BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
North Bergen is poised to file a lawsuit challenging the tax exempt status of Palisades General Medical Center and The Harborage nursing home, whose 8.6-acre campus overlooking the Hudson River is some of the most expensive real estate in the world.
The filing, which the township’s Board of Commissioners approved Wednesday, comes on the heels of a precedent-setting Tax Court decision last summer in which a judge ruled that the non-profit Morristown Medical Center was not entitled to its property-tax exemption because its operations were little different from those of a for-profit company.
The ruling, and a subsequent $15.5 million settlement between Morristown and the hospital, raised the specter of a flood of legal challenges by cash-strapped municipalities seeking property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes from the 63 non-profit hospitals statewide. The state Legislature passed a bill in early January that would have circumvented more lawsuits by requiring non-profit hospitals to contribute financially to their hometowns based on the number of beds they have, but Gov. Christie vetoed it later that month without explanation.
Morristown and No. Bergen have guts and did the right thing for their residents. Ridgewood does not have the guts to do the same.
No way does a Council with Mrs. Hauck and Mr Pucciarelli sue Valley for what they should be paying. We’ll be lucky if they don’t give away the store when settling Valley’s suit against us.
In my opinion, until Gwenn Hauck is dumped from the Council, no action will ever be undertaken to get tax revenue from The Vally Hospital. DUMP HAUCK NOW!
Those who are interested in contacting Ms. Hauck regarding this matter should direct mail to her campaign headquarters at 131 North Maple Ave., Ridgewood. Wait! Isn’t that Village Hall?
HAUCK MUST RECUSE from Valley negotiation committee now, then be defeated on May 10.
Hauck is one member on a Council of five and we live in a democracy. The fact that not one of the other four has said anything speaks volumes about their inability to represent all Village residents instead of favoring their own special interests
No guts, no glory Roberta. Apparently the only person on the Council who even understands this is Albert, but he’s not explaining it to any of the others because they all have egos larger than the Village
Is there some sort of “deal” possible where the larger hospital gets approved but Ridgewood starts getting paid property taxes from Valley? (I have read nothing about this issue, so please excuse my ignorance.)
No John V. There’s no deal. Great. They pay taxes. And??? The neighborhood is destroyed. Unless they want to pay everyone else’s taxes in a 5 block radius, it sucks for everyone.
Please crawl back in your hole. Yesterday was so nice.
John V, the legitimate reasons against building as large a hospital as they desire is because it doesn’t fit in to area, traffic, etc – land use issues. It should not be a matter of how much they are able, legally required, or willing to pay.
1:29pm and 1:31pm-
Got it, thanks!
Why can’t Valley just buy a property few miles away and distribute different ‘specialities’ in different places?
Valley has bought quite a bit of property in the surrounding areas… If there’s any petitioning needed, it’ll be for this… it would be nice to hold as non binding referendum on this as the heavy handed tactics and pr twisting used by Valley in the past must mean they feel a majority of residents are against the expansion as they presented it.
Dear 1.31. land use issues?. Streetscape and setback minimums..so old fashion when the VOR clan of 3 want to ram a non conforming garage plan onto the backs of those living in that hudson st.neighborhood..throw in 3 houses of worship and schools up there..selective zoning is so in these days..VALLEY waits to sue our socks off once that Garage is started..complete breach of bad faith via a selected zoning..valley wanted to dig an underground garage into Linwood avenue corner..all rejected quite intelligently.Town might think they can have own cake ..but valley might sue just on grounds of a negotiation position ..will take money to defend…a all for what..status quo plus an oversized boondoggle mega garage for out of town commuters and restaurant trades on Friday and Saturday revenue improvement..