2/ I don't understand Abatements data-doesn't make sense to me. Will call Tax Office tomorrow to inquire. Tab 6 Abatements still has $2.7B, which was pre-Reval (24% ratio) value. Monaco North building alone is still valued at $20M - same value it had in 2015. @Civic_JC
3/ Here's the "Assessments" summary from "UFB-5 Tax Assessments" tab and it shows summary of Tax Base (on left). On Right shows exempt properties incl "Other Assessments" at $11B. That's presumably the abatements (that makes sense for post-Reval value). @EllenXSimon@cjkovach16
4/ The $20.2B on Right side of spreadsheet is property in Jersey City that doesn't contribute to the school tax levy. Some of that is typical exempt property (public bldgs, religious buildings, graveyards, etc).
5/ The $11.97B in 15-F "Other Exempt" is abatements (may be other stuff mixed in...but majority if not all likely abatements). So 11.97B in property x 0.4% current school tax rate = $47.8M in school tax NOT being paid by these properties. This instead is money the city is getting
1/A bit abt last 20 years of property taxes in #JerseyCity & how it can inform problems w school funding in 2018.
This is #JerseyCity’s 3 tax levies (Levy=amount raised by property taxes to help fund the budgets).
Red line is city tax. Green is County. Orange is @jcps_district
2/Notice how much city taxes have gone up in last 20 yrs. last 10 yrs in particular. The school tax have gone up, but at at slower clip. This slower growth results in smaller base on which to increase local revenue in ‘18
3/now let’s look at smaller suburbs nearby. Like Montclair (smallish city), & Maplewood, small town w few businesses to pay taxes. Some diversity but not as much as JC, and more homogenous wealth than JC (which has disparate wealth ie very wealthy & very poor)
This picture tells a story, but it doesn't show the backstory.
This during the BOE meeting at Snyder HS auditorium, which I attended w another JCPS parent & also to support @Harshal623 who, along w Teacher @jnaatus, is driving a civic effort to get filtered fountains in McNair.
I signed up to speak during public comment last night. I wanted to ask a question on record about Special Education. I've been learning about the potential impacts of under-funding for those students from parents. Before publi comment began, this happened:
So when I got up to speak, I asked my planned Q, but I also asked: "You spent 30 min debating $5K, but you have a $30 million cut next spring & none of you are debating that. Why? And related Q: when will we start to see earnest dialog & details from BOE re: #PayrollTax"?
1/If anyone is wondering why the #PayrollTax is needed in #JerseyCity to help fund @jcps_district schools, here's a thread. This is admittedly complicated & fraught w/ legacy & external issues (eg 2% cap) but ultimately public can/should engage & understand this LOCAL problem.
2/ I created a #NJ#PropertyTax dashboard to show property tax history for last 20 years in NJ. Here's the link: civicparent.org/2018/09/27/nj-…
Drill into #JerseyCity (w/in Hudson County). And you'll see tax base growth & also property tax levy growth for City, County, & BOE.
3/ Notice tax base growth of #JerseyCity from 1988 to 2017 (lower left chart). We have largest tax base in entire state in '17. On lower right, notice City property taxes (red line), which correlates somewhat w/ tax base growth (it's going up)...
1/The #HudsonCounty freeholder meeting is packed. Many here due to controversial #ICE contract. These are your freeholders:
Jerry Walker
Albert Cifelli
Anthony Romano
Anthony Vainieri
William O’Dea
Caridad Rodriguez
Kenneth Kopacz
Joel Torres
cc @StPaulsChurchJC@MigrantCenterJC
First time at one of these meetings. Space is large, each freeholder has designated seat similar to City Council. Like city/BOE meetings they are doing student awards and such upfront before ongoing business/votes. cc @TheLocalJC@JerseyTogether@NJ08forProgress@Mahmoud4Congres
FYI there are 21 counties in NJ.
566 municipalities roll up into those counties.
Hudson County has about 15 or so towns including #JerseyCity, Bayonne, Hoboken, more.
2/ NJ Legislature reps huge to our schools because they can advocate at state level for proper funding of our schools, including a) forcing accountability of city (e.g. PILOT reform) & b) allowing for new revenue mechanisms (e.g. payroll tax directed to school coffers)
@EllenXSimon@JCEA_jerseycity TBH-I’m 1 of many parents who advocate more than the JCEA on this. The bar isn’t that high, frankly. That JCEA leadership isn’t more on top of this really big, really pressing challenge is frankly concerning and increasingly noticeable. And it begs lots of Qs.
@EllenXSimon@JCEA_jerseycity I see lots of amazing teachers online who call attention to legit concerns like expenses-and parents have MUCH to learn & should IMHO listen. But I see more teachers as individuals than I do the union as an org w coalition power & I don’t understand why that is
@EllenXSimon@JCEA_jerseycity And twitter convo won’t IMO bridge this understanding gap esp when dialog gets polarized...but maybe more coalition-building & relationship building would. I love my teachers & want to support them which means solutions sooner vs later on long term sustainable LOCAL funding