Rutgers Board of Govs on board with merger, talks with Trustees break down
The Rutgers Board of Governors has signed on to the controversial and complicated higher education reorganization plan, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations, but the talks with the Board of Trustees have broken down over amendments proposed by the body.
The sources described the amendments proposed by the Trustees as “anti labor” and said the issues related to collective bargaining protection, which negotiators thought was a closed issue.
One source said the new stack of amendments proposed by the trustees blindsided legislative negotiators as yesterday, the board had represented that the only issue left outstanding was the governance of Rutgers-Camden. That issue was settled, the source said, but the talks were nevertheless derailed by the new proposals. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
Judge grants injunction on Affordable Housing Trust Funds
A Monmouth County Judge has temporarily enjoined the state from taking $13 million in affordable housing funds from the township of Marlboro.
The township filed the request for the injunction last week in advance of a July 17 deadline when any unspent affordable housing trust funds are due to be forfeited to the state.
The township had asked the judge to delcare that the township had already committed its funds and would not be subject to forfeiture to the state. Judge David Bauman found that the state had failed to adopt regulations governing how it determines if trhe money has been committed. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
Conflicting priorities slow efforts to save NJ towns from floods
In a state subject to recurring floods in many places, attempts to solve local or regional problems have left some officials groping for a more comprehensive approach.
photo by Boyd Loving
When the Christie administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to cooperate on a new $2.4 million study of flood prevention in the Passaic River Basin, they raised hopes in hard-hit towns in that area.
photo by Boyd Loving
A bit to the south, though, the Passaic announcement caused consternation along the Millstone River. That’s because residents of Manville and flood-prone areas upstream were equally encouraged in 2002, when the Corps agreed on a similar study of their area. But a decade later, that study is creeping along, waiting for the promised funding, while attention turns elsewhere. (Tyrrell, NJ Spotlight)
Court upholds Healthcare Mandate Calls Obamacare a Tax
June 28,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood bllog
Ridgewood NJ , In a decision that has taken many by surprise the Supreme Court today upheld the insurance mandate in President Obama’s healthcare law, a stinging defeat for conservatives who had insisted the law is unconstitutional.
The court said Congress has the authority to enforce the healthcare law’s individual mandate, which will require most U.S. taxpayers to buy insurance or pay a penalty. Chief Justice John Roberts said the mandate could survive as a tax.
Bring your family and friends to enjoy Ridgewood July 4th Celebration on Wednesday, July 4th. Buy Fireworks tickets at local stores in advance and save or online at www.ridgewoodjuly4th.org Schedule of Activities 9 AM – Flag Raising at Wilsey Square (near train station) 10 AM – Parade (Rain or Shine) 6 PM – Gates open for Fireworks – musical entertainment, twirlers, skydivers and FIREWORKS at dark. Further information – www.ridgewoodjuly4th.org
Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses
On the eve of the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare, taxpayers are reminded that the President’s healthcare law is one of the largest tax increases in American history.
Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. On Thursday, Americans for Tax Reform will do a full analysis of the tax implications of the Court’s decision.
Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:
Ridgewood : Declining home vales and tax appeals could stress Village finances
June 27,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Readers suggest Council Women Bernie Walsh may be onto something as previously reported Councilwoman Bernadette a corporate relocation consultant in the real estate industry cited suspicions of projected tax appeal losses and in her mind the potential loss of $1 million in the next year on property tax appeals.
According to S&P : New York, June 26, 2012 – Data through April 2012, released today by S&P Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed that on average home prices increased 1.3% in the month of April for both the 10- and 20-City Composites. This comes after seven consecutive months of falling home prices as measured by both indices….(https://tinyurl.com/bs7dtsa )
The just released S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices show the metropolitan New York showed “Detroit and New York stand out this month as the only two MSAs ( metropolitan statistical area ) that saw their annual rates of return deteriorate compared to March. While Detroit posted a positive annual rate of 1.2%, it was still well below March’s +3.9%; New York was -3.8% in April down from -3.0% in March. Detroit was also the only city to show a monthly decline, down 3.6%. All other MSAs improved versus March. ( https://tinyurl.com/bs7dtsa )
S&P is suggesting a continued decline home values in our area which in turn could lead to more and more tax appeals.
Tax cheats got $1.4 billion in stimulus loans
By Stephen Dinan The Washington Times
Tax cheats were given $1.4 billion in government-backed mortgage loans under President Obama’s economic stimulus, and the government doled out at least an additional $27 million in tax credits to delinquents who took the first-time-homebuyer tax break, according to a government audit released Wednesday.
Under government rules, delinquent taxpayers are supposed to be ineligible for the mortgage insurance program unless they have reached a repayment agreement with the Internal Revenue Service. But the Federal Housing Administration didn’t have the right controls to weed out bad applications, said the Government Accountability Office, Congress‘ chief investigative arm.
That meant FHA insured $1.4 billion in mortgages for 6,327 borrowers who collectively owed $77.6 million in unpaid taxes, or an average of more than $12,000 each.
