Thursday, April 4, 2013
Board of Freeholders unanimously introduce 2013 budget; public hearing on May 1
Ocean County's equalized tax base dropped $10 billion after Superstorm Sandy slammed into the Jersey Shore last Oct. 29. The county's tax base fell from $100.2 billion in 2012 to $90.2 billion in 2013, largely as a result of the massive storm that devastated the barrier island and some mainland sections, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said. The county tax rate will jump 3.7 cents for each $100 of equalized valuation. But using some of the 2013 county open space tax funds will pare the increase to 3.2 cents, he said. "The tax rate and base work hand in hand," Bartlett said. "We are not going to raise any more in overall tax." Bartlett made the remarks before the freeholders unanimously approved the introduction of the $386,188,713 budget, …
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
County will use open space funds to help make up the difference, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. says
Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. has been compiling public budgets for 40 years. And 2013 is shaping up be the worst year of all, he said. "It is the most difficult budget I have ever worked on," Bartlett said a caucus meeting of the Ocean County Board of Freeholders today. "We have experienced unprecedented damage from Superstorm Sandy." The county fronted the money for storm cleanup for municipalities who signed on for shared services through a $100 million emergency appropriation last November. That money must be made up in increments of 20 percent over the next five years, Bartlett said. But most of the emergency appropriation funds will be recovered eventually from FEMA and the participating municipalities, he said. As it stands now, …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
County is fronting the money, will be reimbursed by FEMA, Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. says
The Ocean County Board of Freeholders are slated to approve a $45 million emergency appropriation at the March 6 board meeting to help front the costs for Superstorm Sandy debris removal in municipalities. "So far, so good," Bartlett said at the pre-board meeting on Tuesday. "We can indirectly borrow from certain county accounts. We will be able to complete the entire thing by self-financing upfront." The county will eventually be reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the participating municipalities, Bartlett said. "We will get it all back," Bartlett said. "The money will be coming back. It's good news we can afford to do it. It's bad news we had to do it. It's a way to protect our financial interests to do it …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Freeholder wrote letter to President Obama asking that Ocean County senior programs be excluded from possible cuts
Ocean County will continue nutrition programs for the elderly, even if the proposed sequestration cuts go through on Friday, Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari said today. Without the nutrition program, elderly and disabled people who are unable to cook for themselves will "wind up in the E.R.," Vicari said at a Ocean County Board of Freeholders caucus meeting today. "We will do something to maintain services," he said. "We will continue the program. You don't cut programs as important as the senior programs." Vicari wrote to President Obama on Feb. 25, asking his help to prevent "severe cuts" in the nutrition program. "We would need to cut 26,000 meals in Ocean County, when we already have a wait list of almost 200 people for home-delivered …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari doesn't want to lose valuable tourism dollars to competing states
"Virginia is for lovers." "The Outer Banks of North Carolina is an endless source of inspiration. Visit Outerbanks.org." These are not the kind of commercials Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari wants to see flashing across television screens in Ocean County and along the East Coast, not if he can help it. Vicari - who serves as liaison to the county's tourism bureau - is looking for the state to provide $3 million to produce commercials touting the Jersey Shore. And he wants it soon. Very soon. "We lose it this season, they are not going to come back to Ocean County," Vicari said at an Ocean County Board of Freeholders meeting this afternoon." The state needs to shore up its $4 billion tourism industry and let visitors know the Jersey Shore will …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Homeowners and business owners in limbo until the federal agency releases final numbers, officials say
Ocean County residents and business owners cannot wait months for FEMA to release amendments to the agency's controversial advisory base flood elevation maps, Freeholder Director John P. Kelly said. Kelly, county and municipal officials went to Trenton on Wednesday to meet with state and FEMA representatives to try and get some answers. Other than assurances there would be amendments to the maps, they got few answers, only that possible amendments would be released in "...June, July, August..." Ocean County Administrator Carl W. Block said at a board caucus meeting today. "In the meantime, real estate will die," Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr. said. The high cost of elevating homes or facing skyrocketing flood insurance costs will leave …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Board members deny Ocean County GOP chief George R. Gilmore had anything to do with securing Ashbritt
Ocean County officials had two ways to go after Superstorm Sandy - wait three months for the complex bid process for debris removal, or go with Florida-based Ashbritt and start immediately, Freeholder Director John P. Kelly said today. "We had two choices in Ocean County," Kelly said at the Board of Freeholders meeting Wednesday in Toms River. "It was the only action that made sense." Nearly all of the discussion at the meeting centered on the use of Ashbritt for debris removal, the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and Ocean County's eventual recovery. Ocean County signed on with AshBritt in mid-November, and offered a shared services agreement to county municipalities for Sandy-related debris removal. Under the shared services agreement, …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Ocean County Board of Freeholders looking for ways to streamline process as much as possible
Ocean County will not recover from Superstorm Sandy in a matter of weeks or even months, Freeholder Director John P. Kelly said today. "It's going to be years," he said. Kelly made the remarks at the Ocean County Board of Freeholders caucus meeting, a meeting dominated by the storm that ravaged Ocean County on Oct. 29. And while much of the slow recovery process depends on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state and local municipalities, the county needs to do as much as possible to provide guidance, Kelly said. "We want them to know county government will do everything to help them," Kelly said. "Every phone call we have received is unique and very time-consuming." Gov. Chris Christie "did his best to provide some sort of …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Use of state-contracted firm legal and necessary for speedy response, officials say
Ocean County's hiring of a Florida-based firm for debris removal was legal and necessary for a quick response in the weeks after Hurricane Sandy, county officials said Wednesday. Responding to comments from Gary Black of Jackson, who claimed an article in the Star-Ledger of Newark criticized Ocean County's involvement with AshBritt, a debris removal firm hired by the state, the Ocean County Board of Freeholders said the county was piggybacking on the state's contract. "Under state law, counties may use contracts the state has in place," Freeholder Gerry P. Little said in response to Black's comments. The Ledger article, accessible here, actually criticized the company and the state, saying it exploited political ties and distress over the …
Friday, January 11, 2013
The goal is to complete the cleanup by Memorial Day; plans and priority-setting are in works now
Getting Barnegat Bay cleaned up from Hurricane Sandy may take longer than Memorial Day, but the state and Gov. Christie have made it clear that getting it ready for tourist season is a priority, Ocean County officials said this week. Freeholder Director John P. Kelly on Wednesday said he and County Administrator Carl Block had a conference call with DEP Commissioner Bob Martin and some of Martin's staff last Friday, and received assurances that the state sees the cleanup of the bay -- including the removal of sand washed in from the ocean -- as its responsibility. Those assurances were echoed in the governor's words during his State of the State address, "and that gave me a good feeling," Kelly said at Wednesday's preboard meeting of the …
J Diaz
2:31 am on Monday, April 22, 2013
This entire debate about taxing barrier island residents is getting less meaningful every day. I respectfully suggest that you take a look at the current sale listings in Brick on the barrier island. Higher-end properties have been sitting on the market for years and just keep dropping their ask price as they go. Brick tax rates have been driving away interested home buyers and it's only getting … more ›