Thursday, May 16, 2013
Fair Lawn borough council adopted a $46.8 million municipal budget Tuesday that will increase taxes $32 on the average assessed homeowner.
Fair Lawn borough council adopted a $46.8 million municipal budget Tuesday that sacrifices a zero tax increase to build surplus. The council's Republican majority supported the budget, which raises taxes 1.37 percent — $32.37 on a home assessed at $323,679 (the borough average) — but uses a smaller percentage of surplus than any budget since 2007. Democrats Lisa Swain and Kurt Peluso opposed the budget, arguing that council could afford to take an additional $400,000 to $500,000 from the borough's remaining $3,541,900 surplus to keep taxes flat for residents. "After going through this line by line, I think there’s sufficient cushion in many areas of the budget and that would have allowed us to take a little bit more out of surplus," Swain …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
If the budget is approved as introduced, average assessed homeowners will pay about $39 more in taxes than they did last year.
Fair Lawn borough council members' futile attempts to reach unanimous agreement on the budget last year ended up delaying its adoption until July and pushing back the timeline for completion on a number of capital projects. This year, Republican council members didn't let Democratic dissension prolong budget talks. When council members Lisa Swain and Kurt Peluso opposed introduction of this year's budget Tuesday night without providing any advance notice or offering a reason for their votes, Fair Lawn's three council Republicans didn't even bother asking them for an explanation. They simply moved ahead with introduction of the budget, which passed in a 3-2 party-line vote, and the meeting continued. No one spoke another word about the …
Friday, March 22, 2013
The Fair Lawn Board of Education Thursday unanimously passed an $88.3 million budget for the 2013-2014 school year that includes a smaller tax increase than in recent years.
The Fair Lawn Board of Education unanimously approved an $88.3 million budget Thursday that superintendent Bruce Watson said contains the lowest-ever tax increase in district history. Cost savings from last year's custodial privatization, switch to the State Health Benefits Program for employees and receipt of unanticipated additional state aid freed up the board to increase expenditures by more than $2 million while upping taxes only 0.85 percent, or $73.88 on the average assessed homeowner, Watson said. Far from being a one-year gimmick, Watson stressed that the district's finances are in order for the foreseeable future. "Fair Lawn is financially positioned as probably one of the best districts in at least Bergen County," he said. "…
Thursday, March 14, 2013
If council approves the manager's budget as presented Tuesday, Fair Lawn residents are looking at a 1.38 percent municipal tax increase this year.
Fair Lawn isn't yet out of the woods when it comes to finances, but the messages of doom and gloom that permeated last year's municipal budget presentation were largely muted Tuesday when manager Tom Metzler and chief financial officer Karen Palermo laid out this year's financial roadmap for borough council. The budget they presented calls for a 1.38 percent tax increase, rebuilds the surplus, pays down the debt service and contains no notable service or personnel cuts. An average assessed home will be taxed $2,836.72, or about $39 more than last year, Metzler said. "It’s that tax and spend council again, holding debt service flat and actually paying down some debt. Imagine if the United States of America did that," Deputy Mayor Ed …
Friday, March 1, 2013
The Fair Lawn Board of Education Thursday unanimously passed an $88.3 million preliminary budget for the 2013-2014 school year.
As a result of cost-savings from the district's custodial privatization and switch to the State Health Benefits Program for employees last year, Fair Lawn schools superintendent Bruce Watson said the district's 2013-2014 budget paints the rosiest tax picture residents will have ever seen. The Fair Lawn Board of Education unanimously passed an $88.3 million 2013-2014 preliminary budget Thursday that raises annual taxes $73.92 on the average assessed homeowner -- a 0.85 percent increase that Watson claimed was "the lowest it's ever been in the history of Fair Lawn schools." The proposed budget, which is scheduled for official adoption on March 21, adds approximately 11 staff positions, introduces a supplemental "full-day" kindergarten …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The borough mailed out its resident surveys this week in an attempt to gauge public opinion on the worth of various borough services and amenities.
The borough mailed out its resident surveys to all Fair Lawn property owners and renters this week, a few days earlier than anticipated. The two-page double-sided surveys, which ask residents to answer questions about demographics, municipal engagement and social service preferences, must be completed and returned to the borough -- via mail or borough building drop-off -- by Oct. 1 to be considered. The responses provided by residents will inform the council’s future budgetary decisions around what services the town may be forced to reduce or eliminate in wake of today's harsh economic realities. "If you don’t exercise your right to respond to a survey, then don’t complain about your elected officials making the best judgment that they …
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
The superintendent will respond to a series of resident-submitted questions submitted about the school budget and taxes at a public meeting in late September or early October.
The cost-conscious group of residents who call themselves the “Unhappy Taxpayers of Fair Lawn NJ,” are in the process of gathering school spending-related questions from within their ranks to pose to the district’s superintendent who has agreed to provide answers at a special public meeting next month. Members of the group, whose stated mission is reduce taxes by reining in school and government spending, expressed concerns with the district’s teacher salaries and per pupil costs at the Board of Education meeting on July 19. They had approached the borough council asking for similar municipal spending justifications earlier in the month. Board members responded to the group's concerns by explaining that in many cases the district’s …
Friday, July 27, 2012
The borough will mail out a four-page survey to all property owners on Sept. 1 asking residents what services they need and what services they can live without.
Whether you love Memorial Pool or want to see it permanently drained, visit the library daily or haven’t checked out a book in years, receive email updates about town events or don’t even have internet access – Fair Lawn’s mayor and council want to know. On Sept. 1, the borough will mail all Fair Lawn property owners and tenants a four-page survey with questions about demographics, municipal engagement and social service preferences in an effort to gauge resident opinion. The answers provided by residents will inform the council’s future budgetary decisions around what services the town may be forced to reduce or eliminate in wake of today’s harsh economic realities. “Governing is about setting priorities,” Deputy Mayor Ed Trawinski said …
Monday, July 23, 2012
The borough should expect to collect $1,072,586 more in taxes from just its top 10 taxpayers alone this year.
Fair Lawn's reassessment shifted a greater portion of the town's tax burden from residents onto commercial property owners, leaving some business owners concerned about their estimated tax increases. Collectively, the town's top 10 taxpayers will alone pay $1,072,586 more in taxes than before their properties were reassessed. Of the town's 10 highest assessed properties, only one will see its tax burden decrease as a result of the reassessment -- The Hyatt Place hotel. Hyatt Place's post-reassessment value dropped $4,299,500, or 24.6 percent, taking it from the town's fifth highest assessed property to its seventh. Like any property that had its value decrease by more than 18.4 percent, the Hyatt will pay less in taxes going forward. The …
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Missed any of this week's news? It's all right here
Following an internal affairs investigation, the borough has brought administrative charges against Capt. Joseph Cook, his attorney said. In November, the attorney for a police lieutenant who brought suit against Captain Joseph Cook had alleged that Cook and an administrative assistant were destroying documents related to the lawsuit. Cook has been cleared of any wrongdoing, his attorney confirmed. Council adopted a $46.4 million budget Tuesday that calls for a 4-percent tax increase on the average assessed home and includes no employee furloughs or layoffs. Before they spoke out against council's decision last year to deliver a zero percent tax increase and deplete the town's surplus, the mayor and deputy mayor supported it. The borough …
Jessie
7:21 pm on Friday, May 17, 2013
Keep voting for ReBLOODlicans and DemoCRIPTS and the gang members will continue to steal from you. Its your fault, you voted them in, you consented to their nonsense. more ›