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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
 
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2004/9/15 18:45 Last Login : 2023/5/12 21:59 From Harsuimus Cove
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Fletcher, Thank God you didn?t win. It?s not that you are completely off base on some of your solutions, but that fact that you think anyone can (or should for that matter) come into office and make sweeping changes across the city without taking the time to do a proper assessment of what?s really going on, just scares me. It?s just a simplistic attitude that sort of negates every talking point you used to describe yourself when you first announced your candidacy here on JCList. Quote:
Any good business person knows you do not walk into a company as the new CEO and start making huge decisions without first figuring out what the landscape is. Governments, like business, are machines with countless moving parts where one component often affects another. If you go into that machine and suddenly start tinkering without understanding exactly how it works and what parts affect all the other parts, you?re likely to blow up the entire machine. Jersey City, as a working government organization, is no different. Someone, and in this case the person ultimately responsible will be Steve Fulop, needs to get a handle on exactly how things are currently operating. That is going to take time. Even though Steve was a Councilman, anyone who knows anything about our city government knows that the Council and the Administration are very different and that it is the Administration that actually runs the day to day operations of the City and essentially has most of the power. Being a member of the City Council does not give one unlimited access to the working of city departments or how they are run. Does it give you a leg up? Of course. But, it is not likely enough information to step into a new role and suddenly make changes with broad brush strokes that could end up making things worse instead of better. So let?s take your suggestions piece by piece: Quote:
The mayor and the council did take responsibility and did what they had to do. Even the non-Fulop members of the council voted for it. As a matter of fact, this is a direct quote from the Jersey Journal article: ?Ward C Councilman Rich Boggiano, one of only two council members who didn?t run on Fulop?s ticket in May?s municipal election, said the tax hike is ?not his fault,? referring to Fulop.? Is he just another crony as well? The budget deficit is not the fault of the new council or the Fulop administration. All indications point to exactly what Steve has said; the Healy administration put out budget numbers that favored his reelection chances; thus the reason they never passed it. Any incoming mayor would do exactly the same thing by pointing this out. What?s wrong with that? Quote:
When you refer to David Donnelly as an empty suit, I take that to mean that you think he?s being paid to do nothing. Do you know this from personal experience? You suggest what he?s being tasked to do adds little or no value to the city. What are you basing that on? Is it simply that Steve hired a former council member? I don?t get it. What information do you have that we don?t? Please, enlighten us. Quote:
We just had some 25 or so police personnel retire en mass. Should we not replace them? How about replacing heads of departments? Should we simply leave Healy?s patronage choices in place so we can say we didn?t hire anyone? Who makes these determinations? What is the criteria? How does anyone know one week (or even on month) into office just who is truly important and who is not? What are the long term effects on services? Or, do we simply do what is easiest at the moment and let the cards fall where they may? Quote:
Which workers do we choose? Again, what are the long term effects on services? How much can we cut hours of employees until we actually cripple the ability of the city to operate? Quote:
Who are we demoting? What will it do to job retention rates? Yes there are those who should probably leave, but do we honestly think the Council or the Mayor can have a true handle on that 11 days after they took over? Also, change scares the hell out of people. As a business person, you must be very well aware that making changes too fast can paralyze even those who aren?t affected. Low morale could possibly take things from bad to worse. Quote:
No offense dude, but I went to the ?Listening Meeting? held at City Hall. They had so many potential speakers that they couldn?t even get to them all. And one after another, the general consensus was that people wanted a city that actually works for them. They want real services for what they are paying. Steve is actually taking steps to build this type of system and you?re complaining? Yes it costs money. Anything worth anything usually does. It?s called investing in the future. Again, you with such business acumen must already know this. Sometimes you have to spend money upfront to save in the end. Quote:
Are we simply supposed to shed our current assets as fast as we can so we don?t have to raise taxes? By doing so we could be penny wise and dollar foolish. Are we just supposed to take the Healy Administration?s word or what the properties are worth? What if it was assessed at an artificially low value to give some contributor a better profit margin? Are you suggesting that this isn?t a possibility? Did you not see the Solomon Dwek videos? Quote:
