation like cars or buses.
Ridgewood NJ, Each year, the average American household spends $2,690 on real-estate property taxes plus another $444 for residents of the 26 states with vehicle property taxes. With such high costs, it’s no surprise that more than $14 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year, according to the National Tax Lien Association.
The police department reported 269 fatalities in 2020 and 288 in 2021, making it the deadliest period in at least ten years. More than 2,000 individuals, or 250 on average per year, have been killed in car crashes since de Blasio entered office in 2014.
Ridgewood NJ, Senator Anthony M. Bucco (R-25) said a new study commissioned by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to show the cost to ratepayers of implementing Governor Murphy’s new Energy Master Plan is based on false assumptions and ignores huge costs associated with the electrification of homes, businesses, and transportation in New Jersey:
The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) is a government-funded program that assists low-income, elderly, and disabled individuals. CDPAP helps people with disabilities live more independently and participate in society. The program offers a variety of services, including help with personal care, medication management, transportation, and more. CDPAP can be a valuable resource for individuals who need assistance but don’t have the means to pay for it.
The decision to buy a real estate property is a significant one. When deciding to purchase a house, the first question that hovers home buyers’ minds is the affordability and expenses incurred. Answering these doubts requires significant consideration of several elements. Before you decide on buying a great property, you have to learn about the analysis process. You are contemplating the affordability, but you must understand the real meaning of the process and consider various income factors to debt.
Trenton NJ, Governor Christie unviels his final budget as governor ;
“This is the ninth time I’ve come before a joint session to address our state’s budget. Each time I’ve had specific goals in mind; guiding principles to follow. Government should get smaller. Taxes shall not be increased. Our core commitments must be met. Each time, with varying degrees of struggle, harmony and acrimony, we have reached these goals – I have stuck to those principles. Let me assure you that today will be no different.
– Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey State Budget Address, February 28, 2017
The Fiscal Year 2018 budget will be the eighth and final state budget of Governor Chris Christie’s tenure. When Governor Christie entered office in 2010, New Jersey was enduring an unprecedented fiscal crisis, with an immediate $2.2 billion mid-year fiscal deficit, as well as an unthinkably large $10.7 billion projected budget gap for Fiscal Year 2011 — more than a third of the prior year’s budget. At that time, it was uncertain whether the State would be able to meet its payroll within two months.
The staggering $13 billion two-year gap represented the culmination of years of reckless tax-and-spend policies and shortsighted budgeting practices that ignored economic realities. While state and national economies faltered, spending in Trenton under the previous administration continued unabated at unsustainable levels — increasing 58 percent from 2001 to 2008. The previous governor’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget was propped up with temporary income tax hikes, corporate surtaxes, reliance on one-time federal stimulus funds, temporary employee furloughs and other desperate gimmicks.
Today, Governor Christie is presenting his eighth consecutive balanced budget built on a foundation of fiscal restraint and responsibility. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget will fund $2 billion less in discretionary spending than was spent in Fiscal Year 2008.
The Governor’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Budget:
• Calls for $35.5 billion in State appropriations, a 2.6 percent increase, largely due to non-discretionary costs.
• Contains $2 billion less in discretionary spending than the Fiscal Year 2008 budget.
• Includes the largest pension payment in New Jersey history with a $2.5 billion contribution to the State’s defined benefit funds.
o This will bring total pension contributions by the Christie Administration to $8.8 billion.
o That will be more than two and a half times the total contributions made by all governors combined during the 16-year period from Fiscal Year 1995 through Fiscal Year 2010.
• Renews the Governor’s commitment to higher education in New Jersey. Overall, higher education funding is maintained at a total of $2.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2018.
• Proposes a seventh-consecutive year of the highest amount of school aid supporting Pre-K through Grade 12 education in New Jersey history. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposes more than $13.8 billion for education, an increase of $523.2 million.
• Provides more than $17 billion in direct and indirect property tax relief, nearly half the total budget, including $13.8 billion in school aid and $1.5 billion in municipal aid.
• Continues more than $1 billion for direct property taxpayer relief programs:
o 423,300 seniors and citizens with disabilities will receive an average Homestead Benefit of $511, while 169,500 other homeowners earning up to $75,000 will receive an average Homestead Benefit of $397.
o 138,200 seniors and citizens with disabilities will continue receiving Property Tax Freeze benefits averaging $1,401, while 25,100 new beneficiaries will receive their first year of benefits averaging $219.
