Thursday, March 18, 2010
The winner is the town with the highest return rate for 2010 Census forms; South Orange's village president and Maplewood's mayor have agreed that the winner will be treated to lunch.
GOVERNMENT|Yesterday
South Orange Village President Douglas Newman and Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca have announced a friendly competition to see which town can get the highest percentage of residents to complete their 2010 Census forms. They've agreed that the winner will treat the loser to lunch in the winning town. The competition encourages all residents to promptly complete and mail back their 2010 Census forms, now arriving by mail, to achieve the highest percentage return rate. In 2000, 72 percent of Maplewood residents and 71 percent of South Orange residents returned their Census forms. 2010 Census form return rates will be viewable online, starting March 22. Every year, the federal government distributes more than $400 billion to state and local …
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A look at the governor's proposal, which he announced on Tuesday, March 16.
Gov. Chris Christie's proposed FY 2011 budget will be discussed and debated in town and school chambers over the next few months. Patch has put together this list of frequently asked questions about the governor's proposed budget as a way to help readers understand the proposals. What is this property tax constitutional amendment? Christie is asking the state legislature to approve an amendment to the state constitution calling for a cap of 2.5 percent in annual property tax increases. In addition, he is calling for a constitutional amendment capping state budget increases at 2.5 percent. What is the procedure to amend the state constitution? Both the Assembly and the Senate will need to pass the amendment by a two-thirds majority. The …
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Board of Trustees has continued to whittle down the municipal tax increase from the 29.4 percent it had to start with.
As of Monday night, the Board of Trustees is working with a budget that contains a 6.8 percent municipal tax increase. When the budget was first introduced, there was a projected 29.4 percent hike. It has been whittled down since December, as the BOT continues to crunch the numbers. Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce Tuesday afternoon that he will slash state aid by 15 percent, which would raise the tax increase in South Orange by about 1.5 percentage points, bringing it up to 8.3 percent. The number is also contingent on cuts discussed in Monday night's budget workshop. In the capital budget, the BOT agreed to cut the $60,000 allocated to SOPAC, saying the performing arts center has yet to meet with the Board or submit a list …
40.746058
-74.257438
Village Hall
101 S Orange Ave
/articles/municipal-tax-hike-sits-at-68-percent
6722
/locations/315598
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Assemblyman John McKeon of the 27th District expects budget cuts to be "deep and profound at all levels."
Officials across the state are waiting with bated breath for Gov. Chris Christie's March 16 budget announcement, when the scope of cuts will be clearer. Based on a recent conversation with the governor, Assemblyman John McKeon says he's anticipating a "doomsday budget." "I would imagine the cuts are going to be deep and profound on all levels," he said. The South Orange-Maplewood school district lost $2.2 million in current-year state aid when the governor froze $475 million in funding to districts based on their surplus to help close a $2.2 billion budget gap. McKeon noted that forcing districts to drawn down their surplus will be injurious to their bond rating and ultimately impact taxpayers. McKeon also believes that existing funding …
40.746293
-74.259902
/articles/assemblyman-reflects-on-upcoming-state-budget-announcement
/locations/304802
Monday, March 8, 2010
Chief of staff Rich Bagger says the governor will address fiscal issues of local governments, along with state government, in the budget.
Gubernatorial chief of staff Rich Bagger is remaining mum as to the specifics of Gov. Chris Christie's soon-to-be-released budget proposal and the impact on local governments and school districts. Bagger said the budget, which Christie is due to announce on March 16, is still being worked on, including sections regarding state aid to municipalities and school districts. He said cuts are being made to the budget across the board in order to address the multi-billion dollar budget deficit facing the state. "Every part of the state budget is under scrutiny," he said. Christie last month cut $475 million in state aid to school districts for the remainder of the current state budget year, which ends on June 30. The cuts, which included a …
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Only eight students were enrolled in the half-day kindergarten program this year.
