Friday, March 19th, 2010
Millville’s Commissioner Joe Derella is a disappointment. As chairman of the Revenue and Finance Committee, Derella is responsible for crafting the city’s budget. Derella decries the difficulty in the job and then raises taxes.
Even those not paying attention have known that since Chris Christie was elected governor, cuts were coming. Yet, Derella acts as though the municipal cuts were a surprise. And what does good ol’ Joe propose? Why yes, he thinks another raise in local taxes is in order.
Millville Revenue and Finance Commissioner Joe Derella called the numbers “a disappointment,” adding they raise the potential for higher property taxes at the local level.
“You try to prepare for something like this, but we didn’t think (the cuts) would be this large,” said Derella, of the nearly $1 million reduction in aid to befall Millville.
“In Millville, we’re looking at a potential budget gap of $3.6 million. Now, add this to that, plus the loss of Urban Enterprise Zone funds.”
Derella doesn’t get it . . . not at all. Government spending is out of control. Cutting state spending only to have local spending increase nets the taxpayer absolutely nothing. But Derella has little to worry about. He was re-elected just a year ago, and by the time he is up again for re-election, folks will have forgotten the tax increase. This is the same modus operandi that Freeholder Lou Magazzu uses. There’s enough frustration among taxpayers, however, that there may be a backlash if Derella and company raise taxes again.
The first cut to the municipal budget should be any benefits the Commissioners earn. Derella uses a novacare.com instead of the millville.org address listed on the city’s web page. Certainly he should not be earning health benefits or paid the $4200 buyout for forgoing those benefits as a part-time elected official. Mr. Derella, what say you?
Tax increases cannot be the solution to the budget each year. When do we not have an increase in taxes? How about this year?
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
The Bergen Record reports that Governor Christie will present a hard 2.5% cap on municipalities and every other facet of government. I have mixed feelings on this.
Obviously, I would be happy to keep Millville from appealing yearly to get around the current 4% soft cap. Government needs to be fiscally responsible.
My issue with Christie’s remedy is a constitutional amendment. Government needs to be prudent; it should not take the state constitution to do so. Obviously, the economy has tanked. A 2.5% annual increase sounds prudent today. But should/when the economy bounces back and “revenue” is flowing, 2.5% may very well be an impediment to government.
How about things remain the way they are and the state refuses to allow Millville bypass the law? That would seem a far better approach to me.
Christie is also reported to be looking at eliminating property tax rebates. Hallelujah! The property tax rebate program is nonsensical. Eliminating it is worthwhile.
I am alarmed, however, with some of the nuances that seem to be included with this proposal.
Christie will also propose converting the state’s property tax rebate checks into direct credits on homeowners’ tax bills, eliminating what was once considered an almost untouchable fixture of New Jersey government and politics because of its popularity among voters. Some homeowners may still receive a refund, but the envelope from the state treasury containing an actual check that has arrived almost every summer for 30 years would be gone.
. . .
It was not clear Saturday which residents would receive direct property tax relief through tax credits.
Rather than jerk around the money and spend the time, effort, and money managing a nuanced program, just make the money grab and be done with it.
Christie has stated multiple times he has no problem being a one-term governor. Only someone concerned with re-election would need to construct a piecemeal program.
Tuesday will be an interesting day. I am hoping not to hear a lot of gimmicks such as one-time freezes, etc. Large chunks need to be paired. I suspect it will be a mixed bag. I cannot see how Christie is going to make any pension payments this year. Underfunding the pension system does nothing to help out a financial mess. Since that is one of the biggest effects on the budget, shouldn’t the yearly promise be made?
We shall see what becomes of this baby. New Jersey needs leadership, not politics.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
I read that new villas have been built and sold at NJMP. The properties will be taxed. All this is positive. I just hope we don’t find out that the property taxes on the villas are at a rate not commensurate wih the $425,000 price tag of the homes . . . Congratulations to the Colts and the Saints. I like it when a new team makes it to the show. Go Saints! . . . Speaking of football, I think moving the Pro Bowl to next week at the same site as the Super Bowl the following week is an excellent move on the part of the NFL. It will drive viewers and give football fans something to watch as they wait for the big game . . . I love the smell of the woods on me after hiking. It should be packaged as a cologne (not) . . . For some reason, the older the children grow, the more difficult it seems to stay ahead of the laundry . . . This is why I disdain James Carville. Going with the Blame Bush defense has grown tired, much like the Cajun himself . . . I used to link to New York Times articles. I don’t any longer. I have no illusions as to what effect that has, however, few sites I read these days link to the Times. A few years ago the NYT placed its editorial content behind a fee schedule. It abandoned that when it saw how much money it lost. Not having learned anything from that experiment, the NYT is prepared to put all its content on a meter. Links are king and no one links to PPV content online . . .
Posted in Football, Media, New Jersey, Politics, Sports | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Luke Kornbluh argued in yesterday’s The Daily Journal that tax abatements are good for Millville. In his argument he stated:
. . . my business, along with four others, had our abatement rescinded. The result — increased tax burden at a time when small business can least afford it and, potentially, the closure of a business and a loss of tax revenue and jobs.
My understanding is that the abatements that were rescinded were done because those businesses failed to meet deadlines and/or had abatements improperly provided to them. That aside, Kornbluh states a central issue for me; namely, this is not the time to raise taxes on the taxpayers.
Kornbluh is looking after his own interests. I can’t fault him for that. Yet, when his business, whatever it is (he did not indicate what it is), was required to pay his fair share, all taxpayers in Millville benefited.
Let’s repeat that. Whatever one’s opinion is on using tax abatements to lure businesses to town, certainly all agree that plenty of businesses pay a full load of taxes. They aren’t doing anything wrong. By paying their taxes, they are supporting Millville. A company that previously had a tax abatement and still pays its taxes is a company that is supporting the community. Sure, it would prefer to pay fewer taxes, but Millville receives its full complement of taxes. The community is not losing here.
Kornbluh in trying to reduce his share argues that raising taxes hurt Millville. Hardly. The town is bringing in more taxes than it had been. Sure, it’s a dance for the city. If rescinding the tax abatement forces the closure of the business, then the community loses as no tax revenue is collected. There is no indication that any business has suffered due to a tax abatement being lost.
This economy is the worst during my life time. Yet, government sees no reason to stem the rise of taxes. Philosophically, that is problematic. If government sees no issue with raising property taxes 7% (8¢/$100 assessed value increase over current rate of $1.13) in this economy, there is no reason to think government will ever cut taxes. If not now, then when?
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
The Press of Atlantic City today stated the following about the proposed Millville budget:
The increse [sic] was whittled down from 38 cents by cutting programs, combining jobs and losing others through attrition, but officials say it cannot go any lower.
The rest of the article does not mention the health insurance of the City Commission. Furthermore, the 38¢ is the scare number; that is not real. It never existed and should not have been reported the day of the vote.
Commissioner Derella also was quoted as saying:
“The problem is, we’re leaving ourselves extremely close to our line items, there is no room for error,” he said. “If there’s a problem with someone being out for an extended period of time and there’s a need for overtime, that’s a position we don’t want to be in.”
That flies in the face of what Derella said at the City Commission meeting. There he stated that the extra money Millville will pay to cover the public defender that will need to be hired because of conflict of interested will be taken from the new budget. If money is so razor thin, that line item will tank the budget from the get-go.
Consider me skeptical . . .
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
