Last night we received an email from a reader(We witheld the name, not the writer):
I'm not sure if you've read about a town called West New York, NJ but we've recently been hit with a 27% tax increase. Is this even legal? The town website explains its due to a deficit. Please provide some if any feedback.
ThanksBefore I go on to explain what is going on in the town, I should answer the question. What your town has done is absolutely legal. Towns all across New Jersey have been raising taxes for the past 12 years almost at will. They can raise your taxes property taxes for any reason:
- town expenses go up like garbage pickup
- pension costs for town employees increase
- an unfunded pet projects by a city council
- general budget deficits caused by mismanagement
- on and on and on
In addition to this, the town can through a variety of means increase your taxes not by raising the tax rate but by re-assessing your property for reasons such as building improvements, non-building improvements (a new fence or deck) or because your property value is deemed below market rate outside of a threshold.
Only school expenditures and significant borrowing (I love that one because a town can just spend the money without borrowing and then raise taxes due to the operational deficit) require voter approval. And as most people in New Jersey know of should know, after you reject the school budget the state can come in and declare your rejection of that same budget as invalid (as happened all over NJ last year).
The net is that the only way to force change in your town is to remove the offending town officials via ballot or impeachment if your town charter allows it.
For those of you who have not heard this story,
this article from wcbstv.com will make it clear. Here is the gist of the story:
WEST NEW YORK, N.J. (CBS) ― Angry residents in West New York packed a town meeting Thursday to protest a 27-percent tax hike.
Among the residents there was Sila Rodriquez, who said her blood pressure is going through the roof because she can't afford her property taxes.
"[It's] scary because our income is too low," Rodriguez said.
Rodriquez and her husband said they've seen an $800 increase in their property taxes this quarter. They anticipate paying an extra $3,000 this year.
"We have to lose the house because this is unbelievable," she said. I looked up the town stats (
here) on City-Data and found this information to support what is said in the article:
Estimated median household income in 2007: $40,999 (it was $31,980 in 2000)
West New York: $40,999
New Jersey: $67,035
Estimated median house or condo value in 2007: $435,115 (it was $168,900 in 2000)
West New York: $435,115
New Jersey: $372,300 These poor people are well below the New Jersey income level but are well above the state average in terms of housing. I suspect this chart may have something to do with the revenue shortfall. Maybe the local politicians thought this housing value growth was going to last forever and spent as such.
This situation is sad but all too common. It is the result of the absolutely abysmal management of the state, massive government expansion and spending directed by Trenton politicians and questionable spending policies by local governments around the state. It has also been fed by a tremendous amount of corruption at every level of local and state government.
It is also the reason why we started this blog site. It is also the reason that New Jersey needs a top to bottom scrubbing of government.
Labels: out of control spending, Property taxes, tax increase, tax revolt, west new york new jersey
NJ Tax Revolution
