>Pension Laws enacted in 1997, 1999, 2001 giving municipalities relief from pension contributions .These Laws allowed taxpayers of the Village to save by some estimates $4,100,000.00 from 1997-2003 in contributions to the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System .These saving were supposed to be reflected in the Municipal Tax Bill but the public was denied access to this information. In 2003 Municipalities were asked to start making up pension payments starting in 2004. The public is now being told that these pension contributions are responsible for the massive increases in property taxes.

The Ridgewood blog asks what happened to the money, and what was it used for?

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You better watch out

You better not cry

You better not pout

I’m telling you why

>Dear Friends:

As Congress returns for what will be one of the closing weeks of this session, one of my top priorities is ensuring that a potential crisis for New Jersey’s health care providers is averted.

Because of the high cost of living and doing business in our state, hospitals and doctors often are short-changed in terms of Medicare reimbursement rates. When the Medicare Modernization Act was signed into law, a provision in it, Section 508, reclassified certain hospitals to higher reimbursement rate status. Regrettably, that provision is set to expire at the end of this calendar year, which would greatly hurt many hospitals in New Jersey’s Fifth District. Another provision set to expire is the increased physician reimbursement rates under Medicare. If this provision is not renewed, physicians could expect to see cuts as high as 5%.

I have been working hard with my colleagues – signing letters and speaking with members of the House leadership – to ensure that extension of these provisions is passed through Congress before the end of the year. In fact, I recently authored a letter to House leadership that over half of the New Jersey Congressional delegation has co-signed, urging them to put extension of these provisions on our agenda before Congress adjourns at the end of this year. While the extension is critical for hospitals and doctors nationwide, my letter put in very real terms how New Jersey health care would be impacted without an extension.

I have been encouraged by the positive response I have been receiving from current House leadership on this matter, and I am very hopeful that we will avert this crisis before the 109th Congress adjourns next month.

Sincerely,

Scott Garrett

Member of Congress

Contacting Rep. Garrett

To send an e-message to Rep. Garrett click here: www.house.gov/formgarrett/contact.shtml

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That a Ridgewood High School student will be charged with making a written threat to kill 10 classmates before committing suicide. No students were harmed nor was the suspect. Because the suspect is a minor, police and school officials have been very reluctant to disclose complete details regarding the threat, and how it was going to be carried out.

>The Ridgewood Recommends all resident VOTE NO on question 1 ,2 and 3 .The questions appear to this blogger to be just another underhanded way to automatically raise our taxes once again .

>Election Season is at Hand …and its endorsement time so…

Ok so let’s say I know Scott Garrett personally and all I can say is that Congressman Garrett is one of the few politicians that is sincerely interested in serving his constituency. He will always hear you out even if he is on the other side of an issue. He is not a camera chaser or a press hound he is a man of substance yes that’s right he really is. He works very hard and takes little credit for the work he does and gets even less. He is often willing to take a stand based on reason and principal even if it bucks the status quo and places himself in an unpopular position. He gets no support from the local hostile left wing anti-American press so perhaps that’s why you don’t hear as much about him as you should. He is your Congressman and wouldn’t it be nice to send someone to Washington that represents the people of this district that’s not under indictment? As a district we can point to and say this guy represents us and we won’t feel humiliated like the rest of New Jersey? I don’t know about you but I am getting a little board with New Jersey being the laughing stock of the free and unfree world. I guess basically what I am saying is that Congressman Garrett is the real thing, he really does care about people .He is strong enough to say NO in the face of popular demand and knows when to say yes and push for what is right for us and what is right for America.

James Foytlin a.k.a P.J. Blogger

Congressman Scott Garrett

Congressman Scott Garrett represents New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Sworn in to the 108th Congress on January 7, 2003, Scott serves as a member of the House Financial Services and Budget Committees. He is a member of both the Financial Services Oversight and Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittees. Serving in his second term in Congress, Scott is working to strengthen America’s future. Faced with unprecedented challenges around the world and here at home, Scott is fighting to strengthen our economy, win the war on terrorism, secure our homeland and improve the quality of life for every New Jerseyan. To stimulate our economy, Scott worked with President Bush and House leadership in 2003 to pass a robust tax relief package to create jobs and spur economic expansion. This important legislation will help ensure our nation has an economy strong enough to employ everyone willing to work, and to meet the emerging needs of the American people. These policies have successfully transformed the job climate; since May 2003 the United States has gained 3.5 million jobs. A member of the Congressional Homeland Security and Port Security Caucuses, Scott has also delivered more than $50 million in new homeland security dollars to further safeguard New Jersey against terrorist attacks. To support the needs of our first responders, ensure greater port security and provide defense against nuclear or dirty bomb attacks, this new funding builds upon the other significant steps Congressman Garrett and his fellow members in Congress are taking to protect our communities and neighborhoods. Scott has also been a strong advocate of distributing homeland security funding to areas deemed to be at greatest risk of an attack, which would lead to more funding for New Jersey. A strong supporter of preserving our open spaces, Scott cosponsored and helped pass a law to protect the Highlands region and ensure that quality of life continues to improve for the 20 million people who are living, working and visiting the region. Testifying before a House Resources Subcommittee, Scott stated he wants to ensure that New Jersey’s most beautiful natural treasure is enjoyed by our future generations. As a member of the House Budget Committee, Scott is working to reduce the federal deficit, and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in government. For his efforts to control runaway federal spending, Scott has been named a “Taxpayer’s Friend” by the National Taxpayers Union. From 1990-2002, Scott served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he was the senior Assemblyman for the 24th legislative district as well as the Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee. During his tenure he also served on the Assembly Education, Transportation, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committees, and Joint Committee on Public Schools. During his tenure in the Assembly, Scott was also a member of the Task Force on Business Retention-Expansion-Export, the Legislative Bi-Partisan Auto Insurance Study Panel, the Governor’s Property Tax Study Task Force and the Women’s Advisory Committee. Scott has been recognized both nationally and statewide for his leadership. He received the “Proactive Policy of the Year Award” from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association for auto insurance reform that was described as “the most important legislation of the decade.” He also earned the “Legislative Leadership Visionary Award” from the National Association of the Self-Employed, and was named “Legislator of the Year” by both the Building Officials Association of New Jersey and the National Association of Small Business Owners. Scott is a dedicated family man, legislator, and leader in our community. He participates in numerous volunteer and charitable organizations. He is past president of Big Brothers, Big Sisters and sat on the Sussex County Board of Agriculture. Scott was born in Bergen County on July 9, 1959. After graduating from High Point Regional High School, Scott went on to graduate cum laude from Montclair State University. He earned his J.D. from Rutgers University Law School. Scott now resides in Wantage Township in Sussex County with his wife, Mary Ellen and their two daughters, Jennifer and Brittany.

>The Ridgewood Blog wants to thank our readers ,for the month of October over 3122 distinct ISP’s visted the Ridgewood Blog and made the Ridgewood Blog a primary news source for local news …