ASBURY PARK – This is a city in flux, and it isn’t just the demographics and economy that are changing – it’s the government.

A commission charged with examining Asbury Park's charter told the City Council they are going propose changes to the municipal government on Monday night.

“We are going to recommend a new form of government,” Pamela Lamberton, chair of the Charter Study Commission, said.

The Asbury Park Charter Study Commission began meeting December 2012 to review the city’s charter.

“We haven’t decided on a form yet,” Lamberton said. “We hope to accomplish that this Monday night.”

Tax appeals are being cited as the biggest reason behind the municipal government’s proposed $5 million tax hike in its $71 million budget presented at Thursday’s Township Committee meeting.

Property taxpayers could see significant increases in both the municipal tax rate and the school district’s tax rate. The school tax levy increased by $7 million in the 2013-14 approved Board of Education budget.

Township Manager Michael Muscillo said the increases are largely caused by $1.7 million set aside for property tax appeals, a $40 million decrease in the overall tax base, costing $1.7 million in taxes, and a $1 million increase each for contracted salaries and health benefits.

“It’s not a spending problem, but a revenue problem,” Muscillo said. “We got killed on tax appeals.”

The trend of declining property values is evident all over Ocean County where the $386 million county budget introduced in April, is also plagued with a $10 billion taxable real estate decline and calls for an increase of 3.7 cents per $100 of assessed value.

While Lakewood was spared significant damage from the storm, it was still left with a $5 million Sandy cleanup bill, officials said.

Yet, some items in the municipal budget remained untouched, such as spending about $1.5 million for free trash pickups for nonpublic schools and universities and houses of worship.

The proposed new tax rate of 78 cents is an increase of less than 9 cents per $100 assessed property value.

During the past three years, township and school district officials did not raise taxes.

The public hearing for the municipal budget will be 7:30 p.m. July 11, at Township Hall, 231 Third St.


Source: APP

A religious counselor in Brooklyn's ultra-orthodox Jewish community was sentenced Tuesday to 103 years in prison following his conviction in the abuse case of a girl who came to him with questions about her faith.

Nechemya Weberman was convicted in December of sustained abuse of a child and other charges. His trial put a spotlight on the insular Satmar Hasidic sect in Brooklyn and its strict rules governing clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world.

Assemblyman David Rible knows how to milk the pension system. The famous Assemblyman that still collects a disability pension after retitiring at age 31 for a back injury, yet runs marathon races,now feels he is calable of analyzing job growth in NJ. 

He announced this week that job Growth Numbers in NJ were Encouraging To Business. 

By Charlie Reese 

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

Two Bergen County Democrats have introduced legislation in the state Assembly to impose an additional 5 percent sales tax on guns and ammunition to go toward safety improvements at schools and other government buildings.

If the bill (A3727) becomes law, the full sales tax on guns and ammunition will rise to 12 percent from 7 percent.

"Since the incident in Newtown, you start to listen to people," said Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D-Bergen), a co-sponsor of the measure with Assemblyman Tim Eustace. "I’m listening to students. I’m listening to educators. I’m listening to everybody. I think the first thing has to be to take care of our infrastructure. Then comes the second question: Well, how are we going to pay for this?"

(AP)
The Transportation Security Administration confirms that it is getting rid of airport body scanners that produce a naked image of travelers.

Right now the TSA uses two types of scanners. One makes a generic image showing where agents should look for an object on the traveler's body. Those scanners are staying.

Lakewood, NJ - While many are struggling with the difficult economic climate, a young orthodox entrepreneur expects to close $3 billion in commercial loan closings in the upcoming year.


Ira Zlotowitz, co-founder of Eastern Union Funding told commercial real estate news site GlobeSt.com that his company hopes to triple the volume of financing done in the 2012 calendar year.


According to Zlotowitz, commercial lending has strengthened over the past eighteen months and he expects the trend to continue. With $700 million in deals currently underway Eastern Union, which has offices in Flatbush, Howell, New Jersey and Bethesda, Maryland, is hoping to have a banner year.