the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Village budget was up loaded on April 27th after it was approved by the state on New Jersey . The tax hike over last year is about .04% ,hardly massive. The previous administration increased the budget 1.6% , this Village council is looking for an increase of 2%.
The council made an effort to balance many competing issues and expenses with an eye on investing in the future of the Village as opposed to the previous administration which used emergency funds to pay for current non emergency expenses .
The Mayor and Council continued their on going battle with the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) which continues its ill informed agenda driven attacks on the Village Council.
The mayor explained the parking pass rate increase , and the overall allocation of parking. There has been an attempt to push use of less utilized parking through a lower rate and get employees off the street with discounted parking .The parking rate increase of $1000 was proposed by the from the Financial Advisories Committee , but the Council raised the rate to $750.It was important to balance commuters with shoppers with CBD employees.
The recent letter published in the media by former Village manager mirrored a letter that was sent to the Village council by the FAC.
In response to the Ridgewood News letter to the editor written by Roberta Sonenfeld: Residents should be cautious relying on the content due to errors, omissions and misrepresentations.
• Sonenfeld’s suggestion that the process wasn’t transparent is remarkable! The process followed is the same she was required to follow as former Village Manager. AS REQUIRED BY LAW, once the budget is introduced it must be reviewed by the Village auditor and afterwards, again as required by law, must be submitted to the State in THEIR BUDGET FORMAT for review with the completion of a check list and all required documentation. This process is no different than any other year – even during those years she was village manager. When the budget is advertised, it advises the public to contact the Village CFO with the appropriate phone number and extension. No phone calls have been received to date.• Sonenfeld’s feigned surprise about the use of “rainy day” funds is curious since Sonenfeld utilized the surplus over and over again. She need only review her use of $3.032mil in 2015 and $3.3mil in 2016. The 2017 use of surplus, at approximately 10% more, is well within the amounts stipulated by the guidelines of the resolution recommended by Sonenfeld and adopted by Village Council last year for the utilization of “rainy day” reserves.
• Sonenfeld writes, “the budget proposes $7.4 million in authorized general debt for 2017 – an 88 percent increase over last year.” If she had provided the actual 2016 amount of $6.021 million ( authorized general debt) readers would have recognized her math error…. The increase of 21% NOT 88% – the difference is for possible property acquisition. Remember this is not incurred debt, IT IS AUTHORIZED BUT NOT ISSUED
• Too other many errors, omissions and misrepresentations to list!!! The Mayor says you can email if you have any questions: sknudsen@ridgewoodnj.net
A 2% tax increase is an abomination! Previous years 0%. Now 2%. Plus all these additional fees for trees, parking etc. Why the increases now?
wrong previous year was a 1.6% tax increase
Why is the Vilkage considering buying “Property 24”? Who is the beneficial owner of this property?
Why is the Village considering buying “Property 24”? Who is the beneficial owner of this property?
not any of your “developer friends “
James, why isn’t the Village looking at other alternatives to increase municipal revenues, like a “payment in lieu of taxes” (PILOT) from Valley? This 2% increase compares to an average of 0.7% over the past four years, its huge. The BOE increase is 0.67%. A property tax on Valley (using the Morristown precedent to challenge their nont-for-profit status in court) would easily cover the 2% increase, so why tap property owners who are already overtaxed as it is? This budget makes no sense.
James you’ve got the wrong guy, I have nothing to do with developers or Ahronson andp you’re avoiding the question… again
I’ll ask again then James, I have nothing to do with any developers or Arohnson, I’m just sick of outrageous tax and municipal debt increases without explanation … Why is the Village considering buying “Property 24”? Who is the beneficial owner of this property? Don’t you care?
I see the Trump-style attempt to confuse the debate and draw attention away from the real questions being asked. This blog consistently redirects and confuses Village residents’ attention by flooding posts with noise which only serves to obscure this issues and divert attention away from what is clearly unethical behavior. And no James, I have nothing to do with Arohnson or the developers, I’m just an outraged taxpayer.
lol stop already ,you just woke up and realized NJ has the highest taxes in the country ?
So much for taxes being the most pressing issue for Ridgewood as per the 38% who said it was in the Blog’s poll…. oi vey, what a terrible budget.
What IS Property 24? Is Car 54 parked there?
Reads like Evan Weitz has got an axe of some sort to grind.
Numbers don’t lie, but liars use numbers.
The tax hike over last year is about .04% ,hardly massive. The previous administration increased the budget 1.6% , this Village council is looking for an increase of 2%.
1.6% to 2.0% is a nominal increase of .4%, not .04%
You would think the writer could get basic math correct.
Technically to compare the rate increase over last year would mean a .25% increase
2.0% is 25% higher than 1.6%
I have an idea, just report the tax increase was 2%, which is the maximum increase allowable under law.
The prior year increase was 1.6%, slightly under the maximum increase allowable under law.
Stop being so cute with your editorializing of the figures.
Technically to compare the rate increase over last year would mean a 25% increase
Sorry about the typo, hard to see what you type on The Blog.
Can some one tell me what property 24 is.
more scams, what else is new. the village has been hiring way too many people in village hall in the past 2 years, but no workers. why is that. more at the top. zip at the bottom. fire and police are always replaced. wow . what a mess in a year or two. I see a lay off coming down the road at the managers group.
James said “Property 24” doesn’t belong to any developers, so who does it belong to? The Village is raising municipal debt levels by millions to buy a property, who benefits from this? Why is Propetyy 24 worth millions? Why isn’t the blog asking questions about this?
what is going on now with this new council. are we going to have the same old bull shit like we did be for.
I’m not Evan Weitz and have never spoken with him. Can someone please answer what is Property 24 and why is the Village Council discussing spending millions of newly raised municipal debt to buy it? How much will that increase Village principal and interest payments on municipal debt in future years, and does this imply future tax increases and service cuts to pay these added costs? Why does the Village need to buy this property? Who is the beneficial owner? Does nobody care?
can u say scam. more and more bull shit.
Aha! I’ll bet “Property 24” is the run-down Elks Club – closed last year under suspicious circumstances, aka a greedy property grab.