A 10 percent property tax hike is once again the bottom line in this year’s proposed budget, as township officials say they are trying to compensate for a rise in pension and utility costs, a drop in state aid and a debt that has seen a net increase of $1.2 million.
The $74.14 million budget, if adopted, will bring the tax rate from 45.5 cents to 50.8 cents per $100 of assessed property value. That means someone with a home valued at $300,000, the estimated township average, will pay $1,524 in municipal taxes, $159 more than last year.
This is virtually a repeat of 2007, when the Township Committee adopted a 10.7 percent jump to bring its tax levy to $35.27 million. The anticipated 2008 tax levy will go up by another 12 percent to $39.9 million.
(Source: APP)
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25 Responses
What a shame on the frum board members. I can’t believe that we will let them get away with this. Now we all understand why Egert got almost 1,000 votes. There are many people extremely unhappy with the way this township is squeezing out all the money they can get.
Their excuse is the weak economy. What about us? Are we exempt from the weak economy? They are the only ones who are hurting?
What a joke. We should stop free bussing. It’s just a tax on those of us who either have 1-2 children in school and those people who’s children are no longer in school. The frum are 50% of the population. That means we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Why should I have to pay for someone’s 10 kids’ transportation? Pay it privately, your taxes will go down, and we will all be happy. So they will complain that it’ll cost them more. What about me? I should have to pay for you? That not capitalizism. That’s communism.
What a tragedy. Yoish!
Wrong. On a 300K home it would go up $480. The taex last year on a 300K home was $4,830. add 10%. Maybe its going towards Kollel Checks. LOL
#1 I agree
#2- you are wrong. Notice, the article says “in municipal taxes”. Municipal tax is only a portion of your total property tax.
#1 and #3
What are you talking about.
#1 even if we stop buses your taxes won’t go down, we are dealing with crooks
#2 its not only the busses
its all the illegals in the ps system
its all the new police cars they buy every year
its all the new garbage trucks
its all the new garbage facilities
etc, etc, etc,
There has to be a total stop on spending and waste.
And it will not happen as long as “we the taxpayers” don’t stand up for our rights
Vhmavin Yavin
Considering how many millioms of $$$ the township spent on plowing all that snow this winter, how much it costs them to educate all our yiddishe kinder here in Lakewood, all the extra police they have to pay for in in our Yeshivos ‘drug free school zones’, and the negligible amount of homes built in Lakewood to generate more taxpayers over the past 10 years, its a ‘Peleh Atzuma’ that taxes are ONLY going up 10%! Thank you to tax board!!
#2: Wrong. It’s the municipal portion of the tax that’s going up 10%. Don’t just add 10% to the whole.
It is incredible! The school budget was voted against, yet taxes will go up anyway? My property is assessed for far more than my house even though I bought in a cheaper neighborhood a long time ago, because my neighbors are building huge fancy homes. I am not rich like them, yet I have to pay. I have no children in schools here either. The police never come around to this neighborhood (B”H, we don’t need them too often)My taxes have gone up about 700% since I moved here!
More people moving into Lakewood means more services needed. Streets must be paved,sewers maintained,etc. With more people ,the costs go up. With less working people and more ‘benefits’ needed,taxes must go up.
What can anyone do. The people running this town clearly do not represent the majority of frum people. To continue to raise taxes the way they do while bailing out all their friends and giving them no bid contracts to make money off of us is plain genaivah. THere will be a reconing one day. All you “ASKONIM” remember that!
If free bussing was stopped, traffic would be a complete nightmare.
They should vote the current board members out, and that includes M & M.
not a surprise this has been going on forever
Keep listening to those public letters from
“OUR REPRESENTATIVES LTOELES HORABBIM LOL ” and we will all continue to reap these great benefits of continuous higher taxes. SHAME SHAME on all of us for following like blind sheep . By the way what “debt” is this article talking about ?
To #9,
How dare you comment if you don’t live here?