Fraud Ring In Hacking Attack On 60 European Banks Some 60m euro is stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber raid, after fraudsters raid dozens of banks around the world.
By Pete Norman, Sky News Online
Sixty million euro has been stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber bank raid after fraudsters raided dozens of financial institutions around the world.
According to a joint report by software security firm McAfee and Guardian Analytics, more than 60 firms have suffered from what it has called an “insider level of understanding”.
“The fraudsters’ objective in these attacks is to siphon large amounts from high balance accounts, hence the name chosen for this research – Operation High Roller,” the report said.
“If all of the attempted fraud campaigns were as successful as the Netherlands example we describe in this report, the total attempted fraud could be as high as 2bn euro (£1.6bn).”
Sen. Robert Menendez makes a costly mistake for N.J.
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 9:55 AM Updated: Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 10:03 AM
Star-Ledger Editorial Board By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Sen. Robert Menendez had no legitimate grounds to block the nomination of a highly qualified woman for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals, as he has tacitly admitted himself.
But his political games have proved costly. Senate Republicans now say they won’t consider any more judicial nominees before the election, leaving U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz stranded.
Miniature Horses in the Dining Room? according to the new ADA its the law
June 26,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines which went into effect on March 15,and are already being applied to everything form miniature golf courses, driving ranges, amusement parks, shooting ranges and saunas and hotel pools .
But the provision that got our attention in the “Revised ADA Standards for Accessible Design, is provision requiring businesses to allow miniature horses on their premises as guide animals for the disabled.
According to CNS NEWS ( https://cnsnews.com/news/article/new-disability-regs-limit-slope-mini-golf-holes-require-businesses-admit-mini-horses) a section of the guidelines regulating commercial facilities states that, “a public accommodation shall make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures to permit the use of a miniature horse by an individual with a disability if the miniature horse has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of the individual with a disability.”
A public accommodation is defined as “a private entity that owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.”
“Miniature horses were suggested by some commenters as viable alternatives to dogs for individuals with allergies, or for those whose religious beliefs preclude the use of dogs,” the rules state. Also mentioned as a reason to include the animals is the longer life span of miniature horses – providing approximately 25 years of service as opposed to seven years for dogs.
“Some individuals with disabilities have traveled by train and have flown commercially with their miniature horses,” the Justice Department notes.
“Similar to dogs, miniature horses can be trained through behavioral reinforcement to be ‘housebroken,’” it adds.
However, “Ponies and full-size horses are not covered.”
A business owner can deny admission to a miniature horse that is not housebroken, whose handler does not have sufficient control of the animal, or if the horse’s presence compromises “legitimate safety requirements.”
Cant wait to see my first mini horse in Ridgewood.
Minimum wage proposal gets minimum attention, frizzles out during N.J. budget battle
New Jersey’s top Democratic leaders vowed to raise the minimum wage by 17 percent this year, but their proposal has quietly fallen off the agenda during a mad dash to lock up a new budget and a controversial plan to merge the state’s universities.
The minimum wage was a top priority this year for Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who called an increase long overdue in January when they rolled out the plan.
They conceded today they would miss their July 1 goal to raise the minimum wage but said they would try again later this year. (Rizzo, The Star-Ledger)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wants people to bring back his famous phrase and tell the state’s Democratic legislators to “get the hell off the beach” this summer.
“And so here comes the [former Gov. Jon] Corzine Democrats summer tour,” the Republican governor said at a town hall meeting Tuesday, a video of which was posted on his YouTube page. “And get ready ‘cause it will be entertaining, I can guarantee you. We’re going to make sure we hold them to account. And you see any of them this summer, you see any of these legislators down at the beach, tell ‘em — in fact, why don’t you use a phrase that I used. I think that it’s appropriate. It was appropriate back last September, last August, and it’s more just appropriate now.” (Weinger, Politico)
Christie supports N.J. bill to increase solar requirement
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose administration has called solar power an economic “albatross,” is expected to sign legislation that would increase the amount of solar energy state utilities must buy.
The New Jersey State Assembly approved a bill yesterday that requires utilities to obtain 2.05 percent of their power from solar projects in 2014, up from less than half of 1 percent of the state’s power now. The vote was 68-4, with five abstentions, approving the same bill that passed in the state Senate on May 31. (Martin, Bloomberg)
Training network helps pinpoint where healthcare jobs are
State labor officials are trying to help job-seekers find employment in healthcare, long one of New Jersey’s most dynamic generators of new jobs.
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development is beginning year two of its “talent network” initiative, which seeks to promote economic development in six key sectors, one of which is healthcare. Robert Grimmie, director of the labor department’s Center for Occupational Employment Information, said part of the mission of the state’s Health Care Talent Network, which is based at Rutgers, is to gather real-time intelligence on the specific healthcare jobs in high demand, then get that information out to the unemployed, so they can pursue the education and skills that will land them jobs. (Fitzgerald, NJ Spotlight)
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