O’Scanlon forces Assembly vote on property tax cap effectiveness

Democrats punt on property tax reform

Trenton, NJ- Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Jr. invoked a parliamentary rule on the floor of the Assembly on Thursday to force a vote on his bill that would remove the sunset provision on the arbitration cap of police and fireman salaries.

The arbitration cap was institution as part of the 2010 landmark property tax reform legislation that capped New Jersey property tax growth at 2% per year. The initial cap expired in 2014 and was renewed in 2014 with a sunset provision for the end of this year.  O’Scanlon’s bill, A-2123,would make the 2% arbitration cap permanent.

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Middletown Township Reduces Spending and Property Taxes In 2017 Budget

Middletown Township Committee

The Middletown Township Committee will introduce a budget on Monday night that reduces Township spending by $161,459 and reduces the municipal tax rate by 3.49%

“We’ve taken a fine tooth comb to this budget in order to develop a spending plan that reduces costs without sacrificing core essential services,” said Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, Ph.D. “We consistently seek ways to further minimize costs, maximize revenues and stretch a dollar.”

For the average homeowner, municipal taxes will decrease $5.31 this year.

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TAXPAYER NIGHTMARE: N.J. High Court Paves Way for Construction of 100k+ Affordable Housing Units

The New Jersey Supreme Court has once again usurped the legislature and stepped into the realm of public policy today, Save Jerseyans, creating a mandate that will mean big tax increases for many N.J. towns. At issue was whether New Jersey municipalities have an obligation to construct houses not built during the so-called “gap period,” a… Read the rest of this entry »

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Shared Patrol Model: The sweet spot for reducing property taxes and saving police officers jobs

By Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

The concept of municipal consolidation/shared services is referred to by some as the panacea for high property taxes.  Others claim that consolidation/shared services is a pipe dream and not worth pursuing because no single service will solve our property tax problem.  Both sides of this argument are wrong.  No one act or reform will slash our taxes – short of major increases in other taxes.  To argue that we shouldn’t pursue such reforms because they won’t save “enough” is to argue against doing anything to cut costs.  On the contrary, the answer is we must do EVERYTHING.

Merging of municipalities is a heavy lift. People have nostalgic attachments to their town names and pride in their community identity. And if things don’t go as well as planned, there’s no going back.  That leaves shared services  as the sweet spot – much easier to attain than wholesale municipal mergers and can generate 60 to 80% of the savings.

We must then hone in on the areas where we can get the greatest amount of savings.  Things like public works and administration sound like good targets but those areas have already, frequently, been cut to the bone.  One area in many municipalities that is ripe for restructuring: police.

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Christie takes aim at gas taxes, pensions, property taxes and teachers union

WHIPPANY — With the state’s Transportation Trust Fund less than three weeks away from running out of money for new road, bridge and rail projects, Gov. Chris Christie said the fix being pushed by the Democratic-controlled legislature lacked sufficient tax breaks to be signed into law. Speaking to the Morris County Chamber of Commerce on Monday,… Read the rest of this entry »

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State busts Jersey City, Elizabeth for violating order to reassess properties

TRENTON — The state Division of Taxation has declared two of the three municipalities forced to undergo property revaluations in violation of that state order, NJ Advance Media has learned. Jersey City and Elizabeth have missed May deadlines to submit plans to comply with the April order that gives them until November 2017 to conduct revaluations,… Read the rest of this entry »

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Lake Como police department in jeopardy after voters reject tax increase

LAKE COMO — Residents in this tiny Jersey Shore borough have rejected a 22-percent tax increase, likely leading to the disbandment of its police department. The referendum — a requirement if a municipality is going to exceed a 2-percent property tax increase cap set by a 2010 state law — received 379 “no” votes to 137… Read the rest of this entry »

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The Arnone Report: Promises made, promises kept; a tax cut for Monmouth County

By Freeholder Director Arnone, Thomas[email protected].us

Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone

Mother Nature may be playing tricks on us with the weather again – she’s bringing in extremely low temperatures, then teasing us with spring like weather in the 60s this past weekend. But there is no trickery here at the County, I made a promise last month that I would provide our residents with a much needed tax break, and I am holding true to the that statement, along with my fellow freeholders by proposing an overall tax cut of $4.5 million. This is the first time, I believe, that freeholders have ever decreased taxes to the county residents.

We propose collecting $302.5 million from property taxes, down from $307 million just last year. At the end of 2015, Monmouth County completed the sale of its two care centers which eliminated the yearly operating losses that the facilities have incurred for several years. The public auction of the two facilities generated $32.4 million in revenue; approximately $18 million more than was projected.

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Bramnick: N.J. can’t afford to restore aid to towns to cut property taxes

ABOARD THE CHAMBER TRAIN — Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union) said Thursday he’d like to restore aid to New Jersey’s municipalities to lower property taxes, but the state simply can’t afford it. Lawmakers have introduced a bill ( A302) to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in energy tax receipts and Consolidated Municipal Property Tax… Read the rest of this entry »

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Monmouth Freeholders Cut Spending and Taxes

Monmouth County Freeholders Gary Rich, Lillian Burry, Director Tom Arnone, Deputy Director Serena DiMaso and John Curley

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders introduced a budget on Thursday that reduces County spending by $18.2 million and reduces the property tax levy on County residents and businesses by $4.5 million.  The tax decrease is the first in 21 years and maybe ever, according to County Finance Director Craig Marshall.

The budget for the next fiscal year rolls County taxes back to 2008 levels and reduces spending to less than the 2007 budget. The tax cut reverses an increase, the only one since 2007, that the County imposed in the current year.

“This is a real cut,” said Freeholder Director Tom Arnone. “There is no fiscal gimmickry or raiding of trust funds or utility balances in this budget.”

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