Don't NOSE of any AVERAGE houses that are valued at $299,000. Anybody NOSE out there where an AVERAGE house can be located ?

Voting YES:
James Jimenez Council at Large
Nadine Bello Ward 6
Chris McIntyre Ward 5
Franco Mazzei Ward 3
Alan Purcell Ward 1

When weighing apples to apples it's always good advise to remove the bad apples first. If you choose to keep the rotten ones, don't complain about the price when it comes time to pay.

Wayne needs to stop spending and freeze hiring in all departments. Do we really need a new recreation field? 35 million in lost ratables and high taxes are the main reason. This year the loss will be higher with a record number of foreclosures and tax appeals. What don't they get? They are destroying this town with never ending tax increases. Wayne's motto is "SPEND SPEND SPEND". Also the BOE members have to go this November. Gonzalez is handing jobs to his friends like there is no tomorrow. Wayne residents "OPEN YOUR EYES" its your hard earned dollars.

Do they really consider a "drop" in the budget from 28.8 to 28.5 significant?? Employees dropped 366 to 362. All of these people need to spend just one day in the private sector. No tenured jobs, no earnings: layoffs. I was at the township tax office several weeks ago and people were simply standing about talking. We are over-staffed. The private sector has cut back and streamlined - why can't our township AND, more importantly, the over-administrated school system.

I am not happy about the tax increase and I have expressed my dissatisfaction to our Town Council. I recognize that theirs is not an easy task but I am involved. If more tax payers would get involved, go to the Town Council meetings, be more proactive, participate, express their concerns then the Council would know how we feel and would be impelled to listen.

If you look at the latest budget numbers distributed last week by mail, insurance and the police collectively consist of $27 million of the $78 million budget. The police are about $17.5 million of that figure, which works out to an average of almost $148,000 per police officer. