Economy got you down?
Lost your property tax rebate this year?
Lucky to receive your property tax rebate and you want to reduce it even more?
Boy are you in luck this year!!!
A recent Sunday Times Article discusses this, the only way out for county and state government is for property values stabilize or increase.
Current homeowners who no longer qualify for property tax relief from the state of NJ will likely seek alternatives. Will the property tax assessments be in the crosshairs?
The kicker is that anyone can seek an appeal, regardless of their financial condition. While those with the means to conduct thorough research may have an edge, it takes nothing to get started.
Start here: Bergen County Resources
Pamphlet from the State of NJ
Appeals Form from the State of NJ
Can you still say I never tried saving you money on this blog?
You are welcome.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Too Rich to Seek Grants?
In fall of 2008 (and in the middle of the political campaign), the borough issued a press release launching their "Green Initiative" basically detailing all the wonderful things that the elected officials have been tirelessly working for, on our behalf.
I wrote an open letter to the officials involved. Receiving no response I wrote another letter. Councilman Manna responds with what seems to be a self-contradicting tirade. Perhaps being out of his element, I stepped into his (cue video to 39:53). As a result, it seemed to take the entire governing body, led by the borough administrator, to unilaterally dismiss my ideas seemingly without consideration.
Fast forward to June 2009. In Part 2 of the 6/15/2009 meeting, the borough administrator is heard in the first few minutes of the video reporting that the borough has resumed the pilot (of using a blend of filtered waste vegetable oil in diesel fuel), presumably to save money and appear environmentally conscious. It is apparent that, six months later, our elected officials have failed to do their homework, failed to set aside politics and failed to heed science, risking municipal funds to press on with this ill-fated experiment, probably achieving neither in the end. Even the Cedar Crest senior community seems to be on the right track... any active or retired chemical engineer willing to pitch in and volunteer to help the borough?
But it did not have to happen this way. The State of New Jersey offers grants to municipalities with no expertise required, yet our borough never appeared to apply for one. Why not? Dollar amount too small? Not worth the trouble? Terms too onerous?
It would appear that the borough's green initiative is starting to take a queasy tint...
I wrote an open letter to the officials involved. Receiving no response I wrote another letter. Councilman Manna responds with what seems to be a self-contradicting tirade. Perhaps being out of his element, I stepped into his (cue video to 39:53). As a result, it seemed to take the entire governing body, led by the borough administrator, to unilaterally dismiss my ideas seemingly without consideration.
Fast forward to June 2009. In Part 2 of the 6/15/2009 meeting, the borough administrator is heard in the first few minutes of the video reporting that the borough has resumed the pilot (of using a blend of filtered waste vegetable oil in diesel fuel), presumably to save money and appear environmentally conscious. It is apparent that, six months later, our elected officials have failed to do their homework, failed to set aside politics and failed to heed science, risking municipal funds to press on with this ill-fated experiment, probably achieving neither in the end. Even the Cedar Crest senior community seems to be on the right track... any active or retired chemical engineer willing to pitch in and volunteer to help the borough?
But it did not have to happen this way. The State of New Jersey offers grants to municipalities with no expertise required, yet our borough never appeared to apply for one. Why not? Dollar amount too small? Not worth the trouble? Terms too onerous?
It would appear that the borough's green initiative is starting to take a queasy tint...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Where are the Videos?
Video recordings of borough hall can now be found on the A Better Dumont Channel on blip.tv
Recordings are of SD quality at minimum using the latest in video compression technology. In other words, the video quality is superior to what you have seen hosted on Blogger or Google.
Dating from the December 2008 M&C Public Meeting, videos can easily be found on this channel. See whether promises made were kept, who really said what (if at all) or just for the record.
If I was there to record it, videos are available for viewing on the channel generally within 48 hours of the event.
Enjoy!
Recordings are of SD quality at minimum using the latest in video compression technology. In other words, the video quality is superior to what you have seen hosted on Blogger or Google.
Dating from the December 2008 M&C Public Meeting, videos can easily be found on this channel. See whether promises made were kept, who really said what (if at all) or just for the record.
If I was there to record it, videos are available for viewing on the channel generally within 48 hours of the event.
Enjoy!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
04/22/2009 Borough Hall Public Meeting
Dumont NJ Mayor & Council Meeting - April 22, 2009
Recent files are now available in full resolution and better picture: Click to go there. Maybe even see who's paying attention...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Proposed Ordinance #1383 - Justification?
At the April 7 Public Meeting around the 20'30" mark (feel free to take a look and listen below), the borough CFO steps to the microphone to provide expert testimony on the justification of raising the appropriations cap (ordinance #1383 starts on page 18). She indicates that the cap needs to be raised because the inflation rate last year exceeded 4%.
Sounds reasonable enough, except that the folks over at the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Consumer Price Index (CPI) for calendar year 2008 experienced a gain of 0.1%. Since the borough CFO explained that the appropriations included employee salaries, a look at the total compensation costs for calendar year 2008 experienced a gain of 2.4%.
At this point, readers are probably suspicious that this blog writer is using national data, which may not fully account for regional differences...
Fair enough.
Looking at the data published by the NY regional office, the CPI for NY-NNJ area in 2008 experienced a 1.6% gain. Total compensation costs for the NY Metro area increased 1.9% for 2008. The default appropriations cap of 2.5% (not requiring an ordinance) appears sufficiently adequate to cover these costs.
Consumable costs and staff compensation do not appear to justify raising the appropriations cap, leading to the question: Do our elected borough officials appear to be stimulating the economy (here and here) on the backs of borough taxpayers?
How about YES to banking any leftover appropriations and NO to raising the cap? If you feel perfectly comfortable with paying more taxes without apparent justification, DO NOT call your councilperson and DO NOT attend the borough hall meeting Wednesday evening. Your silence will ensure that this public-reviewed tax increase will be adopted.
Sounds reasonable enough, except that the folks over at the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Consumer Price Index (CPI) for calendar year 2008 experienced a gain of 0.1%. Since the borough CFO explained that the appropriations included employee salaries, a look at the total compensation costs for calendar year 2008 experienced a gain of 2.4%.
At this point, readers are probably suspicious that this blog writer is using national data, which may not fully account for regional differences...
Fair enough.
Looking at the data published by the NY regional office, the CPI for NY-NNJ area in 2008 experienced a 1.6% gain. Total compensation costs for the NY Metro area increased 1.9% for 2008. The default appropriations cap of 2.5% (not requiring an ordinance) appears sufficiently adequate to cover these costs.
Consumable costs and staff compensation do not appear to justify raising the appropriations cap, leading to the question: Do our elected borough officials appear to be stimulating the economy (here and here) on the backs of borough taxpayers?
How about YES to banking any leftover appropriations and NO to raising the cap? If you feel perfectly comfortable with paying more taxes without apparent justification, DO NOT call your councilperson and DO NOT attend the borough hall meeting Wednesday evening. Your silence will ensure that this public-reviewed tax increase will be adopted.
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