JULY 27, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015, 10:32 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood voters will have a referendum question on their ballots in November.
The Village Council this month authorized the placement of a non-binding referendum related to financing a municipal parking garage.
The referendum question was approved unanimously by the governing body and asks voters whether or not they support a proposal to finance the construction of a parking garage in downtown Ridgewood, which officials anticipate will be paid through parking revenues, by bonding up to $15 million in public funds.
The proposed garage would be built on the parking lot at the corner of Hudson and South Broad streets. The cost of such a structure is not yet known, though village officials have given placeholder estimations of between $10 million and $15 million as the possible tab for a garage.
Attached to the question is an interpretative statement, which says the referendum seeks to gauge public opinion on the development of a multi-story parking garage, which would provide additional parking for commuters and the Ridgewood residents and visitors who are patronizing the shopping and dining establishments as well as other services available in the Central Business District (CBD).
It is anticipated the parking garage would provide a net increase of approximately 300 spaces over what currently exists without negatively impacting local property taxes, the interpretive statement reads.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/referendum-on-financing-garage-is-set-1.1381589
You let us down, Mike. Very disappointed.
Vote no, vote yes, either way it is going through.
Revenue and expense projections? Will it pay for itself, including bond interest payments?
The wording of both the referendum question and interpretive statement are deliberately deceptive.
The village taxpayer will pay for a good many years.
1:05 – No, it will not pay for itself. Not even close. We will all be paying the bond interest payments on a minimum of $15 million…..also on the $500 K already approved. Aronsohn basically says in this video that the residents will be willing to pay for it. It is just absolutely sickening how they are hosing us.
Yes 11:02 he could have voted no. $500 K need 4 I say again 4 votes to pass.
Not only will the taxpayers be on the hook for this for years to come, but the very people who will benefit from the deal will be long gone. We will be muttering their names for years. That’s how it happens, again and again, in this State.