Comments
een_pintje t1_isyu4pm wrote
Actually it looks like Solomon was the one to say "the only word I have for this is unacceptable" - and then he voted against it. Him and Gilmore really need to be protected at all costs.
DavidPuddy666 t1_isyvpim wrote
Solomon yes. Gilmore though has been a major NIMBY, allying with the likes of Boggiano to try to take down the Affordable Housing Overlay.
pixel_of_moral_decay t1_iszvvgj wrote
They only did that because it’s purely posturing.
PrincipleOfMoments t1_it2utx4 wrote
You're right - I mistakenly attributed his comment to a yes vote. My bad.
OkAbbreviations4982 OP t1_isz0fwc wrote
This is solely the municipal budget and had nothing to do with the BOE. Property taxes are school budget + municipal budget + county.
dasuberblonde t1_iszeglg wrote
City Hall is supplementing the BoE right now because they've been so irresponsible with their finances
OkAbbreviations4982 OP t1_iszncu9 wrote
Explain further. As far as I know the state was subsidizing our school taxes with state aid at a disproportionate level. It was the removal of that aid, which was phased out over a few years, that led to the recent third quarter increase. The municipal budget, which we are discussing here, is entirely separate.
PrincipleOfMoments t1_it2wz5p wrote
You're right about the article you posted being solely about the municipal budget, which is the only one the city council gets to approve/reject.
I referenced the separate issue of the huge increase in the BoE budget, apparently not offset by the subsequently "discovered" windfall, because it is a factor in the total property taxes and emblematic of the overall problem, which is that the politicians (BoE members are elected, do they're politicians, too) responsible for setting the taxes generally take the same, totally insincere and pandering approach of condemning tax hikes and vowing that this will be the "last time" they agree to an increase and that "things need to change", and then put on the same performance again year after year.
I also referenced it because an alternate approach might have been for the city council to have increased the payroll tax to account for the BoE claimed shortfall instead of raising taxes on the homeowners instead of approving a budget that put the burden on the residents. I'm sure the response to that would be that they don't want to drive businesses away. Hey, that's great, but the alternative is forcing residents to move.
And, of course, we the public are partly to blame because while we grumble now, we keep voting in the same people.
OkAbbreviations4982 OP t1_it3g1yy wrote
No you didn't, you blamed the BOE for this.
"Well, clearly the BoE and City don't, since taxes are going up again, allegedly due in major part to the BoE budget."
The payroll tax isn't working because people are refusing to pay it and Fulop has describes it as unworkable. Mack Cali and LeFrak took the city to court over it and lost and then the city asked the BOE to forgive any interest these huge companies accrued, a courtesy not afforded to home owners.
PrincipleOfMoments t1_it3re96 wrote
I blamed the BoE and the city council, just as the portion of my original quote you clipped says.
The BoE most certainly deserves blame because their budgets go up seemingly without concern for the economic realities the residents that fund them face.
The city also deserves blame, and if you accurately described the situation with the payroll tax, then that is a terrible job by the city since the tax was upheld by the NJ Supreme Court so there is no reason for it not to be fully enforced.
OkAbbreviations4982 OP t1_it4bju8 wrote
You're attributing it "in major part to the BOE". The increases are practically identical and my point it that there was much wailing and nashing of teeth over the BOE budget from the city and Fulop but now they have done exactly the same thing and blamed the same cause.
Here's the unenforceable article - https://www.insidernj.com/fulop-calls-state-legislators-fix-payroll-tax-loophole/
PixelSquish t1_it01l29 wrote
the biggest chunk is for police, and while they do some good, for so many things they are literally useless. policing needs major change in this country, not just here, but you don't get what you pay for.
madmanxwater t1_it0akqn wrote
I have no idea what the police in this city do. Get them out of their cars and onto the streets. Maybe they would loose some weight walking.
Treethan__ t1_it0y5fz wrote
Police here are somehow the more useless than police. Which I know doesn’t make sense but literally cops here are garbage
ILoveHotDogsAndBacon t1_isyk9eu wrote
What bunch of clowns. And somehow boggiano makes the most sense out of all of them
podkayne3000 t1_isz6b8s wrote
So, Jersey City ranks about 35th out of 100 in terms of combined state and city spending per resident, and about 52nd in terms of city spending per resident:
https://ballotpedia.org/Analysis_of_spending_in_America%27s_largest_cities
podkayne3000 t1_it37py7 wrote
What kind of person downvotes a link to data?
bacon-wrapped_rabbi t1_it0lnca wrote
The council members: Let's just say it moved me...TO A BIGGER HOUSE! Uh oh, I said the quiet part loud and the loud part quiet.
Dependent_Map_3940 t1_iszgezj wrote
“take shots”🙄
khodakk t1_it2j5a4 wrote
Lol they pretty much said, yea this is gonna suck for the tax payers but if we don’t pass it we need to make cuts and that effects me more so I vote YES. But let’s make sure we get this under control next year….or I’ll need to vote yes again to more taking more money.
PrincipleOfMoments t1_isykhyh wrote
Typical politicians.
Comment: "Things have to change here. This can't continue." Vote: Yes Comment: "This is not a happy budget." Vote: Yes Comment: "The only word I have for this is unacceptable." Vote: Yes Comment: "This needs to get reined in, the overspending." Vote: Yes
Nothing changes because nothing has to change. Taxes go up, modest income people have to move and wealthier people fill their spots. Rinse and repeat.
Remember the Jersey City payroll tax implemented in 2019 specifically to fill in the loss of state funding for the Board of Education?
Remember the $84 million "windfall" in Covid-related federal funds the BoE received a few months ago?
Well, clearly the BoE and City don't, since taxes are going up again, allegedly due in major part to the BoE budget.
But at least you can console yourself with those empty condemnations of the budget above while you put your house up for sale or move because of an unaffordable rent increase.