We the people of Jersey City do indeed need tax relief and fairness; on this we agree. But the reality is we can?t have it NOW. The Administration and the Council has to play the hand it was dealt; not the one it wants. They have to take time to figure out just exactly how things stand at the moment and where tax savings can sensibly be found. It really comes down to the scalpel versus the ax. Personally I prefer the surgeon to do what is needed to save as much as possible and not simply lop of a large part of the body because it is easiest and fastest. Recovering from surgery may be complicated and painful, but it beats the hell out of learning to live without whole portions of the body. I also agree with you on Tax Abatements, at least in part. Have you ever asked yourself what precipitated the change from Downtown to Waterfront language (if it did indeed change)? Did you ever stop to think that there are areas that are downtown that might still need incentives to entice developers? Technically, I believe parts of Bergen- Lafayette are considered downtown. Then there is the area off Montgomery Street just west of the Turnpike before you go up the hill. Finally, there is all of that area close to the Cast Iron Lofts that is just starting to get developed. These are areas that aren?t as attractive to developers because of lack of transportation, blight and/or crime. Should we not be sweetening the pot, even just a little bit, to get things moving? And finally, I completely agree with you on the Reval front. I feel the Reval should happen and I hope they do it and do it correctly. And if they don?t, I will be very vocal to both Steve and Candice about it. But no matter whether I agree with the new Council and the Mayor all of the time, some of the time or not at all, I don?t expect things to happen immediately. And although some of your suggestions may indeed be solutions over the long haul, expecting them to happen 11 days after a complete change over in government, seems simply naive to me. So my take away from your post(s) is that you really don?t know as much as you espouse, or you do and you just love political rhetoric (which is not the same as governing) or you?re suffering from sour grapes. Either way, I?m glad you?re not representing me and you?ll never get my vote in the future.
Posted on: 2013/7/11 20:07
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
Joined:
2007/11/29 18:19 Last Login : 2015/7/15 3:35 From Jersey City, NJ
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Here are some BETTER ideas. Instead of "passing the buck" and blaming others, the Fulop Administration needs to "MAN UP" do the following: - Take responsibility. The budget is now in Team FULOP's hands. Own it. Read it. Cut it. If I can read it and find discrepancies, so can THEY. - stop patronage jobs - $80K for empty suit David Donnelly and other patronage jobs that cost us money and don't do anything have no place in this new administration. - Hiring Freezes till 2014 and some time has passed. - Furlough Workers Now - Demotions (at least they will still HAVE jobs) - Cut SPENDING. No freaking 311 system. Google the cost. - SELL PROPERTY ASSETS NOW - forget about alleged "Future Value" That is a bogus excuse to hold on to something and deny taxpayer relief. WE THE PEOPLE of Jersey City need tax relief. Need it NOW. And Tax FAIRNESS. Also... 1) NO MORE TAX ABATEMENTS DOWNTOWN (not just the waterfront - notice TEAM FULOP changing their language). 2) Reval has to happen. It is STATE mandated. How Fulop is getting away with this is BEYOND ME. Both the State and County Approved the thing. And anyone who bought here in the past 10 years (cough, cough, Ms. Osborne) is being denied much needed tax relief by Fulop. I put pictures of my signs on facebook in Ward E group. Here are links. https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... 820977894_259680832_o.jpg https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... 820987894_425471749_o.jpg https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... 20992894_1901639594_n.jpg https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos ... 20982894_1105815535_o.jpg
Posted on: 2013/7/11 4:42
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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The budget is $515 million. The city's portion is 7.6% increase but the overall increase including county and school is 3.92%
Posted on: 2013/7/11 0:17
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Jersey City budget amended by City Council; 7.6% tax hike on the way
Amendments to the proposed 2013 Jersey City budget that would boost city taxes by nearly 8 percent were given unanimous approval by the City Council today.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 23:59
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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FGJCNJ1970 wrote: Please folks. Please show up ..... at the City Council meeting. Bring signs. Here are some idea?s: SUE HEALY FOR MISMANAGEMENT! HEALY LIED OUR WALLETS CRY! HEALY SUCKS! Here is a very interesting Hudson Reporter piece that lays out the Healy scam in detail? New math City budget projected to have $16M shortfall; may increase taxes by E. Assata Wright Reporter staff writer June 2, 2013 Is outgoing Mayor Jerramiah Healy leaving his successor, Mayor-Elect Steven Fulop, an inaugural ?gift? in the form of a $16 million shortfall in the $486 million budget? A re-working of the proposed 2013 municipal budget indicates that may be the case, according to Budget Director and Assistant Business Administrator Robert Kakoleski. At Fulop?s request, Kakoleski recently reexamined certain projected expenditures and revenues and concluded that the city will have a $16 million gap that will have to be covered either through spending cuts, a tax increase, or a combination of both. Full Hudson Reporter piece... .