Investing In New Jersey’s Transportation Infrastructure
Today, Governor Christie proposed a $400 million supplemental appropriation in this Fiscal Year. These funds will be invested and spent quickly over the next 100 days to address bridge deficiencies and road conditions in all of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Further, these funds will be used to expedite technology enhancements and other infrastructure improvements for New Jersey Transit and will allow the New Jersey Department of Transportation to deliver the largest construction program in state history. The results will be smoother roads, safer bridges and a more technologically sound mass transit system.
In October 2016, Governor Christie signed legislation that reauthorized the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority Act. As a result of that legislation, Governor Christie’s fiscal 2018 budget provides a record $2 billion State Transportation Capital Program. The Program includes over $1.3 billion for State and local highway and bridge projects, and another $677 million for mass transportation projects.
Ensuring Access To Care While Keeping Down Costs
The NJ FamilyCare program currently provides comprehensive health care coverage to more than 1.8 million New Jersey residents at a projected $4.2 billion cost to the Fiscal Year 2018 budget. The program serves individuals eligible for both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and represents a partnership between the State and the federal government. The NJ FamilyCare program, while having some of the highest income limits in the nation, has traditionally provided health coverage exclusively to low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities. On January 1, 2014, Governor Christie expanded the program, using 100 percent federal funding, to provide health coverage to low-income childless adults.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget represents the fourth full fiscal year of the NJ FamilyCare expansion, and while a fraction of the costs associated with this eligibility group have shifted to the State budget, the expansion continues to represent a tremendous value for New Jersey. Since the Governor’s decision to expand NJ FamilyCare in 2014, an additional 487,000 uninsured New Jersey residents have gained coverage under this program. Not only did this expansion provide reliable medical coverage to many formerly uninsured residents, the infusion of federal dollars has generated meaningful savings to the State budget. Through Fiscal Year 2018, the shift of State costs to the federal government combined with the reduction in demand for Charity Care has resulted in a cumulative savings of $2 billion to the State.
Commitment To World-Class Healthcare
With the goal of ensuring a stable and accessible hospital system that provides care of the highest possible quality, the Department of Health’s budget makes significant investments in three hospital subsidy programs: Charity Care, Graduate Medical Education and Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments.
• Charity Care. Governor Christie’s expansion of NJ FamilyCare has led to a dramatic increase in NJ FamilyCare enrollment, which continues to be funded almost entirely by the federal government. The associated decrease in uninsured residents has reduced by more than half the documented claims for uncompensated care submitted by New Jersey’s hospitals. Since the expansion took effect on January 1, 2014, 487,000 low-income residents have gained health insurance through NJ FamilyCare, a 38-percent increase in program enrollment. This fundamental shift allows for a $25 million reduction in State funding for Charity Care in Fiscal Year 2018. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget provides $252 million in combined federal and State support to offset the costs hospital facilities incur in treating the uninsured.
• Graduate Medical Education (GME). The Fiscal Year 2018 budget increases support to New Jersey’s teaching hospitals by $30 million, with the total amount available through the Graduate Medical Education program now totaling $218 million. This marks the third year in a row that funding for this critical program has been increased, with the total amount available now more than triple the funding provided when Governor Christie took office. This enhanced commitment to GME will help to ensure that New Jersey residents have continued access to an adequate number of well-trained doctors.
• Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP). Funded at $166.6 million, the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program was launched in Fiscal Year 2014 as a replacement for the Hospital Relief Subsidy Fund. The program continues to reward innovation and quality by distributing funds to hospitals based on measurable improvements in health outcomes.
Continued Emphasis On Community-Based Care And Services
Governor Christie is committed to fundamentally changing the way services and programs support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, by moving away from a system that has historically focused on institutionalization to one that emphasizes home and community-based services and supports. To this end, resources have been refocused to provide people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the ability to live as independently as possible with the proper supports.
The five-year Olmstead settlement agreement, signed February 2013, covered fiscal years 2013 to 2017 and required 600 placements over that time period. By the end of Fiscal Year 2018, the Department expects to have placed a total of 737 individuals, well exceeding the requirements of the Olmstead agreement due in large part to the acceleration of placements from the closure of North Jersey Developmental Center and Woodbridge Developmental Center in Fiscal Year 2015.
In addition to the Olmstead commitment to move individuals with developmental disabilities out of developmental centers, Governor Christie’s determination to provide services in the community includes funds to develop additional community placements and services that divert admissions to developmental centers. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget provides $89.7 million of new State and federal funding to create community placements and services, including Olmstead placements.
