Charting the Goings-On in Teaneck
//Teaneck is town with a unique and proud history. I’ve created this blog to provide a place to exchange ideas and share visions for how to solve the challenges facing the town in a manner that brings diverse groups of people together. Contributors are welcome.
Please join us and help Teaneck live up to its promise.
I also created a Facebook Group where residents can bring up and discuss topics about the Township: Teaneck Today
Feel free to click the link, join and share with your neighbors.
//In the State of New Jersey, municipalities may bond up to the debt limit1, which is 3.5% of the equalized valuation2 of taxable real estate.
In plain English: each town adds up the value of all their land, buildings, etc… averaged over the last three years. The limit they can bond is 3.5% of that number. And since the amount each town can bond is relative to their individual valuations, you get a metric that can be compared.
The annual debt statement, allows you to compare neighboring municipalities’ percentage of authorized debt, against each other.
(The data below are pulled from the authorized debt statements submitted to the State)
| Year | Teaneck | Englewood | Bergenfield | Bogota | Hackensack | New Milford |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0.877% | 1.717% | 1.648% | 0.982% | ||
| 2019 | 0.947% | 1.657% | 0.910% | 1.747% | 1.687% | 1.099% |
| 2018 | 0.826% | 1.818% | 0.520% | 1.279% | 1.273% | 1.128% |
| 2017 | 0.744% | 1.820% | 0.510% | 1.111% | 1.330% | 1.106% |
| 2016 | 0.619% | 1.810% | 0.410% | 1.057% | 1.368% | 0.986% |
| 2015 | 0.605% | 1.809% | 0.423% | 0.841% | 0.881% | 1.022% |
| 2014 | 0.588% | 1.517% | 0.415% | 0.721% | 0.719% | 0.996% |
| 2013 | 0.527% | 1.206% | 0.508% | 0.913% | 0.508% | 0.708% |
| 2012 | 0.487% | 1.069% | 0.534% | 0.913% | 0.698% | 0.506% |
| 2011 | 0.497% | 0.940% | 0.540% | 0.790% | 0.730% | 0.500% |
| 2010 | 0.477% | 0.910% | 0.550% | 0.690% | 0.630% | 0.480% |
//Dear Friends,
Continue reading “We stand in solidarity with our AAPI Community”
//The Settlement with Glenpointe announced and approved by the Township includes:
The full amount the Township is refunding based on the litigation is: $1,711,869 + interest
The chart below indicates the refunds by year, which can also be found in Resolution 58-2021 on the Township’s website.
* While not part of the litigation, years 2011-12 were subject to the “Freeze Act”
//The Glenpointe complex, consisting of Hotels, Offices, Atriums, parking lots and more appealed the assessment of their taxes for the years 2007 through 20101.
Had the Glenpointe prevailed, the Township would have been responsible for refunding over $15 million dollars.
[Note: $15M figure does not take into account tax appeals for years 2011 through 2018, which are included in the settlement agreed to by the parties]After the Superior Court found mostly for the Town, the appeals were ultimately settled for $8,083,000 (including interest).
From Judge Andresini:
(all quotes are fully explained below with relevant links to the opinion)
[T]he court rejects Plaintiff’s expert’s determination of stabilized revenue. Given that the Township’s expert’s stabilized ADR figures are in line with the actual ADR of the subject Hotel for the relevant tax years, did not overstate the effect of the economic downturn on those years, and are supported by the comparable data sets contained in the PKF trends he used, the court finds his stabilization of the subject Hotel’s revenues to be reliable and will adopt his conclusions of revenues accordingly.
Continue reading “Glenpointe Tax Appeal in the Rear-view Mirror”
//After audio surfaced of Alexandra Soriano-Taveras calling for a boycott of Cedar Lane businesses, questions began to swarm about her fitness to represent the 37th District, which includes Teaneck, in the NJ Assembly.
Yesterday, Soriano-Taveras released a statement (see full statement below) via InsiderNJ.
“There was a call to action in Teaneck this past summer and I attended to speak up and speak out against our town leadership who once again was not listening to the voices of our community.”
Continue reading “Soriano-Taveras Apologizes for ‘Doing Nothing Wrong’ in Calling for Boycott”
//ADDING ARTICLE XXXIV, “PRIVACY” TO CHAPTER 2 OF THE TOWNSHIP CODE ENTITLED “CHARTER/ADMINISTRATIVE CODE”
This ordinance will ban the use of facial recognition surveillance technologies by the Township.
These technologies have resulted in innocent people (including this one here in NJ), being held for crimes they didn’t commit. Crimes there were not even anywhere close to. 10 days. Sitting in a cell for a crime you didn’t commit. Continue reading “Teaneck Bans Facial Recognition by Police and Departments”
//On his page, local gadfly Bill Orr has a post about housing in Teaneck.
This is an important issue and worth taking a look at, in depth.
“Housing should be a basic human right for all not just those who are affluent. Increasingly such is not the case in Teaneck. With people moving from NYC and elsewhere to our town, it has brought us higher prices and done little to help those who cannot afford these costs.”
There are two ways to reduce housing costs.
What does Blue Teaneck suggest Teaneck do? Continue reading “Blue Teaneck Throwing Shade”
//
Dear Colleagues,
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Holy Name has worked tirelessly to provide our patients and the community at-large with the best and most effective treatment possible. More than that, our work, in the fight against this virus has always been driven by our commitment to compassion, empathy and full transparency. As challenges arose during the course of the past year, we stood firmly as a hospital and as a community leader to meet them.
Today, a new challenge has arisen. Unfortunately, due to weather-related issues across the United States, and beyond anyone’s control, shipments of critically important vaccines earmarked for our hospital, have been effectively grounded in different parts of the country. These issues, coupled with the latest storm affecting our own region, have combined to create a great deal of uncertainty around when additional shipments of vaccines will arrive.
As a result, we have had to postpone many vaccination appointments. I truly apologize for the current situation and would like to assure you all that we are doing everything in our power to make sure these much-needed vaccine doses arrive as quickly as possible.
All individuals with appointments have been notified directly already and should continue to monitor their emails and texts for additional, specific, updates related directly to their appointments. I would also like to reassure those who have had their second-dose appointments delayed, that we are confident those rescheduled appointments will be conducted within an appropriate and acceptable timeframe — in-line with the CDC’s guidance.
As the President and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center, and as a member of this community, I fully understand and appreciate your collective and personal frustration with these delays and the current situation we all find ourselves in. You have all put your trust and faith in us. We are committed to making sure that trust has not been misplaced.
Michael Maron
President & CEO
//Parents are willing to put up with a lot, but they will not sacrifice their children on the altar of public education.
Public schools have never been perfect. From education gaps to special education costs, our schools have always faced issues to a degree that isn’t seen in most private educational settings. But those were problems we knew and were dedicated to addressing.
We addressed them in schools.
But now? Continue reading “Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed: South Orange / Maplewood Parents Demand Schools Open”
//When it debuted in 2018, Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With mugshots (including 2 from NJ).
In a test the ACLU recently conducted of the facial recognition tool, called “Rekognition,” the software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who have been arrested for a crime. Continue reading “Coming Soon: Facial Recognition Ban in Teaneck”