HOBOKEN -- Hoboken mayoral candidate Frank Raia said Monday that he’s glad that Hoboken state-appointed fiscal monitor Judy Tripodi says taxes will go down this year (about $400 a year for the owner of a $160,000 home, she told the Jersey Journal on Saturday.)
Raia said that during every debate, he advocated what Tripodi now says: Substantially cutting the $6.5 million reserve for uncollected taxes. Since the city’s collections were good last year, they don’t have to set aside as much.
“I’m glad she finally agrees with me,” Raia said.
He also released a press release touting his own kind of economics, saying that mayors have to stop pushing feel-good plans that raise taxes.
“Parks cost millions to create and millions to maintain,” said the release. “They inflate the budget and raise taxes when they are not properly funded. And Hoboken already has 20 parks - many of which are underutilized.
“Imagine if President Obama ran his campaign for President on the need for parks last year, during our nation’s worst economy in decades. He would have misread our country’s most basic needs. Parks were not a priority for the United States in 2009, just as parks are not a priority for Hoboken in 2009.
“Dawn Zimmer’s entire political career has been spent rallying for projects that can make the financial crisis worse. If Dawn Zimmer understood the present economic climate, the creation of parks would not be the keystone of her political career. The time spent on parks should have been used to create a budget and create new sources of revenue to reduce the taxes.
“According to Raia, ‘I have created successful businesses and I will create a successful City. Mayor Bloomberg answered the call for New York City and I will do the same for Hoboken. It is time to focus on priorities and improve Hoboken’s economy. If the acting mayor hasn’t mentioned or improved the economy in the past two years, she will likely misread the economy for the next four years.’ ”
(Ed. Note: Zimmer was not mayor for the last two years, but was on the City Council. She only became acting mayor in August.)
“Economies are not built on parks. You enjoy leisure in the park when you no longer have to worry about the economy. Politicians campaign on parks; business people run for government to improve the economy.”
What do you think, readers?
Every year, there will be a few (hopefully) property owners who don't pay their taxes. In order for the city to be able to pay its bills, the state makes everyone else chip in a little more to make up for the uncollected taxes.
The city is required to set aside an amount based on whatever amount was not collected by the end of the last fiscal year. Because the bills went out late during the 2008 debacle, payments came in after the end of the fiscal year and the "uncollected" reserve was artificially high.
This year, bills went out on time. Taxes came in on time. The reserve will go down to what is always is - a few hundred thousand.
There's nothing to advocate for here. There's no plan that needs to be agreed upon. It will happen automatically and the $6M reserve becomes surplus.
Raia likening himself to Bloomberg got to be one of the funniest statements of any of the candidates during this campaign! A guy calling himself "Pupie" for crying out loud and having serious trouble stringing together a proper sentence should really not stick his neck out that far!
Somebody's got it backwards.
No thank you! I'd rather have Zimmer's sense of fiscal responsibility and government transparency.