Ridgewood, Paramus enter into shared services agreement for vehicle maintenance
WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2012, 1:13 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
TOWN NEWS
The Ridgewood Village Council signed a one-year shared services agreement with Paramus, with village’s neighbor providing vehicle maintenance services on an as-needed basis.
The resolution earned unanimous support from council members and was passed via consent agenda last Wednesday; however, it did not go into the books without some uncertainty from the public.
Prior to the council’s vote, resident Boyd Loving questioned the resolution, particularly its necessity while considering that the village has a fully functional public works garage.
“My concern is that the taxpayers are paying for the operation of the village garage. It’s my belief that the village garage is supposed to be repairing all village-owned vehicles,” Loving told the council. “If the garage is staffed, they handle all of our vehicles. And if vehicles are being sent out for repair at another location, does that mean the staff at the garage can be reduced so taxpayers can realize some cost savings?
State certifies red-light cameras, ticketing likely to resume soon
Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday night said all of New Jersey’s red-light cameras have been certified, so towns may soon be able to resume issuing tickets for the devices that have quickly multiplied across the state.
Five weeks ago, the state suspended all but 22 of the 85 cameras in New Jersey after it was determined that the amber lights at those intersections might not have given motorists enough time to get through.
Tickets had not been issued for the red-light cameras in question while the DOT directed towns to conduct speed surveys at the intersections. The cameras photograph vehicles and their license plates when drivers run red lights. Tickets are then mailed to the vehicles’ owners. (Frassinelli and Portnoy, The Star-Ledger)
The state is considering cutting its funding for new energy efficiency and renewable energy projects almost in half, a consequence of the Legislature’s and Christie administration’s decision to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from New Jersey’s clean energy program.
In a draft proposal circulated by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities last week, the budget for the clean energy program would allocate $339 million in new spending, a sharp reduction from the $651 million proposed by the agency last December.
The cuts are a result of the diversion of money raised from gas and electric customers to help homeowners and businesses find ways to reduce their energy use, and promote the development of cleaner sources of producing electricity, primarily solar and wind. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
CBO to employers: Obamacare has $4B more in taxes than expected
July 24, 2012
Business owners will pay $4 billion more in taxes under President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) than the Congressional Budget Office had previously expected.
“According to the updated estimates, the amount of deficit reduction from penalty payments and other effects on tax revenues under the ACA will be $5 billion more than previously estimated,” the CBO reported today. “That change primarily effects a $4 billion increase in collections from such payments by employers, a $1 billion increase in such payments by individuals, and an increase of less than $500 million in tax revenues stemming from a small reduction in employment-based coverage, which will lead to a larger share of total compensation taking the form of taxable wages and salaries and a smaller share taking the form of nontaxable health benefits.”
In short, CBO revised the Obamacare tax burden upward by $4 billion for businesses and $1 billion to $1.5 billion for individual workers.
Despite the ridiculous comments made by New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg Governor Christie reiterates again that it is not appropriate to try to politicize the tragedy in Colorado
Christie reiterates now isn’t the time to talk gun control, says Bloomberg should show ‘restraint’
Gov. Chris Christie reaffirmed his position that now is not the appropriate time to talk about gun laws in the state and nation.
The governor, speaking on 101.5 FM, said he would not be lured into a discussion on gun control in the immediate wake of the movie theatre massacre in Colorado that left 12 people dead and nearly 60 others injured.
Christie said “there’s plenty of time to debate the merits” of gun control, but it’s appropriate to “keep a respectful distance” by allowing families to first mourn the loss of their loved ones. (Arco, PolitickerNJ)
Gallup : Democratic Voting Enthusiasm Down Sharply From 2004, 2008 Republicans more enthusiastic than in 2008
by Jeffrey M. Jones
PRINCETON, NJ — Democrats are significantly less likely now (39%) than they were in the summers of 2004 and 2008 to say they are “more enthusiastic about voting than usual” in the coming presidential election. Republicans are more enthusiastic now than in 2008, and the same as in 2004.
Registration for the Ridgewood YMCA’s fall 2012 sessions opens Monday, August 6 at 8:30am. The 9 week session lasts from September 4 to November 4.
Available classes include parent-child classes, karate, tennis, soccer, basketball and more!
Brand-new programs are also included on the schedule, such as “Intro to Teen Strength and Wight Training”, an introductory class to strength and weight training for teens ages 13-18. A complete listing of the Ridgewood Y program offerings is available at www.ridgewoodymca.org.
