Andrew and Andrea Santamaria are Verona residents and the owners of the new Liberty Tax Service franchise in Montclair. They are launching a food drive–dubbed “Soup or Bowl”– to benefit the Human Needs Food Pantry, and it could also benefit you. From now through February 4, if you bring in five or more non-perishable...
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The Verona Board of Education approved a school budget last night that will have one of the smallest impacts on your household budget in years. The general fund tax levy portion of the budget–$27,158,147–works out to about $104 more per year for the average Verona home. That compares with a $190 per home increase...
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Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has assigned an ‘AA’ rating and stable outlook to Verona’s series 2010A and 2010B general obligation bonds. In a note, the ratings agency said it based its decision on the township’s stable economy, built-out residential real estate market, very strong financial position and reserves and debt burden, which it...
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Verona withdrew its proposal for an $8.6 million bond from a hearing before New Jersey’s Local Finance Board yesterday after the state board said that it would now oppose back-loaded borrowings. The Verona bond would have included funds for a new fire truck. According to a report in The Record this morning, the Local...
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Summer is a time for escaping and we hope you’ve all had a chance for a break or two. Some of you had Internet access at the beach and the mountains, and we thank you for checking in on MyVeronaNJ while you were away. We cracked 2,000 pageviews in a single day this summer...
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At the bottom of every house file on the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service there is a section for financial information on the property. It contains data on the property’s land assessment and building assessment, its taxes and its tax rate. Since Verona has completed its property tax revaluation, that rate ought to show...
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West Orange has approved a budget that carries no tax increase, but comes with a big catch. According to the Star Ledger, West Orange balanced the budget by accepting a one-time payment of $1.9 million for its cell phone towers. In so doing, the town forfeited an additional $1.5 million in revenue from the...
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“Geez,” a fellow pool-goer said to me the other day, “did you see all that state aid Montclair got for its schools? How come Verona didn’t get it?” The short answer is, because it would have been a really bad idea right now, and here’s why. New Jersey, in its infinite tighten-the-budget wisdom, just...
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People enjoy mysteries. Just look at how many folks are reading Stieg Larsson’s books around Verona Pool this summer. But I have to admit that I am baffled by the mystery mail that I got the other day. Addressed to “VERONA RESIDENT”, it looked as if it had been typed on an old Remington;...
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Before you hold Cedar Grove up as a model of fiscal discipline, consider this: The town has just won the right boost its taxes above the state’s 4% cap. Cedar Grove joins Montclair, Roseland and Irvington in the ranks of Essex County towns that will be over the cap. According to a spokesperson at...
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