Yep, great piece.

Shame, shame indeed. Anyone watching channel 5 news?

Here is something no one has discussed yet and it was a big problem back in 88.

We have to watch who the city hires to do this and who they are connected to.In 88 many well connected people in this city never got a visit from the company inspecting the homes and fell through the cracks on purpose.Political enemys were over assesed and had to file appeals which draged on for years.

The inspectors would sometimes go to the nicest home on the block and then assess every home on the block at the same rate.You all do realize they are going to come inside your house and open every door to see what you have.

My neighbor filled her basement bathroom with empty boxes so it would look like a closet.

I don't trust this this city hall bunch to run a hot dog stand much less a city wide re val.They new this needed doing but just like the tax increase they pushed it past the last election.

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It's not obvious to me in my wanderings through taxland. I have yet to come upon the kind of "order of magnitude" disparities that people talk about. Mostly it's 20-30% this way or that, and like I said, not in any predictable way if the guy who bought his condo 2 years later for more pays less than his neighbor.

I simply don't see the gross unfairness that will result in the kind of doubling, tripling or more that people fear. The townhouse bought in 79 for $10k is assessed at $100k which means at 26% it's being valued at 385K. Low, but one of it's twin neighbors sold for $515k last year and another for $650 in 07. So accounting for condition after 30 years of continuous occupancy it could even be close.

Do what I've done. Look at all the condos at an address, or pick a row of identical houses you know, (or find one by google street view) and look at when they bought and what they're paying. Find examples of someone grossly underpaying, I mean by half or more.

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Good riddance, Sally.

Crime is not "out of control". Nor do the police "not care".

I know it's old and tired but, you live in a city! While some of this city is inhabited by respectable, job holding tax payers, there are still some areas that are impoverished and crime ridden.

Why you moved to JC and expected the crime rates of an upscale Connecticut neighborhood is beyond comprehension.

I'm not really sure, but my neighbor across the hall is asking $269k for her apt. Same square footage, slightly different layout. Like me, she hasn't done any major renovations.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad my property value went up and I'm all for paying my fare share. I'm just thinking about what Indomitus said:

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That would be far too relevant to JC and the people that live here. Better to pick something that happened in another place over 50 years before and has no connection to the vast majority of people living here.

Have you noticed that all the other Katyn memorials around the world (particularly the ones in Poland) are tasteful monuments that honor the memories of the people that were slaughtered without having to make political statements to people that could not have prevented what happened?

Here is a computer visualization of a new Katyn giant memorial to be built in Poland. It consists of 20,000+ figures of all of the victims, each with a name and a hole in its head (coz that's how they were killed, folks, not with bayonets). The video takes a while to get going but if you are patient at around two or three minutes in, you will see the Bayonne vagina.


http://video.google.pl/videoplay?doci ... 264069519938250476&hl=pl#

Great to hear there so many experts on this post talking about Irish pubs i bet 90% of the people here have never been to ireland.A liquer lience in JC costs $90 to $125 grand so buy one and let's see how you get on.

Does anybody have any experience with Statewide Granite on Kennedy Blvd. in the Heights? We are doing a small kitchen remodel with a new granite countertop of only 13 square feet. Has anyone used them to do installation work? Are there other granite suppliers/fabricators/installers in the area we should consider?

Did a dog bite you in your youth, Snowflake? I feel a lot of anger towards our canine brothers and sisters coming from your direction.

I just saw this article regarding Pennsylvania and municipal consolidation:


Bill calls for eliminating Pennsylvania's municipal governments, switching to county-based system to save taxpayers money
By JAN MURPHY, The Patriot-News
April 28, 2010, 12:00AM

The Patriot-News, fileMarysville is one of 2,562 cities, townships and boroughs across Pennsylvania that Rep. Thomas Caltagirone says should be absorbed by the state's 67 county governments.Pennsylvania has a lot of municipalities.

There are cities of varying sizes, townships, boroughs and even one town. All told, there are 2,562 of them ? each with their own elected officials.

That?s about 2,495 too many for Rep. Thomas Caltagirone.

The Berks County Democrat has introduced legislation calling for what he describes as a ?massive shift? in the operations of local governments. His bill would call for a state constitutional amendment to have Pennsylvania?s 67 county governments absorb all the municipalities within their borders, and operate under a single countywide structure.

He cites a number of reasons for the idea: the rising cost of government and increasing property taxes, landlocked communities with stagnant tax bases and a loss of industries and business.

?You have such duplication of services with boroughs, townships, cities and counties, it doesn?t really make a whole lot of sense on economies of scale,? he said. ?We should be able to hopefully save some money through more efficient operations provided on a countywide basis.?