Registration is available online at www.ridgewoodymca.org, in person at the Y, or by phone at 201.444.5600. Active membership is required to register.
The Ridgewood YMCA is located at 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.
“Fart bag” Incident creates disturbance at Little Theater
July 25,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog / Ridgewood Police Blotter
Normally we don’t report on Police Activity in the Village but we found the recent rash of summer silliness to good to pass up.
On July 19 2012 an Oradell resident reported that he had parked his vehicle at 1200 East Ridgewood Avenue. When he returned to his vehicle he observed a white male hitting the window of his vehicle. The window broke and a GPS was stolen. The matter is under investigation by the Ridgewood Detective Bureau. Well that sounds like serious police business .
On July 19 2012 at 9:20 PM patrol responded to Ridgewood High School on a disturbance in the Little Theater. During a play performance three juveniles entered the theater and set off “Fart Bags”, disrupting the play. The matter is under investigation by the Ridgewood Detective Bureau. Not sure if “Fart Bags” are serious jail time .
On July 20, 2012 three separate incidents of a white sedan driving past pedestrians and throwing eggs at them were reported. The matter is under investigation by the Ridgewood Detective Bureau. No mention as to whether the eggs were “free range ” on not.
On July 24 2012 at 11:30 PM Patrol responded to the area of Amsterdam Avenue on a report of juveniles damaging street signs. A search of the area was conducted and two juveniles that were involved in tearing the signs from the ground were located. The juveniles were released to the custody of their parents pending Family Court Action. Parents break out your check books
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
US Supreme Court health-care ruling will increase uninsured, budget office says
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY JULY 24, 2012, 4:23 PM
BRIAN FALER
BLOOMBERG NEWS
THE RECORD
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court decision that threw out part of President Obama’s health-care overhaul will cut the law’s cost and leave more people uninsured, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
About 3 million fewer Americans will receive insurance coverage as a result of the court decision, which voided a provision to require states to expand Medicaid coverage for the poor, the nonpartisan agency said Tuesday. The cost of expanding coverage will shrink by $84 billion, CBO said.
It is the first official cost estimate of the court’s June 28 decision to uphold the 2010 law’s requirement that most Americans carry health insurance or pay a penalty.
A zero percent tax increase may or may not be the aim of the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) for next year.
TUESDAY JULY 24, 2012, 10:49 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A zero percent tax increase may or may not be the aim of the Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) for next year. It’s all in the wording the BOE adopts for its 2013-2014 goals.
At last Monday’s public meeting, BOE members expressed uncertainty about how they wanted to phrase their new goals: Committing to a zero percent tax increase or focusing on the services students would need without setting a specific financial goal. The consensus was they all want to provide a quality education to students.
BOE member Jim Morgan, however, said a zero percent tax increase is feasible for a school board that has a $90 million budget to work with. It’s better to start thinking with a frugal mindset, he argued during the meeting.
“It’s got to be started now before the budget really starts to be looked at for the 2013-2014 school year,” he said. Delivering a quality education “within the budget” was possible, he said, because there are “other ways of delivering goods and services” that should be considered.
Nearly one in 10 employers to drop health coverage
About one in 10 employers plan to drop health coverage when key provisions of the new health care law kick in less than two years from now, according to a survey to be released Tuesday by the consulting company Deloitte.
Nine percent of companies said they expect to stop offering coverage to their workers in the next one to three years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Around 81 percent said they would continue providing benefits and 10 percent said they weren’t sure.
The companies, though, said a lot will depend on how future provisions of the law unfold, since most of the key parts are scheduled to take effect in 2014. One in three respondents said they could stop offering coverage if the law requires them to provide more generous benefits than they do now, if a tax on high-cost plans takes effect in 2018 as scheduled or if they decide it would be cheaper for them to pay the penalty for not providing insurance.
While small business don’t face fines for failing to offer coverage, companies with 50 or more full time employees face a penalty starting at $2,000 per worker.
Woodcliff Lake Police arrest pair accused of stealing handbags and wallets from pools
TUESDAY JULY 24, 2012, 1:07 PM
BY KIMBERLY REDMOND
STAFF WRITER
PASCACK VALLEY COMMUNITY LIFE
A 21-year-old Park Ridge man and a 21-year-old Wyckoff woman were arrested for allegedly stealing handbags and wallets that were left unattended at swim clubs in Hillsdale, Park Ridge, Ridgewood and Woodcliff Lake, according to police.
