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
Ridgewood NJ, Wednesday night is the public hearing and final adoption of the 2024 Village of Ridgewood Budget. The meeting begins at 7:30 pm in the Court Room at Village Hall. Over the past month, the Village Hall team worked to highlight the many priorities in the 2024 budget.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, check out the Village Council Budget Meetings, unlike the school budget you can still have input . The meetings are being held in hybrid format (both in person and via Zoom). The Village Council is discussing the 2023 annual budget and capital budgets for all Village Departments. The next budget meetings will be held on February 23rd, February 24th, and March 6th, all beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Court Room of Village Hall. The result of these meetings will be the setting of the tax rate for the Village’s portion, which is approximately 25% of the overall tax rate.
VILLAGE COUNCIL
SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING
APRIL 27, 2022
7:30 P.M.
Continue reading VILLAGE COUNCIL SPECIAL PUBLIC BUDGET MEETING APRIL 27, 2022 7:30 P.M.
Ridgewood NJ, this week the Village Council looked at the Village of Ridgewood budget . The presentation was given by
Heather Mailander Village Manager , Bob Rooney Chief Financial Officer and Steve Sanzari Treasurer .
Click Here for PDF of the 2019 Budget Presentation from the 3/13/2019 Council Meeting.
VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD
VILLAGE COUNCIL
REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING
MARCH 13, 2019
8:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order – Mayor
2. Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act
3. Roll Call – Village Clerk
4. Flag Salute and Moment of Silence
5. Acceptance of Financial Reports
6. Approval of Minutes
7. Proclamations
8. Comments from the Public (Not to exceed 3 minutes per person – 40 minutes in total)
Continue reading Ridgewood Village Council Meeting : Budget Resolution
Ridgewood NJ, the Village of Ridgewood Budget passed no issues, 5-0 .Yes, the threesome Hauck, Puccrelli and Aronsohnand even Roberta were a bit subdued after their humilating loss and rejection at the polls. Both Ramon Hache and Jeff Voigt attended the meeting.
The discussion of Albert’s proposed resolution/ ordinance regarding filming/ recording of public committee meetings was a bit misleading. The deputy mayor made it sound as if he was protecting members who might be talking about personal issues: children’s grades,etc. This novel interpretation was a bit of a stretch .The issue of taping meetings only occurred after citizens were concerned about what was going on at these meetings ie the treats and intimidation and possible undue influence from council members, the Village manager and others. Sure enough when Dana went to the HPR meeting with Lorraine and others, they witnessed Paul aggressively challenging an attendee and then losing it when he realized Dana was filming it.
Our committees seem to have lost all their independence and act sometimes at the bequest of the mayor. One of our readers has suggested that these meetings ( Financial Advisory Committee) should have available minutes and also that the interviewing process is intimidating and biased. In the past , we weren’t interviewed and members who came often and showed interest often become chairperson, etc. We hope that this can be reviewed with the new council.
As far as our water and sludge! , we have problems and all the feel good forums in the world won’t fix that.
Ridgewood NJ, $100K checks not being deposited? Free parking on what has traditionally been the busiest weekend night in the CBD? Seven new SUVs for the police department? A brand new fire truck? I guess the Village must be just rolling in dough. Did Tom Rica come into town to give back what he stole? Or does the Village manager have a secret money tree or found a genie in a lamp?
Ridgewood set to introduce municipal budget with flat taxes
APRIL 21, 2014, 8:36 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2014, 8:36 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — For a second successive year, village property owners are likely to see no increase in their annual municipal taxes.
When it meets Wednesday night, the Village Council is expected to introduce a $46.4 million 2014 spending plan that once again keeps taxes flat.
During a budget session on Monday, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said those living in homes with an average assessed value of $688,000 will pay $3,959 in taxes to support municipal services during this calendar year.
But Sonenfeld — recently installed as Ridgewood’s top administrator — stressed “longer-term conversations” need to happen to cut future operating costs while improving government services.
Sonenfeld said she cut as much from the budget as possible and that sweeping structural shifts were needed going forward.
