Monmouth County Freeholders Adopt Budget With Zero Tax Increase

Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry

For the fourth straight year, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a county budget with no tax increase.

At their meeting April 10 meeting the Freeholder Board, comprised of 5 Republicans, adopted $480.9 million budget, a $100,000 spending reduction from last year’s budget.  The amount raised through property taxes is $302,475,000, the same amount raised every year since 2010.

“It is a challenge every year to try to cut spending without impacting the level of services our taxpayers have come to expect,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry. “This process is not something that is done in haste. This budget reflects the months of work that has gotten us to a flat tax rate for the fourth year in a row.”

“This year, an internal budget subcommittee met with each department to look for duplicative services and identify areas for consolidation and savings,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Gary J. Rich, Sr., liaison to the Finance Department. “This process has yielded savings in the areas of information technology, finance, human resources, building maintenance and legal services.”

Monmouth County relies less on taxes than most other New Jersey counties. As a percentage of the overall budget, Monmouth County’s taxes comprise 62 percent of the total budget, historically behind Union, Hudson and Essex counties.

“The department heads deserve a lot of credit for their hard work in paring down the budget,” said Rich. “This is the fifth year in which we asked for concessions from the departments and, as a result, this is the fourth year in which the tax levy has remained the same.”

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Meanwhile at the Monmouth Democratic Convention….

….there were no surprises out of the IBEW Local 400 Union Hall in Wall this morning.

Senator Cory Booker was endorsed for the nomination to seek his first full term in the U.S. Senate.

Congressman Frank Pallone was nominated for his 14th term in the House of Representatives.

In the 4th congressional district, criminal defense attorney Ruben Scolavino has agreed to take another one for the Democratic team.  Scolavino lost to Sheriff Shaun Golden, 64%-36% last year.  He will likely face a worse fate against Congressman Chris Smith who running for his 18th term.  Scolavino is probably angling for a Judgeship.

For Monmouth County Freeholder, Larry Luttrell, a Holmdel attorney who came in last against Freeholders Tom Arnone and Serena DiMaso in 2013, hopes to do better this year against Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich who were renominated by the Monmouth GOP this morning.  Joining Luttrell on the County Democratic ticket for freeholder is Joe Grillo of Asbury Park.  Grillo is making his first run at elected office.  He is the municipal chairman of the Asbury Park Democrats, the former executive director of the Monmouth Dems, and works for his family’s tile business.

CD-4 Candidate Ruben Scolavino, Larry Luttrell, Senator Cory Booker, Joe Grillo, Congressman Frank Pallone, NJ Democratic Chairman John Currie and Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal. Photo via Pallone’s facebook page.

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Monmouth Democrats Are Off And Running

Monmouth GOP has its pants on the ground

Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo. Photo via facebook

Their nominating convention is not until March 22 at the IBEW Local 400 union hall in Wall Township, but Monmouth County Democratic freeholder candidates Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo are off and running full speed ahead.

Luttrell, the Holmdel attorney who came in last against Freeholders Tom Arnone and Serena DiMaso, as well as his running mate Brian Froelich, after being endorsed by the Asbury Park Press last year, announced he was running again almost immediately after his sad showing.

Grillo is the former Executive Director of the Monmouth Democrats and the municipal chairman of the Asbury Park Democrats. Like Luttrell, he has never held elected office. Grillo was briefly a candidate for the Asbury Park City Council last year, withdrawing from the race prior to the filing deadline. Since leaving his position as ED of the Monmouth Dems, Grillo has worked for his family’s tile company in Howell.

Grillo stepped up his game over the weekend with a fundraising email blast that announced his candidacy.  He raised $6,200 online through Sunday. A Democrat who does not want to be known for talking to a Republican leaning site told MMM that Grillo has raised over $20,000 for his campaign including checks collected offline. His stated goal is to raise $50,000 by the June 3rd primary.

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2014 Predictions

Happy New Year MMM readers!  2014 has been a great year so far!

Here’s what we expect in the year ahead.

