The Lakewood township committee voted to raise taxes for the second year in a row for the municipal portion the school board also raised taxes recently which will cost taxpayers between $300 - $500 annually. Committeeman Issac Ackerman was the only one who voted NO.all other 4 voted for the tax increase. .Officials did not comment or say anything when they voted on the budget.The mayor responded to a question that was sent in in which he acknowledged that raising taxes now is probably at the worst possible time
Question sent in : Why are you giving millions of dollars of non mandated services to the public schools when you are raising taxes beyond the 2% cap I have to pay for non mandated services and im paying twice for others. They mismanaged the money they asked for 1.3 last year for sports and didnt even use $500,000 of it they just rolled it into this years budget so even if they are mismanaged or.. have extras they dont have to officially ask twice..
With all the building in town why do you keep raising the taxes?
our tax bills are getting worse and worse each year and its becoming affordable for us tax payers.
The Mayor responded we put a lot of work into this budget and did our absolute best to minimize the pain and there is pain and right now is the probably the worst possible time and lots of people are having a tough time said the mayor including himself.
This budget was worked on for 5-6 months and recently worked to eliminate $750,000
and had to increase money for the reserve of the uncollected taxes because in this situation that reserve will be used up because we need to make sure that the other tax entities once the money comes in
its not an easy thing to vote yes for a tax increase no one is happy with the vote they took
but have a responsibility to make sure the people of town are safe and protected and a vast majority of that increasing is going to the first responders the police department so that will insure that there are people on the streets protecting you day and night
The average tax increase will probably be only $10 a month per house hold but dosnt do that good for someone who is struggling to find those $10 to put on the table right now
we dont take it lightly but will do everything that will keep people in this town healthy.
The mayor said he will not comment on the school board.
If they wanted and were fiscally responsible Lakewood would have a surplus but their policies and spending other peoples money has caused a tax increase.
ReplyDeleteThe police force is from the highest paid in NJ if not the country that is not why taxes have gone up the mayor should be truthful here and not hide behind safety as why they increased the taxes.
The mayor and committee DO have to answer up why they gave millions for the boe for non mandated services at tax payers expense and now raised taxes again when there was no money to spend. Its outrageous to claim that its a boe issue when they gave away hard earn tax money for non mandated programs
There is revenue from Blue claws stadium about 150,000 a year that cost 30 million to build and from other land sold in industrial park but instead of going to the township and adding revenue the money goes back to the LIC bank account and they spend it on pet projects like the airport buying a machine that pulls out tree stumps for 30,000 dollars. Its time to clean house and vote them all out
First- kudos to Issac Akerman. The ONLY one who is caring for the people! Amazing!
DeleteI’m totally with you. The selling of township land that doesn’t benefit the town has to stop!
NO MORE TOWNSHIP GRANTS!!! It’s all on the backs of the tax payers! Shame on you!
Thank you to R' Issac Akerman for looking out and being a true shliach tzibbur on the committee while Issac says no to taxes others say no to shuls and yeshivos
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to vote no when your vote doesn't matter.
DeleteWhat do you want him to do hes like a sheep in a lions den trying to fight for the community You have to vote out the corrupt ones its sad that we have committeemen who if running around threatening rabbonim and shutting down shuls and also increasing our taxes while they financially gain from their positions and policies
DeleteThey gave raises too and added a 3rd garbage shift and poor people are paying for it this is all as a result of the over development which profited a select few and poor kollel guys have to pay more on their taxes. The corrupt politicians did favors for the buddies and pass expenses on to the taxpayers one example is giving waivers for putting in curbs and sidewalks and than the township picks up the tab and pays for it with tax money
ReplyDeletedont blame the politicians blame the sheeple who elect them time and time again while they take advantage and dont have to be accountable. They raise taxes and no one says a word they get away with it once so they do it again and again.
ReplyDeletebut the BOE members took photo ops filling up the shabbos box so we should see how great and kind they are they could not look you in the eye after raising taxes.
ReplyDeleteeven more disgusting that not one of the commiteemen had the courage to even krechtz about what they did there was mention about it in the vaad controlled propaganda website but these commiteemen make sure to always look good with photo ops and propaganda. This is why they have to be voted out when you cant be honest and represent the people who voted for you. BUut honest and politician does not go together,
ReplyDeleteNo mention on the vaad controlled propoganda website
Delete850,000 dollars will be going for playground equipment. But no public discussion where. The last new playground I noticed installed was in a townhouse development. I know for a fact it was not paid for by the residents. Whether it was paid for by the township or the state, it should have been in a public park accessible to all.
ReplyDelete500 thousand dollars is required for emergency covid related expenses. A private yeshiva was able to get 6 million dollars in emergency Covid relief and our township couldn't figure out how to get 500 thousand from the state or federal government?
Our expenses keep going up mainly because rapid growth costs more money than it makes. Irresponsible development which includes giving brand new fancy office buildings 30 year tax abatements, puts all the responsibility on current homeowners. This tax increase combined with the school tax increase will cost homeowners dearly. Some years they will praise themselves that there was no increase and the next year we pay 10 percent more.
The facts are clear. In the years that the town had a normal.growth rate our taxes rose 10 percent over a ten year period. In the 20 years of rapid growth our taxes have more than doubled. There was no reason for this other than to help a few well connected people get what they want.
Everyone is getting a mail in ballot to their homes in the next two weeks . Only one name on that ballot cares about our tax bill.
I’m so disappointed. I want to believe in the politicians of this town. They seem so earnest and nice but I see they really aren’t looking out at all for me- the little guy!
ReplyDeleteIt is not $10 a month like the mayor said. It is actually $150 a year thats for a $300,000 assessment if your house is assessed at $500k then your increase will be $250 annually. Or $20+ a month. This reflects only a small percentage of your taxes liability. Keep in mind when the board of education and the county raise their budgets by the same amount. Most lakewood residents will be looking at over $1000 yearly increase overall.Its highly unethical for the mayor to downplay the increase outcome so drastically.
ReplyDeleteEat your free lunch’s and breakfast and shabbos boxes. Enjoy them. Save money.
DeleteBut then real life sets in. And in real life there are no free lunches. Never was, never is and never will be.