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I had nothing to do with property tax increases. I pay the same increased taxes as you do.

If you work someplace that cut your pay and benefits by 30% that is unfortunate. But don't take it out on me.

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You as a JC city manager in public employment, have managed to increase my property tax bill by close to 30% in the past 3 years. You want rewarded for that, when I and most of people in private industry have had our salaries and benefits cut by nearly 30%?

Your self-entitlement is just mind-boggling. You want rewarded for hitting us with a 30% property tax increase?

dtjcview wrote:
As a property tax payer, and someone ultimately who pays your salary, I have not had anything close to a 3% rise in salary in the past 3 years. In fact my salary has gone down in the past 10 years, in the private sector.

Can you tell me why you think you "deserve" an increase? My property taxes have gone through the roof in recent years. Why do you "deserve" an increase?

___________________________________________



Because I work hard and do a good job.

I am also a Jersey City resident and pay property taxes.

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In a word, NO.

My point was that non-public sector workers don't and shouldn't, get automatic inflation-based increases. A lot of their jobs have moved out-of-state, or out-of-country.

I've seen the trajectory on NJ educational spending and it's both obscene and unsustainable. And that's down to some irrational principles such as union-defined class sizes, and non-use of technology.

Look, there is no doubt that there are a ton of really, really good employees in the City, both union and non-union. Most of the hardest working people want nothing to do with the whims of politics. They bring talent and institutional knowledge. Many of them are so good at what they do that they have survived many change overs in leadership and have been able to accomplish things despite the various leaderships and economics.

I am grateful for every hard working and talented employee in the City. Thank you for a job well down. I know the job often comes with a lot of abuse from the public only because the public is often left in the dark or because of poor work ethics or politics of your colleagues. Thank you to all of you that show me my hard earned money that goes to taxes is wisely spent.

However, I don't think this is what it is about. 3% is not enough. The base salaries are often not enough.... if we were basing it on hard work. Unfortunately almost everyone is hitting hard times with job loss, reduced salary, and rising property taxes. This isn't about worth or deserving, this is about balance.

The reason our property taxes are going up and there haven't been salary increases has only partly to do with the economy. And even though I will probably get blasted for this (because without a doubt I am a Fulop supporter), poor economic planning on the part of this administration is largely at fault here. Yes, they are no different than every other administration, but they still had a chance from the onset of setting a good standard and a sustainable government 9 years ago when there was a lot of cash coming into the City. It seems a game at this point with no plan. It will get worse probably before it gets better.

So this is not an argument about who is deserving. The talented and hard working employees deserve more than a three percent raise. The argument is that many deserving employees also lost their jobs and some of these positions are sorely needed for the quality of life and safety of the citizens as well.

Let's not pit the employees against the taxpayers since in most cases they are one and the same. Let's remember what poor planning (government expanding and failing to keep positions in check due to politics and then being reluctant to reduce before things got really bad) has done to this situation.

To the employees though... ask yourselves why now? What is with the timing of political campaigns gearing up for the new year? Maybe it is coincidence, but something tells me that you are all a lot wiser than I am and would know exactly what game is being played at.

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Their job !

Aren't non-union city workers simply at will political appointees?

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DickinJc.

As a property tax payer, and someone ultimately who pays your salary, I have not had anything close to a 3% rise in salary in the past 3 years. In fact my salary has gone down in the past 10 years, in the private sector.

Can you tell me why you think you "deserve" an increase? My property taxes have gone through the roof in recent years. Why do you "deserve" an increase? What have you done for the property taxpayers recently?

As a non-union management employee of the City of Jersey City, I resent the comments made by Steve Fulop.

Most non-union/management City employees in Jersey City are hard working professionals. And many don't support Mayor Healy or any other poltical faction. Most of us haven't had a pay increase in four years while City Police, Fire and Union employees have gotten pay increases every year.

These increases are long overdue and deserved, despite Steve Fulop's disrespectful comments.

80% of the muni budget is police and fire. The non-union workforce is a rather small part of the budget. 3% is a normal cost of living adjustment in the private sector.

Jersey City property have gone up 15% since the 2009 rate. It was $60 per $1000 of assessed value not it is $69 per $1000 of assessed value.

Meahwhile, our property taxes have gone through the roof under Healy.

How about lowering our property taxes instead.

Thanks

FG

Unions suck balls, more money needs to be be freed up for the workforce who don't join the fold.

This amounts to a $300 a year raise for those in the 30k salary range in 3 years worth of time. Basicaly a $20 a week raise.

Good.

Jersey City to award non-union workers 3 percent pay hike, their first since 2008

Thursday, December 08, 2011, 5:07 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

The City of Jersey City is awarding 170 non-union employees a 3 percent pay raise, the employees? first salary hike in three years.

The total cost of the hike ? which is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2011 ? is $330,000, according to Business Administrator Jack Kelly, who notes that the amount is less than 1/10th of 1 percent of the $490 million city budget.

In a Dec. 8 memo to the City Council, Business Administrator Jack Kelly compared the new raises to the pay hikes and benefits awarded to the city?s unionized workers in the past three years, saying civilian union workers have been awarded nearly $3.5 million in pay hikes and other financial benefits since 2008.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who is permitted to set salaries of non-union management without approval from the City Council, said in a statement that the employees in question have been ?called upon to do more with less? in their departments. There have been more than 300 layoffs of city workers this year.

?I felt it was appropriate to acknowledge their hard work and sacrifices over the past several years with a modest increase that is far less than what any of our collective bargaining units have received during the same time frame,? he said.

News of the increases didn?t please Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop, a 2013 mayoral candidate and frequent administration critic.

?Giving 3 percent raises and retro pay to the top-tier management of Healy supporters while the rank-and-file were laid off sounds like a holiday movie starring Ebenezer Scrooge,? Fulop said. ?How many people could we have rehired for that money is the sad part.?

Chuck Carroll, president of the Jersey City Public Employees Inc. Local 246, also gave the salary-hike plan his thumbs down: ?In a word, obscene.?