Everyone has to pay taxes- even Kollel guys and I don’t learn in Kollel! The only guy who is ehrlich on the whole committee is M. Miller. We should learn from Freehold- the voters demanded to cut the budget and they shaved off close to a million dollars. The people running this town don’t care about anybody but themselves and they call themselves “Frum”.
You can rant and rave till Moshiach comes…until the public decides to elect an official that is unaffiliated with BMG and does not have relatives employed by BMG (who will immediately be dismissed from their jobs)then and only then will we have a sincere voice representing the public. The taxes are outrageous in relation to the per capita income. The Township feels that since they overlook basment rentals, provide police for the occassional levaya/street function, they can therefore build enormous, obsolete sports fields, high tech garbage facilities and purchase ridiculously priced property near the strand theater. The individual homeowners are powerless and I assure you, should one man take the stance and don his BMG blinders he will have the backing of thousands of ballei battim and clear-thinking yeshivaliet. Miller and Lichtenstein are good guys with good intentions but each have their financial agenda. There is no simple answer but many honest working ballei battim and struggling yeshivaleit are suffuring terribly from the economy and the upper ups are selfishly concerned that the their mosod be sustained even though its on the backs of the taxpayer. The select few that in past gladly supported the tzeduka orginizations here in Lakewood are quickly dwindling and when that punch is felt at the Tzeduka dinners/journals, hopefull then it will be a wake up call to elect a more public-concerned representative.
thank you vaad
always looking out for mosdos AND yechidim
Try this. Post a sign in Yeshiva that says, WE THE UNDERSIGNED WOULD FOREGO TOWN IMPROVEMENTS AND SERVICES IN EXCHANGE FOR LOWER TAXES. I guarantee you hundreds will sign such a proclamation
vote for Langert in the upcoming elections
#8: My taxes went from $42 to $1900. I think thats way more then 700%
As somebody living in the 5 towns but who has kids living in lakewood I have to agree something smells.
I have compared my kids assessment tax rates with mine and these are the facts. While mine are slightly higher and I pay a bit more I get alot more.
Some of the things that come to mind.
1. Special Education services provided are much better in 5 towns.
2. Bulk garbage comes when you call them, not once a month.
3. No recycling required.
4. They come to get the garbage. You dont roll it out.
5. Snow plowing is very fast for all streets.
6. The library is second to none.
I also want to note that the reason I pay more than my kids is because of school taxes not because of the town tax.
Unfortunately, any individual that attempts to publicly decry the self-appointed Vaad members, and organize a committee to elect officials that will do serious spending cutting, will be labeled “Korach” by BMG.
The Vaad members should be ELECTED by the members of the Lakewood Kehilla. Perhaps then, the frum residents of Lakewood can have a stronger voting bloc, to elect township officials with the kehilla’s best financial interests in mind.
Under the current system, the frum Lakewood residents realistically have no power or input in the township’s policies. On election day, they are given the names to vote for, either the self-appointed Vaad choice, or some anti-semite, obviously leaves no room for choice. However, if the oilam has realistic input who the Vaad will recommend, will almost certainly be beneficial for the bottom line.
Until then, either just get used to it, or get your house under BMG’s name….
Firstly we are in Gulus and this is just a part of it – did anyone pray that the taxes should go down or stay put. No – we think everything is coming to us. Thank Hashem they let us do all our religious things out in the open.
Thank Hashem that he sent shluchim to come to your house to take the garbage, direct traffic, plow snow, put out fires, allow us to build the houses we live in and protect us.
Believe it or not there are “nisht fun unserer” who read this blog and see all this, so write with seichel.
#14 way to say it only one thing maybe we should put some mexicans in power
# kliaynakepel GROISA VERTER well said
in addition to all this , they plan to legalise the basements so they can kill us more by geting inspection money plun an increse of taxes. don’t you think we should unite all parties and do something, enough ……..
why are there no more comments. I guess everyone accepted the hike blindly.