Not Front Page News

Christie Administration continuing McGreevey/Corzine practice of keeping utilities monies intended for municipalities.

Lost in the hysteria of Democrats fighting with each other was news buried on page 3 of yesterday’s Asbury Park Press that actually affects your property taxes.

The Editorial Board of the Monmouth and Ocean Counties paper of record actually met with local mayors!  Call that progress.  MMM criticised the APP editorial board last month for sitting down with Newark Mayor Cory Booker for no reason other than to boost Booker’s statewide name ID when they, until yesterday, hardly, if ever, meet with local mayors.

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore and Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider met with the Neptune Nudniks on Wednesday, at the behest of the League of Municipalities.  The mayors’ purpose was to bring attention to the State’s decades old practice of keeping the energy receipts tax that public utilities pay.

In energy receipts tax has been in existence for decades.  It was originally set up in lieu of property taxes to compensate municipalities for the utility infrastructure rights of way.  The tax used to be broken out on your utility bill.  It was paid by the utilities directly to the municipalities.

In 2002, during the McGreevey administration, the State started collecting to tax.  We all know what happens to money when to goes to the black whole of Trenton for redistribution.  Much of it disappears and the intended recipients get shafted.  Think Unemployment Insurance Fund and Transportation Trust Fund. 

Fiore told MMM that the League sued McGreevey to get the money but the State just turned around a reduced State Aid by a commensurate amount.

Fiore, Schneider and the League now want that money back.  It’s not coming, according to what State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told the APP, “At this time we do not have the financial flexibility to make discretionary adjustment” to provide more from energy taxes.

Fiore told MMM that the energy receipts tax would have provided $4 million dollars to Middletown Township in 2011.  That would have saved the Library surplus the Township relied on, prevented layoffs and cleaned up a few snow storms.

What burns Fiore is not just the $4 million that Middletown didn’t collect from the utilities.  It’s the $1.5 million hit the Township continues to take in reduced State Aid from 2009 levels.  “We wouldn’t be increasing property taxes 1.97% this year if our Aid was restored,” said Fiore, “give us our $1.5 million back and I can reduce taxes by 2%.  The Board of Education got all of their Aid restored, yet they are still raising taxes.”

Schneider told the APP that not receiving the energy receipts tax is costing Long Branch “several million dollars.”

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Name a town in New Jersey that is run by Democrats that is better managed than Middletown

Not Aberdeen.

Moody’s Investors Services downgraded Aberdeen’s $14.9 million in general obligation debt to A1 from Aa3, citing the Township’s seven year trend of balancing its budget by drawing down reserves and relying on one shot gimmicks.

The Township’s cash reserves were down to only $61,392 at the end of 2011.

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Moody’s Affirms Middletown’s Bond Rating

Moody’s Investors Services has affirmed its AA2 rating on Middletown Township’s $67 million general obligation bonds.

In a statement issued on Friday, March 23, the rating agency said,

“The Aa2 rating reflects the township’s sizable tax base, low debt profile, and sufficient liquidity and reserve levels. The affirmation also considers the township’s narrow fund balance of $2.14 million (or 3.5% of revenues) in fiscal 2010. The primary driver of the $3.70 million fund balance drawdown was due to an influx of negative tax appeal judgments following the 2009 revaluation, which resulted in $1.3 million impact on fund balance. Additionally, decreased state aid and increased health care and retroactive labor salary expenditures further pressured operations. However, in fiscal 2011, new management responsively conducted a reassessment of assessed valuation and reduced the budget by 5.8%. The unaudited year-end fund balance for fiscal 2011 is estimated to be $5.87 million (or roughly 9.2% of revenues). Moody’s expects the township to improve and maintain liquidity and Current Fund balance to reported unaudited figures. Inability to achieve such levels, will result in negative rating credit pressure.”

Moody’s recognised the Township’s prudent management, low debt level with rapid amortization and sizeable tax base with high levels of resident income. 

Mayor Tony Fiore said that he was very pleased by the rating agency’s opinion.  “At a time when many municipalities, including some of our neighbors, are seeing their credit ratings reduced, I am pleased that Moody’s recognised the prudent decisions that our administration has implemented during these most challenging economic times.”

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How Many Trucks/Men Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb?

I counted six trucks and eleven men at Rt. 36 and Broadway in the Leonardo section of Middletown this morning.

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Fiore Playing Hardball With Middletown Library President

Randall Gabrielan. Photo Credit: visitmonmouth.com

Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore has asked for the resignation of Middletown Library Board President Randall Gabrielan because Gabrielan has been selling books to the library personally and signing the purchase orders for those books himself as president of the board, according to a report on Middletown Patch.

Gabrielan, a former insurance broker, is also the Executive Director of the Monmouth County Historical Commission, a pensionable position for which he earned $35,391 in 2010, according to APP.com’s Data Universe.

