Does anyone else find the letter from the mayor that comes with the tax bill to be completely embarrassing every time? There was an obvious typo in this one ("Western Watefront", and shouldn't it be all lower-case "western waterfront", or is this a new neighborhood designation I don't know about?) And the bragging that city taxes have not gone up, when simply no budget has been approved so they're just going with the status quo.

as per the Jersey Journal, Mayor and Co, Inc. are passing on $8,000,000 in state municipal aid to protect pay to play, patronage, nepotism, cronyism and not have to get state approval for hirings and contracts.

our elected officials sure do not appear to be working on behalf of their constuents, or maybe they just see their constituents as out of town developers and professional service providers, friends and relatives...

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Politicial Insider

Bye-bye to millions, hello taxes
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

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Got several angry calls from Jersey City residents. It seems that they got their quarterly tax bill - increases of several hundred dollars for some who called. Mayor Healy blames the schools for the tax increases.

What is surprising to some is that they got an increase and the city has yet to approve a budget.

"When we did not have a budget in place, we just went with the same tax rate," said former city Councilman Joe Rakowski. "The city would just iron it all out later."

It was suggested that by issuing the tax now, a budget can be approved that would come with "no" tax increase.

At the same time, the state has offered Jersey City up to $8 million in special municipal aid - or what was once known as Distressed Cities aid.

There's a reluctance to accept the funds. The problem is what does Jersey City have to do to get that money? Perhaps little things, like having the state approve city hires, promotions and contracts. City and state officials say discussions will continue. We'll see. ....