Senator Cory Booker will narrowly defeat Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick in the U.S. Senate election.  Bramnick will be the instant front runner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the 2016 special election.

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik will be a speaker at numerous Democratic Clubs throughout New Jersey and will establish himself as a major fundraiser for Democratic candidates on the municipal and county levels.  Hornik will proclaim that the only thing he is running for is reelection as Marlboro’s mayor in 2015.

The 11 incumbent New Jersey Congressmen running for reelection will win. The Republican nominee in the third congressional district seat currently held by Congressman Jon Runyon, who is not seeking a third term, will be elected.  Tommy DeSeno will write a column complaining about gerrymandered districts.

Senate President Steve Sweeney will keep picking on Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. 

Governor Chris Christie will have more public appearances in Iowa, South Carolina, Texas and Florida, combined, than he will have Town Hall Meetings in New Jersey.

Anna Little will seek the Republican nomination for Congress in the 6th district, hoping for a third shot at Congressman Frank Pallone.  Little will lose at the Monmouth and Middlesex nominating conventions and wage a primary. The Bayshore Tea Party Group will sit out the 6th district primary, citing their commitment to Dr. Alieta Eck’s campaign in the 12th district.  Eck will be unopposed for the 12th district nomination to take on Congressman Rush Holt.

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Republican Romp in Monmouth County

Monmouth County voters overwhelming elected  Sheriff Shaun Golden and Freeholder Director Tom Arnone to second terms yesterday.  Deputy Freeholder Director won her second election in as many years, earning her first full term as a freeholder.  DiMaso was elected last year to complete the term of Assemblyman Rob Clifton.

Golden defeated criminal defense attorney Rueben Scolavino  with 102,840 votes. 58,923 people voted for Scolavino.

Only Governor Chris Christie, who earned 70.6% of the vote in Monmouth County, 122,928, outpolled Golden.

Freeholders Arnone and DiMaso bested their Democratic opponents Brian Froelich of Spring Lake and Larry Luttrell of Holmdel by an almost 2-1 margin.  Arnone got 98,832 votes, Dimaso 95,829.  Froelich, who ran for the House of Representative against Congressman Chris Smith last year came in third with 58,450 votes and Luttrell, who was endorsed by the Asbury Park Press, received  56,394 votes.

In the legislative races, Republicans dominated.

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Predictions

Governor Chris Christie will be reelected with 59.9875% of the vote.  In Monmouth County, Christie-Guadagno will win 68% of the vote.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden will be elected with 69% of the vote.

Freeholders Tom Arnone and Serena DiMaso will win by 68% and 68.4%, respectively. DiMaso’s extra votes will be attributable to the negative ads the Monmouth County Dems have run against her, and prove that the Asbury Park Press’s endorsement is meaningless.

Brian Froelich will get more votes for Freeholder than Larry Luttrell gets, proving that the Asbury Park Press’s endorsement is meaningless and that negative advertising doesn’t beat a quality incumbent.

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Democratic Freeholder Candidate Sues Monmouth County Over Lucas Farm Deal

Lawrence Luttrell, a Holmdel attorney, has filed suit against Monmouth County on behalf of a new non-profit corporation, Residents Against Government Exploitation (RAGE), over the government purchase of the development rights to Manalapan Township Committee Member Andrew Lucas’ farm for $1.152 million.

The plaintiff non-profit could be called LAGE, Luttrells Against Government Exploitation.  The trustees of the entity are Luttrell, his wife and his mother.

Luttrell is a Democratic candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder.

The all Republican Monmouth County Board of Freeholders passed a resolution by a 3-2 vote on February 28 to join the Township of Manalapan and the State of New Jersey in purchasing the development rights to the Lucas property for farmland preservation.  The county contributed $277,920, Manalapan paid $186,969 and the State picked up $687,111 of the purchase.  Freeholders Lillian Burry, Gary Rich and Serena DiMaso voted in favor of funding the purchase.  John Curley and Freeholder Director Tom Arnone voted no.

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