Even supporters who praise it as a novel proposal suggest it has virtually no chance of passage. Caltagirone knows not everyone will like the idea, particularly local officials whose jobs would disappear.

?All I?m saying is, ?Let?s take a look at it,?? Caltagirone said. ?Why can?t we take the time to look at the merits of this issue? If it makes good common sense and delivers services at a much lower cost, should we not at least consider it??

He proposes a county executive to oversee day-to-day operations and an elected county council to approve budgets and handle policy-making chores. His plan would not affect school districts. He said he had no interest in ?throwing even more fuel to the fire.?

Since he introduced the bill a week ago, he said he has been flooded with e-mails and phone calls from people telling him to withdraw the bill. Only a handful of legislators put their names on as co-sponsors. One, Rep. RoseMarie Swanger, R-North Lebanon Twp., says her name was put on by mistake and has since been removed.

Caltagirone knows making such a change would be a long process. A constitutional amendment requires identical versions of the bill to pass the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. Assuming that happens, it would then go to Pennsylvania?s voters for final approval.

But he said it?s time to start the conversation.

Some midstate officials said they hope it goes beyond talk.

?It needs to become more than a conversation,? said Dauphin County Commissioner George Hartwick, a Democrat and a former mayor of Steelton. ?There?s going to be backlash from local townships and boroughs and municipalities because of the [loss of] control thing, but the voters should weigh in loud and clear and demand more efficiencies out of our government operations.?

Likewise, New Cumberland Borough Council President Jack Murray, a proponent of police service consolidation, admits money likely could be saved by consolidating municipal governments.

But he said the parochialism could stand in the way.

?People are more concerned about losing their [community] identities than reducing their costs,? Murray said. ?I don?t think it just pertains to politicians but residents as well.?

Lower Swatara Twp. Commissioner President Franklin Linn also sees merit to the idea.

?What he is looking at very wisely is local governments can?t afford all these things that they have done with police, health inspectors, code enforcement, maintenance guys to do the roads,? Linn said.

But he said residents are accustomed to having local government provide road repairs and police protection.

?I don?t think it?s a bad idea, but I?ll never see it happen,? Linn said.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, considered it a novel idea, but he said the state shouldn?t impose it on communities. He said the idea should come from the people.

That, too, is the position of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said Douglas Hill, the executive director. But he agrees with Caltagirone that it?s an idea which deserves some discussion.

?I do have individual counties that have expressed a desire conceptually in doing more? beyond the countywide consolidation of 911 dispatch centers and solid waste management, Hill said.

Caltagirone said southern states have county-based government structures, so Pennsylvania would have a model to follow.

?If it proves to be wrong, prove me wrong,? he said.

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"We are taking this step for several reasons. First, state law requires that all real property to be assessed at or as near as possible to 100% of market value. Currently the average assessment ratio is at 26.75% of market value."
(5th paragraph of the doc. alek8 posted)

A very confusing statement. I assume the tax rate would have to be changed to reflect the removal of the "ratio" system to a "market value" system. I pay about 6.8% on my ratio assessed value. I figure that the tax rate on a home assessed at market rate would have to be around 1.7%, but there is no mention of that.

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You may well be correct, but that equalization rate jumping all over the place without reason and some assessment seemingly out of the blue, it makes me wonder what can be assumed. Will that 30% property see it's taxes go down? Who knows?

When I look at the taxes I think the reval is necessary just to correct all the mistakes and weird artifacts they've made. To compare to your place, I just saw the taxes on a house on the park bought in 95 for 144K. It's assessment hasn't changed since & it's taxes are only $9200. A condo I saw sold for 70% of another in the same building yet pays 30% MORE taxes! Go figure that one out.

I wish liquor licenses were AVAILABLE in JC. I'd love the idea of a little sub-terranean pub at the Comfort Bistro space on Grove Street. What a wasted space. From what I understand, the existing liquor licenses are the only ones that can exist, is this correct?

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Right on, you hit the nail on the head.
I wish liquor licenses weren't so crazy expensive in JC, I'd love to have my own real pub!

Although I happen to love that statue, at the very least it's something interesting to look at, which is more than hardly any other piece of architecture in that part of town can say these days. In this world of rapid homogenization it's nice to see something that can elicit an emotion, good or bad.

It?s interesting ---- the Governor Christie is currently proposing a 2.5% cap on annual property tax increases.

Reported from the statewide meeting of mayors with Christie today in Atlantic City:

"Christie will propose legislation next week (for the upcoming November ballot) for a constitutional amendment that institutes the cap. If legislators pass the ballot question and if it?s approved by voters, municipalities will have to hold their property tax growth to 2.5% a year unless voters overrule it by referendum. Under Christie?s proposal, if a town raises property taxes less than the capped level one year, it will be able to bank those savings and exceed the cap in future years if necessary."