Middletown’s Vendor History report on Gabrielan reveals that he has sold the library $778.45 worth of books since 2007.

Gabrielan told Patch that he considered Fiore’s move to be “political retribution” for his opposition to the Library turning over $500,000 of its surplus to the Township in last year’s budget.

Fiore said that it is a matter of ethics and fiscal accountability.  The mayor has turned the matter over to the state’s Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Local Government Local Government Services.

Library Board Trustee Sherry Miloscia also signed Gabrielan’s purchase orders.  Yesterday, Library Director Susan O’Neal informed Fiore that Miloscia resigned effective January 20.

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Fiore Will Remain Mayor

Tony Fiore will be elected to serve another year as mayor of Middletown when the township reorganizes on Sunday, January 1.

Committeeman Steve Massell will be Deputy Mayor.

Stephanie Murray will take the oath of office for her first term on the committee.   Murray replaces Deputy Mayor Pam Brightbill who is stepping down after two terms.

Fiore said that his top priority in 2012 is to continue to find cost savings and to keep the township’s property taxes stable.

Additionally, Fiore wants to implement the lessons learned in 2011 to improve real time communications with Middletown’s residents.  “We learned a lot as a result of the December 2010 blizzard and the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.  We will be improving our communications in the coming year.”

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Correction: Middletown is still split

Middletown remains divided between two congressional districts under the new map. 

South of Route 35 is in the 4th district, represented by Republican Chris Smith.  North of Route 35 remains part of Frank Pallone’s 6th district.  Under the old map, the portion of Middletown south of Route 35 was in Democratic Congressman Rush Holt’s district.

At our first look at the map, we incorrectly concluded that Middletown had been combined entirely into the 6th.

Our apologies to Larry Cirignamo.

With this correct information, it would seem that district 6th remains safe for Frank Pallone.

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Fiore: “JCP&L’s communication to the public is terrible”

“Government Affairs Representative Roberta Sheridan’s communication is fantastic”

“People think I am making this crap up!” exclaimed Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore in frustration over JCP&L personnel giving the public information that contradicts what he has been told by JCP&L’s government affairs representative Roberta Sheridan.

“Sheridan is doing a great job,” said Fiore, “she told me at 10:30 this morning that there were still 1518 customers in the township without power and that 1264 of them would be restored today and 254 tomorrow. Linemen are telling people they won’t have power anytime soon. On the phone they’re telling people they will have power next week.”

Fiore asked that MMM post Sheridan’s email so that Middletown residents would have accurate information and would not think that he is a sewer truck:

From: rsheridan

Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 10:31:02 -0400

To: <[email protected]>

Subject: update

we are working all over the township today……….waiting for the areas to be identified……..total of 1,518 customers out in all of the Township, today we are scheduled to bring 1, 264 back in power the remaining 254 tomorrow………..r

Roberta Sheridan
JCP&L

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Mandatory Evacuation For Parts Of Middletown

Middletown Mayor Anthony P. Fiore and the Office of Emergency Management have declared a mandatory evacuation as a result of impending Hurricane Irene. Areas subject to mandatory evacuation are:

All areas located between Route 36 and the Raritan/Sandy Hook Bay from the Keansburg border to the Atlantic Highlands Border.

ALSO

The following streets South of Route 36: Texas Avenue, Briarcliff Avenue, Montana Avenue, from Illinois Avenue to Pews Creek.

ALSO

Hartshorne Road in Navesink including Washington Lane, Clay Court, Tan Vat Road, Grand Tour, Indian Terrace, Wigwam Road

Mandatory evacuation is effective immediately. All residents must be out of these areas by noon on Saturday, August 27. No one will be permitted to return to these areas until they are deemed safe by local authorities.

For all other areas of Middletown, it is strongly recommended that you consider relocating to a safer location.

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Kyrillos: Shadow Lake Cleanup Legislation Signed into Law

Middletown– Senator Joe Kyrillos, co-prime sponsor of the original legislation establishing New Jersey’s landmark Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT), is pleased to announce that special financing for the cleanup of Middletown’s Shadow Lake has been signed into law by Governor Christie this afternoon:

“The Environmental Infrastructure trust was created to help communities finance costly remediation projects just like Shadow Lake in order to improve and preserve our state’s natural treasures,” said Kyrillos. “The remediation of Shadow Lake is a project has been in the making for more than a decade. Thanks to the bill signed today authorizing the latest round of EIT financing, the residents in and around Shadow Lake and Middletown will secure the necessary resources to begin its cleanup. Middletown Township will use $2.7 million in low-interest loans to dredge the lake and deposit the spoil in a licensed facility approved by the DEP. I look forward to working together to ensure that this project is completed.”

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