At their Wednesday night budget workshop, where data was presented by the Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, the Board of Trustees decided to do away with the Baird's half-day kindergarten program and perhaps re-focus on boosting preschool enrollment. Village President Douglas Newman pointed out that only eight kindergarteners were enrolled at the Baird this year, six of whom were from Maplewood, and that the school district now offers full-day kindergarten. Also, while the kindergarten program generated a modest 11 percent margin in revenues in 2009, it falls short of the 20 percent sought for Recreation programming to cover the overhead costs of full-time staff, administrative staff and operation of facilities. "The question …
40.746058
-74.257438
Village Hall
101 S Orange Ave
/articles/bot-opts-to-do-away-with-kindergarten-at-the-baird
6722
/locations/301263
The grant will be used to obtain thermal imaging devices, monitoring and sampling devices and hazardous materials equipment.
POLICE & FIRE|Thursday, March 4
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. announced Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security has awarded a new federal FIRE Assistance to Firefighters Grant to the South Orange Fire Department. The $37,525 grant will help the fire department obtain thermal imaging devices, monitoring and sampling devices and hazardous materials equipment. "The firefighters of the South Orange Fire Department will now have state-of-the-art technology available to them when they answer a fire call. They deserve nothing less given their responsibility of protecting their community that includes Seton Hall University," said Pascrell, who introduced the Firefighter Investment Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act in March 1999, in a press release. "The FIRE Act was …
40.745257
-74.260864
South Orange Fire Department
56 Sloan St
/articles/fire-department-receives-37k-grant
6450
/locations/301184
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
South Orange and Maplewood court services draw closer to merger.
After more than two years of planning and discussion, the South Orange Village Trustees took action last Wednesday to approve the merger of the Village's municipal court with that of Maplewood. Tuesday night, it was the Maplewood Township Committee's turn to make their move. Mayor Vic DeLuca said that the next step in this process is to have counsel for the two towns draft an agreement. In the meantime, the counselors—Roger Desiderio for Maplewood and Steven Rother of South Orange—would also write a letter to Superior Court-Essex Vicinage Assignment Judge Patricia Costello to seek approval of the court merger. DeLuca also said that it was time to set up an implementation committee made up of Ryan Bancroft—who would be administering the new…
40.722367
-74.257778
1618 Springfield Ave, Maplewood, NJ
/articles/maplewood-to-draw-up-agreement-for-shared-court
/locations/300150
Bret Schundler discussed surplus freezes and possible reductions in state aid allocations at a panel on Monday.
Bret Schundler, newly sworn in as New Jersey's Commissioner of Education, defended the cuts in school aid already enacted by the Christie administration and warned educators Monday that more are on the way. Schundler spoke at the Garden State Coalition of Schools meeting at Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School Monday night. The topic of conversation was the current financial state of education in New Jersey. Many districts represented received notice recently they would not be getting the remainder of the state aid they were expecting. And most are also expecting state aid cuts for the 2010-2011 budget year. "We all know we're in trouble here–in the state, in the country, in the local districts," said Lynne Strickland, executive director…
40.714226
-74.359518
272 Morris Ave, Summit, NJ
/articles/education-commissioner-defends-budget-cuts-5
/locations/300141
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
About 750 deer have been removed from county open spaces in the last three years.
Essex County officials are committed to their deer management program on county land, and are considering expanding it further next year. Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, Jr. held a press conference Monday on the 2010 deer management program and told the crowd the deer population in the county has been reduced by 750 in the last three years. County officials have been reducing the deer population via a hunt starting in South Mountain Reservation three years ago. The program was expanded to Eagle Rock and Hilltop reservations for 2010. The program cost $88,000 in its first year and $82,000 in its second year. Because of the weather forcing fewer days of hunting in 2010, the cost was $60,000 this year. "This is not something I want …
40.74184
-74.292237
South Mountain Reservation
112 Glenview Rd
/articles/county-officials-committed-to-annual-deer-hunt-3
6730
/locations/299419
I would like to clarify the statement in your March 4 article that states "Only eight students were enrolled in the half-day kindergarten program this year." The half day Kindergarten @ The Baird program accepts no more than 8 students. We believe that a small group setting is best for young children. That said, we could have comfortably expanded to include more students given the space and more … more ›