Watch last night's special meeting of the Hudson County Freeholders at Hoboken City Hall on MSV (thanks, Horsey) and your blood will boil.
Another proposed double-digit tax increase (11%) after last year's 14% county tax increase and our representative, Freeholder Stick Romano talks about how many County Roads Hoboken and potholes were repaved.
Very nice. I'll bet that happens in municipalities that don't get double-digit tax increases.
Stick Romano is a very nice guy. But's that all.
Remember this?
 |
| Romano delivers more tax increases |
Romano said in 2014: "...lowering taxes is next to impossible."
Really? Mayor Zimmer did it.
Hoboken municipal taxes have stayed FLAT.
Sorry Stick, but you CAN'T GIVE UP ON HOBOKEN. When your constituents are being forced to sell their homes and leave Hoboken because of annual double-digit tax increases, it's your obligation to FIND A WAY.
Big props to the Hoboken taxpayers who showed up and spoke eloquently about how Hoboken has reached a tipping point. We cannot afford another double digit increase. The mayor spoke about the WORK and SACRIFICES the City made to keep our municipal taxes FLAT.
GA completely agrees with Phil Cohen, who said last night the County must hire an independant firm to do a thorough performance audit of Hudson County operations. Cohen said the Freeholders had already approved last year to perform this audit. So what's holding it up?
County Executive Tom DeGise.
Enough is enough.
Hoboken homeowners are still recovering from property losses from 2012's Superstorm Sandy, and just got whacked again with flooding last week.
This city needs a grassroots campaign to DEMAND the County perform a Performance Audit to CUT TAXES. It is time for Hoboken to organize against this bullshit. Our residents are not a keg for the County Frat House to tap at will.
Another excellent idea (Horsey's): the County should videotape it's meetings like other municipalities do. Transparency, anyone?
Hoboken residents, we must DEMAND a Performance Audit of County Operations, now.
Trust me, it's their worst nightmare.
 |
| credit: graph provided by Phil Cohen |
For all the millions we send to Hudson County can we get them to plant something, anything in front of the gazebo in Columbus Park ? All there is now is a few sticks in the mud. Pun intended.
ReplyDeleteThe bureaucrats running Hudson County do not want their system to become efficient or transparent. The byzantium that is Hudson County government is murky cover for a vast patronage network that enables the highly questionable things to happen without any control by the people who actually pay the taxes.
ReplyDeleteFreeholder Anthony "Stick" Romano is deeply entrenched in that system and will never rock the boat. That is why when Phil Cohen ran for Freeholder asking for efficiency and transparency the County boys circled the wagons and supported go along guy Romano.
Unfair and escalating taxes Anthony Romano and the other Hudson
County Freeholders don't care they don't have to. This meeting was a public realties stunt nothing more.
People love the status quo
ReplyDeleteDo the freeholders still get a free car all paid for? Who else in county government gets this? This is something that can definitely be cut. No reason they need a free car.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when they have recycling days, it's always Jersey City and Bayonne, never Hoboken.
One way to raise revenue, would be to stop Jersey City from issuing more pilots.
Apart from property values, are there any other standards for determining county taxes? The answer and formula seems very vague.
ReplyDeleteAs one example, why should Hoboken underwrite Union City? The most densely populated city in the most densely populated state, mostly occupied by recent arrivals, un-assimilated, and with no desire to do so, legal and otherwise. The ones who can vote, do so for Stack as a bloc, believing his largesse would not last but for their support.
"mostly occupied by recent arrivals, un-assimilated and with no desire to do so, legal or otherwise..." wow - a tad racist there, bud. I'm furious about the taxes too, but I'll never join that particular chorus.
DeleteIf that is anon's observation of Union City, how is it racist? It's one thing to start on the people because of their color, but it's quite another to state that immigrants in a certain area are disinterested in assimilation. Most cities have pockets of immigrants that are like that. Hoboken is just so white we don't see it here.
Deletereally, snoopy? That's your thought on the comment and you're stickin' to it, eh. Try looking at the entire comment. We've got someone resentful because they feel like we're underwriting those 'un-assimilated' and maybe illegal immigrants. I'm surprised that anyone would try to tilt those comments into a reasoned and unbiased comment. Oh, and why do you suppose the commentor picked Union City (a heavily Hispanic community) as opposed to Weehawkin or Seccaucus? I bet some of the commenters best friends are... but, let's not read between the lines or the unspoken message of that comment, why should we, right?
DeleteI'm not saying that it's definitively racist or non-racist. I'm saying that if the statements are true (and I don't know the makeup of union city so I'm not making a conclusion there either) then they're not racist.
DeleteDo you happen to know if those conclusions about Union City are accurate or in accurate? Do you have source information?
Also, I thought we had moved on to hating Muslims. Are we still hating Hispanics? That's a lot of hate to have.
have to admit that original comment struck me as a bit beyond the pale as well, got to agree with anons@11:09 and 8:09 here. lots of unnecessary and divisive insinuations that aren't even relevant to the issue at hand.
DeleteOk. I can see where you're coming from.
DeleteTaxes are virtually impossible to cut? Bullish*t. You start by cutting nonessential expebditures. Then you start laying people off and asking the rest to pick up the slack, just like the tax payers have had to do forever. What do you expect from your government when your elected freeholder is a guy who's never had a job that wasn't with the city and lived (maybe still) in subsidized housing? He simply doesn't know any better and doesn't care what your problem is as a taxpayer.
ReplyDeleteHas the county ever released a detailed budget of the "county schools". Exactly what is the money used for there? How high are the administrative expenses? Is there a lot of overhead? Are the admissions done fairly? And they want to move it and build a new one?
ReplyDelete