| Author | Message | ||
     mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 606 Registered: 4-2002 |
Soorladay. I am sure you are right and I am sure these students will be madw aware. There was some research done and last year we had several meetings with residents and SHU. We reviewed some of the legal options, but it never hurts to continue to see what others are doing. SHU pays $143,000 which represented the municipal portion of the property they owned outside the village. | ||
| SoOrLady Citizen Username: Soorlady Post Number: 23 Registered: 9-2003 |
Wow... so who lives in the residential properties? Do they rent them out? I would think that if SHU is charging rent for these properties it would negate their non-profit status and thus, they should pay the same taxes on those properties as their neighbors. | ||
| doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 287 Registered: 3-2003 |
Mark: Is the Seton Hall property included in the South Orange tax base for school and county tax purposes? For that matter, what about all the other tax exempt properties in town? I know that the assessed values of tax exempt properties are shown on the tax rolls, but next to the assessed value it says "tax exempt". | ||
| mrosner Citizen Username: Mrosner Post Number: 607 Registered: 4-2002 |
Yes, it is! I asked the exact same question when all the discussuions came up about PILOT's. And by the way, even if we were to agree to a long-term PILOT, it would still count in the assessed values since they are a tax-exempt property. One could argue the main reason why S. Orange pays more than it's fair share to the schools is because SHU's assessed value counts. | ||
| doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 288 Registered: 3-2003 |
That's what I was afraid of. Thanks anyway. | ||
| Walker Citizen Username: Fester Post Number: 5 Registered: 4-2003 |
Is there no way to have this changed, if the state, county or federal government grants the tax exempt status to the SHU then how can they keep those properties on the tax roll and expect the rest of the residents of the town to pick up the imposed cost, they should either remove the properties assessed value from the towns value or remove the tax exempt status from SHU for them to have it both ways is like making employees of a company pay the rent for office space for one of the companies departments because they do not feel like picking up the cost | ||
| Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 5155 Registered: 5-2001  |
Seton Hall Prep using S. Orange field as I write this. | ||
| growler Citizen Username: Growler Post Number: 233 Registered: 11-2001 |
How about charging a usage fee for using the tennis courts and ball fields. Or any town facility for that matter? | ||
| Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 5157 Registered: 5-2001 |
$8000/hour should do it. | ||
| Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 5158 Registered: 5-2001 |
(At least we know why they're called Pirates now) | ||
| growler Citizen Username: Growler Post Number: 234 Registered: 11-2001 |
Arrrgh matey!!!!  | ||
| J. Crohn Citizen Username: Jcrohn Post Number: 396 Registered: 3-2003 |
"$8000/hour should do it." HAHAHAH! Folks, what the hell do you all opine is going to happen next year when every single property in SO is taxed a minimum of 18.72% more than this year? | ||
| doublea Citizen Username: Doublea Post Number: 289 Registered: 3-2003 |
In all seriousness, I've been wondering for some time now at what point do the taxes really make the "for sale" signs pop-up like weeds and discourage prospective buyers. So far the mid-town direct has overcome that obstacle. At some point, it probably can't outweigh the cost. | ||
| nwyave Citizen Username: Mesh Post Number: 101 Registered: 1-2003 |
Ditto to doublea's comments. I have a real fear that we are going to have a real problem on our hands if we do not get a handle on taxes. We should also have some foresight in that communities that had a more difficult commute the City will begin becoming more accessible as the Secaucus transfer station is phased in - thus making folks more willing to leave (or not move to) SO. | ||
| soresident Citizen Username: Soresident Post Number: 67 Registered: 10-2001 |
Re: Seton Hall usage of SO fields. While I believe Seton Hall Girls' softball plays on what we call "the major league field", they also take total responsibility for all maintenance of that field, and are about to install dugouts there (which will then benefit our recreational baseball teams). Seton Hall Prep wasn't using our fields this afternoon - they were playing a game against Columbia varsity soccer! | ||
| Washashore Citizen Username: Washashore Post Number: 65 Registered: 4-2003 |
Folks: The town, as a whole, missed the chance of changing its "leadership" in the May elections, when the Challengers won 40% of the vote, instead of at least 50.1%. Had we won, we could have, among many other things, replaced the Adminsitrator/CFO/Treasurer of the Village and Bedmate of a BOT member (who does not recuse herself, but votes on the budgets and salary increases that the Administrator/CFO/Treasurer/Bedmate crafts and proposes! Is that legal? Ethical? Moral???)with what in the old days were called "honest forces". While we may pay a very high price in taxes this year and next because of our failure to root out the crooks in May, we will have the opportunity again, in a year and a half, to elect NEW Trustees. If we are successful in winning all three seats, we stand a very good chance of replacing patronage, self-interest, mediocrity, and mismanagement with reason, rationality, intelligence, and community spirit. Start thinking about whom amongst your friends and neighbors would be thoughtful and intelligent candidates for the BOT in May of 2005. Start writing those checks in care of the Coalition to Preserve South Orange so that we can create a booty to fund the type of campaign that will be needed to educate the citizenry, get people to the polls, and THROW THE BUMS OUT. As the 2003 election sadly showed, we cannot count on the "local community newspaper" to cover our issues; in the 2003 South Orange election, the N-R neither attended nor covered the one debate held between the two slates, and didn't have the time to write even one article trying to explain the differences between them. So we will need lots of money to get the word out via alternative media - leaflets, advertizements, Star-Ledger. etc. One person can make a difference, and every person should try. With all of your help, in 2005, we will succeed. | ||
| mayhewdrive Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 388 Registered: 5-2001 |
Washashore, I hope you are not including Patrick Joyce as one of the "bums" to throw out in 2005. I think he has been a consistent & fair voice of reason. | ||
| J. Crohn Citizen Username: Jcrohn Post Number: 398 Registered: 3-2003 |
"We should also have some foresight in that communities that had a more difficult commute the City will begin becoming more accessible as the Secaucus transfer station is phased in..." Wow. A sobering point. Which communities do you expect will benefit, and when is the Secaucus station to be completed or at least available for use? | ||
| Washashore Citizen Username: Washashore Post Number: 66 Registered: 4-2003 |
mayhewdrive: Thank you for that edit. Patrick is clearly NOT included in the "bums" to be removed in 2005. Also, Ms. Theroux may have recused herself from the vote that granted her bedmate a raise. While not recusing herself from Monday night's vote on his proposed '04 budget, she voted NO on its passage. I believe she said before the vote, that the reason she was voting NO was because she wanted the raise in '04 to be higher so the one in '05 could be lower. While dividing the tax burden for '04 and '05 more evenly between the two years may be more humane, one can certainly postulate that the reason she voted NO against her bedmate's proposed '04 budget was because she wants the more even distribution between the two years so that the tax increase in '05, the year in which she is up for re-election, to be lower than it otherwise would if the '04 budget passed as presented. As one famous philosopher once said, "THROW THE BUMS OUT (minus Patrick Joyce)". | ||
| Dan Shelffo Citizen Username: Openspacer Post Number: 59 Registered: 6-2001 |
Its not like SHU was just granted an abatement. Seton Hall has in been in existance since 1856. Its tax exempt stautus is known to all of us and whether you agree with it or not, that fact has to be condsided when making a budget. Painting SHU as the bad guy is one of Trustee Steglitz's deflection of blame techniques. If Trustee Steglitz is the municipal finance expert that he claims to be, he deserves more of the blame for the bonding induced delima that we find ourselves in than the rest of the board. And by the way, is this the same Seton Hall that we were told was going to partner with us on SOPAC? |