As a result of reforms initiated under the Medicaid Comprehensive Waiver, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are living independently or with family are becoming eligible for substantially increased in-home support services for which the State will receive a federal match. When the Supports Program is fully implemented, it is expected to generate approximately $100 million in matching funding on previously State-only costs to create an estimated $200 million program, which will allow for the further expansion of services.
Family Services
The Fiscal Year 2018 budget continues and enhances the Christie Administration’s commitment to providing a wide array of services to children and families throughout New Jersey through Department of Children and Families (DCF) programs.
• Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P). The Fiscal Year 2018 budget includes a total of $986.6 million in State and federal funds for the operations and services provided by this DCF Division that is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect
• Children’s System of Care (CSOC). This program helps more youth remain at home, in school and in their own communities, while still receiving the full scope of services they require, and provides coordinated care for more than 61,000 children and adolescents. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget includes a total of $592.5 million in State and federal funds for the operations and services provided by this Division, an increase of $24.3 million over the fiscal 2017 Appropriations Act.
• Family Success Centers. The Governor’s proposed budget protects funding for these centers which are community-based organizations that provide a wide array of services ranging from day care, resume writing and parenting classes to domestic violence prevention and substance use disorder services. The number of Family Success Centers in New Jersey will increase to a total of 58 in Fiscal Year 2018.
Lead Safety
Through continuing and increased appropriations, Governor Christie’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget continues to address lead concerns in New Jersey, ensuring the State remains a national leader on this issue. Governor Christie has added $10 million in additional State funding to effectuate the update in lead regulations to make New Jersey’s standards for identifying elevated blood-lead levels in children consistent with those of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Department of Community Affairs will continue working through nonprofit organizations to remediate lead-based paint hazards affecting low- and moderate-income households in New Jersey.
The Fiscal Year 2017 budget provided $10 million to reimburse school districts for costs related to lead testing between July 13, 2016, and July 13, 2017. School districts that tested their water during that time period can continue to seek reimbursement in Fiscal Year 2018 from unexpended Fiscal Year 2017 balances.
The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority wants you to throw a cocktail party — and they’ll foot the bill!
According to David Behrend, department director of communications and government affairs for the Authority, the Set the Table initiative is one part of a broad public outreach effort to update their long-range transportation plan for 13 counties in Central and North Jersey.
“The idea is to look at how we can better involve younger people who maybe haven’t traditionally been involved in some of these public meetings and this process in the past,” he said.
Behrend said participant hosts who should be between the ages of 18 to 29 will be asked to get together a group of six to eight friends. They’ll get a small stipend, around $100, “to get some pizzas or other foods, however they want to organize their particular event.”
He said each group will be given cards with questions about different subjects like transportation safety, technology and the environment.
“These are the folks who are going to be experiencing and using the transportation network 30 years down the road, so we want to hear their input, we want to see what they have to say.”
Behrend says the Set the Table meetings will help to shape what happens in the future
Plan reflects agency’s return to its core transportation mission; Leverages private sector dollars to help rebuild region’s aging infrastructure; Creates 235,400 job years and $56 billion in overall economic activity
Ridgewood NJ, The Port Authority Board of Commissioners today approved the agency’s largest ever $32.2 billion 2017-2026 Capital Plan, which reflects the agency’s continuing return to its core transportation mission and is expected to generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in overall economic activity for the region.
The plan allows for $11.6 billion in major redevelopment projects to advance at the region’s major airports during the next decade, including the $4 billion LaGuardia Terminal B replacement, the largest transportation public-private partnership in the United States. It also provides for the advancement of work on Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport and the redevelopment of John F. Kennedy International Airport, under which Port Authority investments are expected to leverage billions of dollars of private sector investment.
At the agency’s tunnels, bridges and terminals, the plan provides $10 billion to greatly enhance trans-Hudson commuting, including the construction of new facilities and the upgrading of existing ones. Funds are included to complete the $1.5 billion Goethals Bridge Replacement, being done through the first true surface transportation PPP in the Northeast. It also provides funding to complete the rebuilding of the Bayonne Bridge, a $1.6 billion project that will effectively provide a brand new bridge for travelers and remove an existing navigational impediment to allow modern ships to pass underneath it and keep the ports competitive. The plan includes $3.5 billion to begin planning and construction of a new Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan and nearly $2 billion to complete the largest overhaul and rehabilitation of the George Washington Bridge ever undertaken in the bridge’s 85-year history.
The Capital Plan also includes funding to rebuild some of PATH’s aging rail stations and to upgrade other critical rail system infrastructure to ensure safety and service reliability. Funds also are included to plan and build an extension of the PATH system from its current terminus at Newark Penn Station to the Newark Liberty International Airport Air Link Station, a project designed to improve airport access and enhance trans-Hudson commutation.