Posted on: 2013/7/10 21:23
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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2005/6/8 3:24 Last Login : 2022/11/28 0:04 From New Urbanist Area
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Quote:
There is no comment for a first reading, but regular council meetings also have a public speaking period where anyone who has signed up can comment on matters, including on ordinances that are being introduced at 1st reading. I can understand the argument that with a new budget being passed, people might want to opine on the matter before second reading, when council members might be more reluctant to make changes.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 21:11
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Let me explain how cancelling the reval multiplies the hit most property owners are going to take. After the last reval savvy owners like Yvonne appealed their taxes, in her case she said she got her assessment reduced from $375,000 to $165,000 (incredible, huh?). So when she and everyone else who appealed got their taxes cut, the city eventually found itself low on income, and had to raise the rate since it was now taking in LESS than before the reval! And ever since, all those undervalued properties have had less of a hit from all the subsequent rate hikes while at the same time appreciating radically. If you're only paying 1%, an 8% raise is now 1.08%, but if you're paying 3% like many non-Downtown properties, you're now going to be paying 3.24%. The rate hike is amplified by the assessment disparity. That's $480 more you'll pay on a $300k home, and they continue to get away paying afar lower share even of the tax hike. As I've said in the reval thread, use Zillow to scan JC recent sales and divide the assessment by the sale price then multiply by 100. If it's over 33, they're paying too much, under and they're paying too little. Yvonne's was 14 before she sold, my Heights place is at 47. Given the value difference, had she paid the 2.2% she really owed, 4 houses under $300k paying over 3.4% would have seen their taxes drop substantially.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 21:07
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Not too shy to talk
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hmm... lucky folks !! So the 8% hike will be distributed to the rest... :( means more money coming out in taxes for the owners and renters having to paying more rent indirectly !
Posted on: 2013/7/10 20:46
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Since abatements are not ratables they are not affected by any tax increase. Only ratables are. Abatements are contacts.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 20:40
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Not too shy to talk
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how does the tax hike affect those buildings which are under tax abatement for the next few years ?
Posted on: 2013/7/10 20:29
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Just can't stay away
 
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The tax hike sucks, but it can't be much of a surprise. Consider it Jerry Healy's parting shot to the taxpayers of Jersey City.
We can only hope there are not too many more turd bombs in the pipeline. I was driving on Route 440 by Holy Name Cemetery the other day as that monstrosity that Healy called "development" is rising on the west side waterfront. Healy's lousy management of the city is going to stick with us longer than one budget cycle.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 19:29
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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I'll say this much I would never buy into a condo tower with hundreds of units many of them have renters that come and go at a pop. I've met a few that are contracted out in the IT department where I work. Their company puts them up for 6 months to do a job and then they are gone. Now the condo owner rents it out again to whoever. The condo owner advertises in trade publications around the world this is no different than the vacation hot spots throughout J.C. neighborhoods. You just don't know who is living beside you anymore.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 18:00
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Good grief, get a clue on how property is zoned and classified before you comment. Why would a condo building be subject to rent control? People buy condos and live in them. You pay mortgage and property tax, not rent. Sometimes an individual owner of a condo unit will rent it out because of a job transfer or because they bought the unit as an investment property. In this case, it's no different than a single-family home that's rented out. That does NOT - I repeat NOT - subject the condo to rent control, unless a single owner bought and rented out five or more units in the same building (Anyone with that kind of money to throw around knows how to avoid rent regulation). If it's, say, 30 different owners renting out 30 units in a 200-unit condo building, none of those rentals would be subjected to rent regulation.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 17:43
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Does he have time for an audit before the budget is due? It would seem that if you want to do a competent job of an audit you have to take some time and do it right.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 17:13
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Oh my I will have to make sure I purchase a condo in a building less than 30 years old.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 16:39
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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The owners of rent controlled building can receive an interest, but they are not allowed to pass it along. Most convert to condos or use tax court to appeal increases. Downtown JC had a lot of rent control buildings but after reval they became condos.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 16:33
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Based on what I read, I would assume that it does. I have to re-read the JC Rent Control ordinance. I am not sure if it applies or not to any new construction. The last building I purchased I knocked down from 5 units to 4 to avoid rent control. Last thing I wanted to be was dependent on Section 8 tenants to pay the mortgage.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 16:22
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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So that includes condos in these monsterous towers ?
