file photo by Boyd Loving
Ridgewood will no longer donate to charitable groups
OCTOBER 22, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2014, 12:23 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood will no longer be donating thousands of dollars each year to local charitable organizations, a process the village manager said is illegal.
The public disclosure that the village was making these donations for a long period of time was made by Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld at a council meeting on Oct. 8.
Sonenfeld told the public that she could not specify for how long the donations have been made, but that they likely went on under several different administrations.
“I will tell you that it was probably somewhere in the range of maybe $10,000 [a year]… to sports organization, as well as to some Ridgewood charities,” she said.
Last Wednesday, Sonenfeld told The Ridgewood News that the donations had been going on for “much more than 10 years” (the technological records only go back that far). She also said that no state government entity had told the village to discontinue the donations.
She believed that the village wanted to support Ridgewood residents by making the donations, and had apparently not realized that they were illegal.
“Municipalities, by state law, cannot make donations to charitable institutions; there are very few exceptions to this,” she said. “I think it’s the idea that as a taxpayer … you’re not spending your money for someone else to determine what charity to give to.”
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/state-law-requires-ridgewood-to-stop-donations-1.1114768#sthash.PnhqFHmx.dpuf
This is as it should be with taxpayer monies.
Why was this illegality never picked up in an audit?
Tell the RBSA that we want every cent back.
Donation of taxpayer money to non-profits (they’re not charities), the theft of $460,000 in quarters. Nobody notices.
Fire the auditors
Well done, Sonenfeld! Looks like they hired the right person.
On one hand I’m glad this has been officially stopped, but I am very curious about the circumstances of these “donations”, particularly the relationship behind the recipients and the Village.
Rebates should be in order. Rebates to the taxpayers especially from the sports organizations. On this blog, the public was told the artificial turf field for Maple Park didn’t cost the taxpayer a dime. How did that work out? I do believe, remember that the town council at that time approved contributing $X amount of taxpayer dollars from the towns coffers towards the sports group, since their fund raising came up short of what they needed to proceed on the Maple artificial turf project.
What nonprofits have they been donating to? The food pantry or the sports teams?
from the newspaper link states the organizations donations were given to:
“The village donated to Social Services Association of Ridgewood and Vicinity (SSA), $4,500; Children’s Aid and Family Services (CAFS), $5,000; and Ridgewood sports teams, $3,000. – ”
“The donations to Ridgewood sports teams this year included $500 each to Ridgewood Soccer, Ridgewood Junior Football, Ridgewood Lacrosse, Biddy Basketball, Ridgewood Baseball/Softball and the Ridgewood Hoops Club. Ridgewood Junior Wrestling and Ridgewood Roller Hockey have also received donations.
Between 2008 and 2014, sports teams were provided approximately $59,000, according to the village manager.
Ridgewood Water, which serves neighboring communities, began a practice in 2011 to donate about $2,000 per year to Ridgewood, Midland Park and Glen Rock baseball programs. – “
link on this blog 8 years ago – “property tax revenues will be used to offset the “temporary” deficit.”
https://theridgewoodblog.net/544k-contract-for-the-installation-of-artificial-turf-at-maple-park/
“$544K contract for the installation of artificial turf at Maple Park
>Tonight, Village Council members are scheduled to award a $544K contract for the installation of artificial turf at Maple Park to Dakota Excavating Contractors, Inc. of Bergenfield, NJ. The Council had promised that this project would be 100% funded by grants and private contributions. However, the contract with Dakota is being awarded prior to all external monies being received. So, and you guessed it, property tax revenues will be used to offset the “temporary” deficit. Shouldn’t Council members have waited until all money was in hand?
the Fly on the Wall has told the Ridgewood Blog that less than 20% of the money promised has actualy been raised ……”
Let’s not forget the incident involving Social Services a few years back –
For several years in a row, they “forgot” to pay rent to the Village for their space at the train station. Only after a resident publicly disclosed the lapse in payment did the Village Council pressure the Village Manager to collect the money.
Someone should check to see if they’re currently paid up or are in arrears again.
Audrey’s gonna be pissed !