Thursday, February 26, 2009

West New York, NJ 27% Tax Increase Nightmare!

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.

Thanks


Before 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.


Add to Technorati Favorites

Labels: , , , ,


11 Comments:

At February 27, 2009 at 3:09 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

My suggestion to each and every one of them is to stop paying their mortgage . lets see if Obama really wants to help out working people !

 
At February 27, 2009 at 7:20 PM , Blogger Dennis said...

That is really funny that you say that. I have had the same thought however 92 percent of citizens of this country are actually paying their mortgage on time. Obama keeps asking that percentage to cover the cost of the 8 percent that aren't paying. Sad but true.

Maybe they should all stop paying their taxes. That would be interesting!

 
At March 4, 2009 at 2:02 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Civil Disobedience. Do not pay your Real Estate Taxes. No one pays. In order to be successful everyone needs to stop paying Real Estate Taxes to the town of West New York. Homeowners have the power in their hands. USE IT. The majority of homeowners need to participate. Let's bring government to a scratching halt.

 
At March 29, 2009 at 1:55 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Try looking at Hoboken, NJ. Municipal property taxes went up 47% from one quarter to the next. This type of drastic increase makes West New York's actions _almost_ seem reasonable.

 
At April 23, 2009 at 8:10 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Of course WNY has a deficit. Look at some of the salaries that the people that work for the town are making.
Superintendent $ 241,980
Assistant Superintendent $216,243
Assistant Superintendent - Administrative Services $195,402
and the list goes on.

 
At June 24, 2009 at 10:39 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gov. Corzine stated that there is a surplus of $ 400 million dollars from the Amnesty Tax Relief Program he instituted. It is claimed that he wants to give back some of that money to relieve middle class families for property taxes. Voting on this bill is supposed to happen on Thurs. June 25. Let's be hopeful for a favorable outcome. PEOPLE OF WEST NEW YORK UNITED!!!!

 
At November 15, 2009 at 1:48 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

What would happen to a New Condo property if no one pay's there mortage and only a few pay. What should I do as a property owner if I cannot afford to pay may mortgage and cannot sell my condo? What should I do?

 
At April 15, 2010 at 12:17 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

For the record, the taxes in West NY went up 47% in 1 year just like Hoboken. This happened with no warning. The Mayor agreed to lower them 20% because the amount of protesting and anger that resulted from residents was profound and they also did not get State approval for this increase. West New York has many things that are fundamentally wrong such as a number of residents who owe back taxes, luxury condos that have 30 year tax abatements and an inordinate amount of people in the local goverment who make higher salaries (in some cases several salaries) for literally part time positions, and we pay medical benefits for people and their families who are long past retirement age who are on the books instead of collecting medicaid. West NY is small and relies on a handful of middle class residents to carry all this corruption on their back. Ask yourelseves why a city right on the doorstep of one of the greatest cities (NYC) never seems to add any businesses that would attract real money. Because then that would threaten the status quo. There are a number of people who benefit from the way things are and so not want that to change.

 
At August 24, 2010 at 2:16 PM , Blogger OJ@hunter said...

West New York taxes are up $300 and change for quarter, anybody know if this is true???

 
At September 22, 2010 at 10:13 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Was there any resolution to the tax increase in WNY, NJ? I just got my property Tax bill today and it went up by 23% from last year. I lived in Verona, NJ. All properties in Verona were reassessed last year and so the value stay the same this year, but the tax rate went up by a wobbing 23%, are there any justice????

 
At September 22, 2010 at 10:15 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Didn't NJ just pass the law about NJ property tax has a cap of 2% on increases? Anyone know anything about it?

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home