Posted on: 2013/7/10 16:14
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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sorry.. forgot to say "for up to 30 years".
It used to be only 5.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 16:11
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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In my opinion, there should have been a desk audit before these new hires. Now this budget is larger than Healy's budget. In the past, mayors would fire the political jobs before they bring in their own. Which is the reason for civil service if you have a political job make sure you have a job title that you can fall back on. Those that didn't have civil service were cut.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 16:01
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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I don't think the Mayor wants to increase these taxes. Its a matter of what he was left to deal with/clean up and deadlines & bills that are forcing a budget increase before there is time to complete the full departmental audit. The audit will happen and should benefit us in the long run. But to do it right takes time.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 15:43
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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New buildings with 5+ units are exempt from rent control for 30 years. After that they're controlled, too, it says.
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Posted on: 2013/7/10 15:39
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Rent control only applies to buildings with 5 units or more. New construction is exempt from local rent control ordinances:
a. In any municipality which has enacted or which hereafter enacts a rent control or rent leveling ordinance, other than under the authority of P.L.1966, c.168 (C.2A:42-74 et seq.), those provisions of the ordinance which limit the period ic or regular increase s in base rentals of dwelling units shall not apply to multiple dwellings constructed after the effective date of this act, for a period of time not to exceed the period of amortization of any initial mortgage loan obtained for the multiple dwelling, or for 30 years following completion of construction, whichever is less. b. In the event that there is no initial mortgage financing, the period of exemption from a rent control or rent leveling ordinance shall be 30 years from the completion of construction. Amended 1999, c. 291, ? 1. Rent control is the reason the older apartment buildings are filled with Section 8 tenants as the landlord can charge above the controlled rent rate.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 15:26
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Let's not be dramatic - 2nd reading is legally the public forum. It's not suppression when there isn't speaking at the first hearing, it's following the law. I encourage you still to go so the crowd is noted, and speak at 2nd reading. If they allow comment at 1st reading, it's generous.
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Posted on: 2013/7/10 15:22
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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I always felt that "some" of the council candidates were not that well verse on monetary issues. Their answers were "we have to fix this" or " we need to improve on this" but with no mission in sight. And remember once elected Ward council members eventually become everybody's council member, just voted in by only a portion of the city.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 13:51
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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The city has to approve a budget so the tax bills can go out for August and November or else the city cannot pay its bill. You have people on the council with little understanding of the budget process. I have harped in the past about endorsing candidates who do not attend meetings. By the way, I was the only person who spoke at the last meeting. According to the Faulkner Act, this is now the council budget. These are the steps: the department heads create their budget, it is given to the mayor, and the budget now belongs to the council. If the council does not approve a budget, they can be fined by Community Affairs in Trenton. This happened to Hoboken several years ago.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 13:41
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Home away from home
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Is the $20m deficit a one-time item? Can we get the council to commit to reversing the hike next year?
Posted on: 2013/7/10 13:41
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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That rent increase cap only applies to rent-regulated apartments. I don't know anyone downtown who is living in one of those. Believe me, renters - especially in the high rises - have been hit with far bigger than 2.5% increases in their lease renewals the past couple of years.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 13:13
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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If you're going to compare this to Iraq... well, you're gonna make me nervous.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 13:13
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Re: Jersey City council set to approve 8 percent tax hike
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Home away from home
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Also remember that apartment dwelers are only subject to a 2.5% rent hike per year as opposed to 2-family houses where a tax hike means a rent hike.
Posted on: 2013/7/10 13:08
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Get on your bikes and ride !
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