To further address the region’s critical trans-Hudson transportation needs, the plan also provides the largest contribution of any stakeholder to date — $2.7 billion — for the critical trans-Hudson rail tunnel link between New York and New Jersey and Portal Bridge North projects. The contribution will pay debt service on expected borrowing by the Gateway Program Development Corporation from low-interest federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing loans.
The 10-year plan will accelerate the rebuilding of the region’s aging infrastructure by leveraging billions in private sector dollars including through public-private partnerships on major transportation and terminal projects, including those at the airports and bridges. The plan’s multibillion investment is expected to result in the creation of 235,400 job years, $20 billion in total wages and $56 billion in overall economic activity.
“There’s no question that the region’s transportation needs are growing at a far greater rate than the resources that are available to address them,” said Port Authority Chairman John Degnan. “For that reason, this Board has spent tireless hours coming to a consensus on how our resources will be spent to benefit the region and the customers we serve. We have developed a plan that invests in the most critical projects including critical improvements to trans-Hudson capacity, while providing the flexibility to make future changes should new, more vital needs emerge.”
“This region needs state-of-the-art airports, new mass transit infrastructure, and bridges designed to handle 21st Century traffic levels if we are to meet growth projections,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. “This 10-year plan provides a record level of investment in all of these areas that will meet and support the region’s growth and serve as a major job creator for the next decade.”
“This plan provides significant benefits for the millions of travelers who use the region’s airports, tunnels, bridges, terminals and mass transit system, and it’s also a lifeline for thousands of our members given the tens of thousands of good paying jobs these projects will create. We strongly support the Port Authority’s continuing plans to invest in public sector transportation projects that are good for the region and good for those who live and work here,” said Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York.
“The Port Authority’s proposed 10-year, $32 billion capital plan provides the strategic investments necessary to support the modernization of critical transportation infrastructure, including JFK and LaGuardia Airports, Port Authority Bus Terminal and Bayonne and Goethals Bridges, as well as funding for the Gateway Program, possibly the most important set of projects in the country. The Port Authority’s plan, along with Governor Cuomo’s pledge to invest in aging infrastructure, provide the extensive commitments necessary to support the sustained growth of the metropolitan region. We look forward to working with the Port Authority to build, repair, and renew all of these vital assets,” said New York Building Congress President & CEO Carlo A. Scissura.The approval followed a month-long public comment period – including two first-ever public meetings in each state that were attended by commissioners and agency leadership. Prior to the Board’s vote to move the proposed plan forward on January 5 for public comment, there was robust debate and discussion by Board members over how to parcel out limited resources to the agency’s growing list of capital investment needs.
Since the Board’s January 5 meeting, the agency received 429 comments on its plan from 365 individuals. Fifty-five speakers attended the public meetings in both states to comment on specific items in the document and 9 people Tweeted comments about it. An additional 327 comments were emailed and 12 comments were received by mail. The Board of Commissioners received periodic summaries of the public comments prior to today’s Board meeting.
The 10-year plan approved today includes $29.5 billion in direct spending on Port Authority projects and the $2.7 billion commitment to support debt service on the Gateway passenger rail tunnel project.
The plan outlines specific funding commitments for major capital projects the agency will invest in over the next 10 years. All projects remain subject to Board authorization processes, and, before they proceed, are subject to a rigorous “gates” review process before they proceed that look at agency revenue and the ability to finance them.
Garrett Statement on Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act
Dec 3, 2015
the staff of theRidgewood blog
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05), issued the following statement after voting against the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act:
“New Jersey residents deserve to have their tax dollars spent on transportation and infrastructure projects right here in the Garden State instead of being wasted in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, the FAST Act is full of budgetary gimmicks that will ensure another round of taxpayer-funded bailouts when what we really need are substantive reforms that put our transportation funding on a sustainable fiscal path. The reason Americans have spent $143 billion on bailouts over the last seven years is money set aside in the Highway Trust Fund—the tax you pay at the pump—has been wasted on projects that are unrelated to roads and bridges.
“And if the bailouts aren’t bad enough, the FAST Act also includes provisions to resurrect the most shameless example of crony capitalism Washington has ever concocted—the Export-Import Bank. Overall, I believe New Jersey deserves better, which is why I will continue to fight to end bailouts, end special treatment for Washington insiders, and ensure that my constituents can see their transportation dollars being spent closer to home.”