Police in the four towns launched a joint investigation after receiving several reports of thefts over the past two weeks at Stony Brook Swim Club in Hillsdale, Park Ridge Pool in Park Ridge, Graydon Pool in Ridgewood and Old Mill Pool in Woodcliff Lake, according to Woodcliff Lake Police Sgt. Matt Miller.
As a result of the investigation, police arrested Scott Nelson and Marissa Molta on Monday, July 23 and charged them with theft, receiving stolen property and trafficking personal identity information, he said
What it is: The state Department of Education last week released a 23-page checklist for all new charter covering academic, financial and other operations. The framework sets standards on everything from how well students must fare on state tests to financial data on how much debt a school is carrying.
What it means: The Christie administration has continued to revise its accountability standards for charter schools as it faced increasing pressure from critics and local school districts. The new framework was announced at the same time that the administration cleared the way for another nine charter schools to open in the fall, including two that will provide a mix of online and in-person instruction. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
If the polls are any indication, it hasn’t worked, but the Obama campaign spent big money over the past month attacking Mitt Romney for what they apparently believe is the worst sin imaginable: He is rich.
And as we know now (not that it was a big surprise), President Obama’s disdain for those who have earned substantial wealth runs deep. He doesn’t like you having all that money (unless you contribute it to his campaign), and he really doesn’t like you taking credit for having earned it. That’s why he said the following:
“Look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.
“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.”
As far as Obama is concerned, anyone who is successful got that way because of the system, by which he means the government. Democrats sometimes refer to the rich as “the winners in life’s lottery,” which is to say they merely got lucky in a game of chance – and that’s why they need to fork over so much of their wealth in taxes, so Democrats can “spread the wealth around” to all those other smart, hardworking people, who just didn’t happen to win life’s lottery.
What a load of crap. To listen to these people, you’d think being rich was the worst thing anyone could do.
Well I’ve got news for them: Being rich is cool. Not only that, but when someone has become rich, others should endeavor to learn as much as they can about how he or she did it, instead of resenting it and dismissing it as merely lucking out because of all the help the government provided.
The best example I can give you is my dad. He started his adult life in the 1940 with nothing but the clothes on his back. At one point he worked three jobs at the same time. I suppose wealth is relative to everyone’s situation, but my dad had a goal of getting rich as he defined it – and he achieved his goal.
Did the government deserve any credit for his success? When he walked off that small dirt farm in Tennessee, the road wasn’t even paved. I’m not saying there were no government functions that worked well and benefited him. Of course there were. But they were the same ones that benefited everybody else. My dad achieved his particular goals because of his particular dedication, his good plan and his hard work. And yes, he was perfectly within his rights to be proud of himself for being so smart and working so hard.
And let’s be honest: It was true then, and it’s even truer today, that when you get rich you largely do it in spite of the government – its rules, its regulations, its confiscatory tax policies . . . and now the tendency of certain leaders to assail you for your success.
The coolest thing about rich people is that, in order to get rich, you have to make your skill and your capital work for other people. Instead of ripping Bain Capital for its success, the Obama Administration and the media should study what Bain did and how it did it. Bain created thousands of jobs – many more on a net basis than it eliminated via strategic layoffs – because it made smart business decisions and built successful enterprises.
I’ll take that any day over what Obama does, which is to flush money down the toilet in the form of stimulus that doesn’t stimulate, “green energy” investments that lead straight to bankruptcy and tax and regulatory policies that stifle capital formation and entrepreneurial innovation.
Mitt Romney got rich because he is smart and he works hard. That makes him pretty darn cool in my book. Those of you who resent the rich, get over it and study how they did it. Along the way, you’ll discover that the rich not only pay most of the taxes, but in all likelihood they pay your paycheck too.
And you’d better study them while you can, because there’s no telling how many of them will be left once Obama gets finished with them.
N.J. Dept. of Ed. releases guide on town spending on public schooling
Taxpayers who want to know how much their home towns spend on public schooling can find that information in a guide released today by the state Department of Education.
The data used to create the 2012 Taxpayer’s Guide to Education Spending was first reported by The Star-Ledger in June, when the state released statistics on spending, test scores, enrollment and more for every school in the state. (Calefati, The Star-Ledger)
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