Livingston Taxes Jump 5.7% in $44.5M Budget

The East Orange Water Commission's $2.4 million in unpaid taxes will account for 72 percent of the tax increase.

Livingston municipal taxes will jump more than 5 percent this year primarily due to more than $2 million in unpaid taxes from a single taxpayer.  The Livingston Township Council passed a $44.5 million municipal budget on Monday night. The 2013 budget will include a 5.7 percent tax increase, of which 4.14 percent will be needed to cover $2,403,063 in unpaid taxes by the East Orange Water Commission.  The average home assessment of about $602,308 in Livingston can expect to pay about $140 more than last year. This means the average homeowner’s 2013 municipal tax bill will be $2,602. They EOWC has yet to pay its property taxes dating back to 2009 on about 1,500 acres of land it owns in Livingston. The EOWC continues to hold out even after a …

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Martin Rommer

10:30 am on Thursday, May 16, 2013

I say Millburn and Livingston takes the property under Eminant Domain, and bill East Orange residents directly for the water service. What about non-payers? Cut them off. East Orange demanded tax overpayment refunds a while back did they not? Well, time to pay the piper Carlos! The Township ate the entire refund but not the county or school district who the taxes were split with. Even if the …   more ›

Livingston Introduces Budget with 5.7% Tax Increase

Massive delinquency from East Orange Water Commission drives up taxes.

At their meeting Monday night, the Livingston Town Council introduced their 2013 municipal budget, which includes a tax increase to the average homeowner of 5.7% or $140.25. Township Manager Michele Meade said in a presentation of the proposed budget that this year’s tax increase is driven primarily by a tax delinquency from one taxpayer, the East Orange Water Commission (EOWC). The EOWC owes Livingston $2,403,063. The delinquency is so significant, according to Meade, that it alone will cost the average homeowner $101.51, a tax increase of 4.14%. The budget will be voted on May 13. “While the 5.7% increase is over the 2% levy cap, the increase is permitted by the state because the township has a cap bank made up of unused levy cap amounts…

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Extra State Aid Benefits Livingston School Budget

District's 31.7 percent increase in monies will help in tax relief.

The Livingston School Board recently passed an updated version of the proposed 2012-13 budget, which includes a 31.7 percent increase in state aid.  The Livingston school district will receive a total of $1.835 million in state aid this year an increase of $581,781. As a result, the proposed budget - which was introduced on Feb. 13 - has been adjusted and the extra funds will be used for tax relief, Livingston School District Business Administrator Steven Robinson said on Wednesday. The district also made small adjustments to reflect additional debt service, capital revenues and one anticipated employee retirement.  "However, we still believe we are underfunded from what our share (of state aid) should be," Robinson said.  Superintendent …

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Governor Shows Off His Power

With bill signings and vetoes, Christie got what he wanted. But is that what's best for New Jerseyans?

Many have said the governor of New Jersey is among the most powerful state chief executives in the nation. Recent events should leave no doubt of that. Fresh off a victory that imposes higher pension and health care payments (read: salary cuts) on public employees, as well as pension benefit cuts — yes, when you have to wait longer to retire and have no possibility of cost of living increases, that’s a cut — Gov. Chris Christie wielded his pen like sword last week. He hacked $900 million from the Legislature’s version of his budget, vetoing 30 pages of line items. The biggest cut was $500 million from aid to schools, but he sliced and diced his way through a whole host of programs aimed at helping the poor and numerous social services …

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Library Funding Still Debated by Council

With public hearing approaching, township council is divided on municipal budget.

With just two weeks left before the town council officially votes on the municipal budget, members are still looking to find ways to lower the budget and cut costs for Livingston taxpayers. Republicans have suggested reviewing the amount of money the library is receiving. That’s unlikely to happen as the Democratic majority have said they have no intention of touching library funding. But the battle lines are clearly drawn and the tone of conversation strained on money matters. Michael Rieber and Deborah Shapiro, the Republicans going through their first budget process as new council members, argued last week that they were not aware the council was increasing the library’s funding compared to last year when they agreed on the figure. The …

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Mayor's Report

2011 Budget Preserves All Services

The formal budget presentation will be March 28.

Last Monday the Council unanimously agreed on a budget that will be introduced at our March 28, 2011 meeting; a budget that preserves the services that residents have come to expect, at an affordable cost and one that maintains the fiscal integrity of the township. For the second straight year, operating expenses are lower than what they were in the previous year. After five weeks of meeting with each municipal department head to review their budget, the Council received the Town Manager’s budget recommendation on February 25, 2011. We spent the following weeks discussing that recommendation and seeking further expense reductions. Additional reductions of $106,000 were made to the budget while maintaining all of our services. By the end of…

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Livingston Library Funding in Doubt

Town Council considers cutting library’s budget to ease taxes.

The Livingston Township Council is considering cutting the library’s budget as it studies ways to lower the municipal tax rate. During Monday night's conference meeting, the Town Council met with members of the library's Board of Trustees to discuss the affect of potential cuts. The council is looking for ways to trim the municipal budget, which in its proposed form is expected to amount to a tax increase -- on average -- of $45 for residents. Larry Bergmann, a member of the Library's Board of Trustees, helped break down the library's $3.3 million budget to show where the organization's funds are currently being spent. He explained that $2.7 million is earmarked for necessary expenses that include employee salaries. There are also monthly …

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What Christie's Budget Means for You

Patch answers frequently asked questions regarding the governor’s proposed budget.

In his budget address on Tuesday, Gov. Chris Christie outlined a spending plan that is less than last year’s and includes cuts to state agencies, along with an increase in education funding and proposals regarding pension and benefit reform for public employees. To help you better understand the governor’s proposal, Patch has compiled frequently asked questions regarding the governor’s proposal and the process going forward. Is state aid for education increased? Christie has proposed an increase in state education aid by a total of $250 million. This is an increase in the total amount for the state’s 600 school districts. Most school districts in the state saw a cut in state aid of between 75-percent and 100-percent in the 2010 budget. How…

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Governor's Budget: The New Normal

Christie promises to reduce property taxes, increase aid to schools.

Governor Chris Christie vowed on Tuesday afternoon to continue with what he called a “new normal” in New Jersey, calling for a reform effort that “marks the line in the sand that separates the way things used to be, and the way they are going to be.” Christie said his budget reduces government spending 2.6 percent from last year’s $30.2 billion budget and “marks a departure from the Trenton tradition of budgeting to meet deficit projections that embrace wish-list spending by legislators and assume continuous funding increases that irresponsibly ignore actual revenue sources.” Instead, his budget takes a “bottom to top” approach, and establishes priorities and will fund them based on revenue that is actually available, he said. The 2012 …

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County Says No Layoffs in 2011

Essex County overcome $56 million budget gap, offers $762 million 2011 budget.

By generating additional revenue and leaving vacancies unfilled, Essex County has overcome its $56 million budget gap and has put forward a $762 million budget to the Board of Freeholders for 2011. The freeholders will consider the budget before forwarding it to Trenton later this spring. Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. presented his preliminary budget Friday afternoon and said there won't be any layoffs or furloughs of county employees, but he will seek additional employee contributions to meet rising health care and pension costs. "There's no question, they're going to have to pay more than 1.5 percent," said DiVincenzo, referring to the current amount of employee contribution toward health costs. "We have to deal with (…

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