What?s ambiguous, however, is what this is actually means. Does it mean that no individual homeowner is to see an increase of more than 2.5%? Or does it mean that the municipality may not increase its total billable tax revenue by more than 2.5%? In the case of the latter, some individual homeowners could still see a substantial increase under a revaluation as long as the total city-wide ?tax receivables? do not exceed 2.5% from the previous fiscal year. Of course, others would simultaneously stay the same or see decreases, which is the expected result of revaluations.

Anyway, it would be great if it was the first explanation (that no individual homeowner is to see an increase of more than 2.5%), but I?m not optimistic.

At the rate JC is changing I think someone needs to commission a statue that will represent the JC old-timers.

Maybe a bronze of an old man and woman with a shopping cart looking with delight into the window of a 99 cent store as they sip their 50 cent cup of coffee that they purchased from the local bodega. A fitting tribute indeed!

Hey all of you new-comers, hipsters, and yuppies you are the JC old-timers of tomorrow never forget that. Show some respect!

Still haven't received it at Liberty Towers either.

A dive bar is NOT a pub!

As someone else above mentioned, real pubs in Ireland are something akin to a social club or gathering place. In many towns, specially the smaller towns in the interior of the republic, pubs are the places where locals gather to converse, imbibe a pint of Guinness and, on special nights and other occasions, enjoy some music from local bands or singers.

Even the most spartan pub is almost 100% wood inside (the bar, the tables, the chairs, the floors, the ceiling etc.) with walls that are usually wood-paneled (partially, or whole) and ALL pubs serve Guinness (fresh from the barrel, never in a can or bottle) and you are just as likely to see old and young people inside.

I have seen some nice Irish pubs in Philly, and even some of the so-called Irish pubs in NYC are also close to the real thing, but the ones in downtown JC are only Irish in name. The vibe is definitely not there. All the fancy food is also a tell-tale sign of a fake Irish pub. Pub food is usually simple, filling grub that is hardly ever fancy, and definitely not expensive. Usually some soups, some sandwiches, etc. Some pubs in Ireland do serve up very nice meals, though.

Anyway, my opinion of pubs in Ireland is made up from many visits there during the late 90's and early 00's. I doubt things have changed dramatically in the 7 years since my last visit.

It is SUPPOSED to be a dog area. As I've said, the property manager confirmed this to me when I mentioned to him that they should put a "no dogs allowed" sign up. He told me that the area is designated to be a dog run.

In any event, whether you believe me or not, it's a moot point. The property mananger told me today that my email to corporate resulted in them getting money to put up a fence and proper signage which will designate the area as a dog run or dog toilet, whatever you want to call it.

I believe they are referring to this (click to enlarge, I can't figure out how to make it a certain width):

Hey one more thing I will confess I have eaten in one of your hipster/yuppie establishments....and LOVED it! (I just hope it didn?t replace a sweet dollar store)

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Before anyone condemns the ?vagina? monument please take a trip over to the old MOT (Military Ocean Terminal) in Bayonne and see it close up. (no pun intended, well maybe). The road to get to it is across from the light rail station. It is the road for the new apartment complex and cruise ship port. Next to the strip mall with the Stop & Shop. You can?t walk to it; it is about a mile or 2 into the entrance. You go past all of the old MOT buildings.. amazing to think how many military people and the tons of equipment that shipped out from there.

We went on a rainy windy night; I swear the monument was screaming. Very surreal with the NYC skyline in the back ground.

God bless those who were lost on 9/11. God bless America!

Follow me here and tell me if this makes sense.....

I'm one of those with one of those rowhouses downtown near HP that was bought back in 1995. Price was 175K and building was reassessed to that same amount (through tax appeal) at that time.

Over the years, the assessment has risen to 198,000, (most recently last year) which is what it currently is and I am paying almost 14K in taxes.

If the current average assessed value is 26.75% of market value, that would work out to a market value for me of $740,187. And if the current market is 30% of what it was before the recession, that would have made a pre-recession value of about 960K, right in that "1 million dollar neighborhood" category that always get thrown around.

So am I right in concluding that I am not horrendously under assessed and that the hit might not be as bad as expected?

Clearly not a dog run.

I will vote for any mayoral candidate who promises to move that statue. Even Schundler.

Relocate it to the bottom of the Hudson.

I used John Moss too, nice guy.

He was on time and wrote a very good thorough report. I was very satisfied and he charges a fair price. I would recommend him to anyone.

Thank you for this thread.

Now I know about the vagina monument in Bayonne.

and so it begins....

thank you guys - is John still reasonably priced? old posts said it was only a couple hundred