The 2014 budget, she noted, includes expenses from 2013 not initially outlined in the budget adopted by the council a year ago.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-set-to-introduce-municipal-budget-with-flat-taxes-1.1000272#sthash.4PlOfhGo.dpuf
Officials from Ridgewood’s Parks and Recreation Department make budget requests
APRIL 16, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2014, 5:40 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
Supervisors and supporters of the Parks and Recreation Department pleaded with Ridgewood Council members last week, making their annual appeal for funding consideration and fewer budget cuts this year. Champions for the department also emphasized that employees continue to “do more with less,” but they cannot maintain high levels of service in the future without financial assistance.
The Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department, headquartered at The Stable, has been doing “more with less,” according to department officials.
The recent session was the council’s latest meeting with various village supervisors in an attempt to trim the fat off of a municipal spending plan, which is just south of $50 million, and present a zero percent average tax increase to Ridgewood property owners. Council members are scheduled to introduce this year’s operating budget April 23, and they expect to hold a public hearing and vote on the plan May 28.
Parks officials have been dealt the brunt of financial reductions since the economic decline of 2008, and the department took one of the largest budget cuts between 2012 and last year. Last Thursday, Tim Cronin said running the department under such financial constraints “has been tough.”
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-s-parks-and-recreation-department-makes-budget-requests-1.997489#sthash.J0JGuQCe.dpuf
Village Council Public 2014 Budget Hearings – April 16
** Wednesday, April 16th from 5PM to 9PM the Village Council will review the final Budget Presentation.**
The Village Council has scheduled several Public Budget Hearings to take place in Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood.
Wednesday, March 19 from 5 – 7PM in the Court Room;
Friday, March 21 from 5 – 7PM in the Court Room;
Thursday, March 27 from 5 – 9:30PM in the Senior Center;
Monday, April 7 from 5 – 7PM in the Court Room;
Thursday, April 10 from 5 to 10PM in the Senior Center
Departments Hearings:
March 19 – Overview of Budget, Community Services – Building Dept; Zoining, Health Dept, Tax Assessor.
March 21 – 5PM Police Department; 5:45PM Fire Department; 6:30PM MIS
March 27 – 5PM Village Council, 5:15 PM Insurance & Debt Service, 5:45PM Engineering, 7:30PM Traffic & Signal, W.P.C.F., Property Maintenance, Parking, Utilities, 7:30PM Municipal Clerk & Elections, 8PM NWBCD
April 7 – 5PM Municipal Court & Public Defender, 5:30PM Emergency Services, 5:45PM Emergency Management, 6PM Library, 6:45PM Village Manager
April 10 – 5PM Parks & Recreation, Project Pride, Graydon Pool, 6PM Streets, Fleet Services, Recycling, Yard Waste Recycling, Solid Waste, 7PM Water Dept., 7:45PM Finance, Tax Collection, Village Attorney
Schedule to TBD for other departments
Reader says any growth in the Library budget is insignificant compared to the growth in wages and benefits
Let’s look at the facts: the overall Village budget has grown by +9% from $42.15mn in 2009 to $46.02mn as of the adopted 2012 budget; of that, the Library budget had DECLINED -2% from $2.28mn to $2.23mn in 2009; meanwhile insurance, including healthcare, GREW +48% from $4.02mn to $5.95mn, the bill for public safety ROSE +7% from $11.39mn to $12.2mn, and the cost to taxpayers to fund pensions & social security INCREASED +26% from $3.6mn to $4.54mn.
For those keeping score, healthcare, wages and pensions accounted for almost 100% of the growth in our budget since 2009, yet we cut funding for the Library since then. So while the pensionistas will have you believe that funding the Library at 2009 levels (only $50,000 more a year than in 2012) is a horrible idea, they won’t tell you that any growth in the Library budget is insignificant compared to the growth in wages and benefits for their boys. And in a metric that even they should be able to understand, it costs the average tax payer $1.01 per household/commercial business, per day, to have a Village Library open to all. That’s a bad thing ?
