Monday, August 21, 2006

Newark property taxes to jump 8%

From the Star Ledger:

Newark taxes to go up 8%

Newark residents are facing an 8 percent increase in property taxes, according to a new budget unveiled by Mayor Cory Booker today. Booker said the city is in a fiscal crisis and blamed his predecessor, former Mayor Sharpe James, for years of fiscal mismanagement.

The prior administration borrowed against our future with no regard or plan for repayment, Booker said in an address in the City Council chambers. This irresponsible financial practice was made significantly worse by the prior administration's wasteful spending, failure to collect and develop other sources of revenue, clear mismanagement and bad planning.

If the budget passes, the city's new tax rate would be $2.49 per $100 of assessed property value - an increase of $0.19.

Booker said his administration plans to maintain this tax rate for the 2007 fiscal year and that he plans to cut his salary by 8 percent.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

and who do you think is buying
homes in Newark?

8/21/2006 05:05:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I saw a two family , in hackensack,.been sitting since
last october.

579k each side.

its not worth 250 each.

the small back yard backs into
the rear of Hackensact Hospital.

So you can sit and listen to
all the machines.

What madness, and its in a getto.

8/21/2006 05:07:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How much more can the taxpayers of
NJ take?

It's not only Newark, but all
over.

Whats the answer?

Whats going to be left here in NJ?

8/21/2006 05:10:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think booker is doing his best in Newark, but you guys are right Newark new 2 families are way over priced. 5 years ago these were selling for 225,00. Now upwards of 550000 plus in questionable neighborhoods. Developers got rich off of buying lots for pennies on the dollar, these home must cost them about 180000 to build (cookie cutter) then sell to some sucker from NYC for $500,000. When there is no more buyer willing to pay 500,000 developers will leave Newark and all of a sudden the redevelpment of Newark will stop.

Any thoughts of the redevelpoment of downtown Newark water front? And the devils Stadium? What about Harrison and the soccer stadium?

8/21/2006 11:30:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not even $180,000, if you've been around for the construction of any of them, you KNOW how badly the cut corners.

8/22/2006 10:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You have to realize that this was long overdue. James, like Whitman, spent his long tenure cooking the books. It's better to take the pain now rather than when it gets really bad (as the State is now having to do). Even so, Newark still has one of the lowest property tax rates in Northern New Jersey. And while I agree that the new construction is way too overpriced (and often shoddily constructed), many of the older buildings are in fact undervalued. Just look downtown-I saw some elegant and well-kept brownstones on a nice street near NJPAC. They were on the market for 500-700k. They would easily fetch twice that price in JC or Hoboken. In Forest Hill and Ivy Hill, you can still get a pristine French Tudor or Georgian for those kind of prices, whereas you'd be lucky to get something comparable for under a million in Montclair. I actually know someone born and raised in Glen Ridge who bought and spent two years restoring a mansion there. It's awful to say, but pricing up the good pre-war housing stock is the best way to make sure it doesn't decay. It will also spur development outside of downtown, which is really picking up. I've seen rehabbing all over the place. Newark can't stay a poverty sink if things are to improve-income diversity is a must.

8/22/2006 12:37:00 PM  

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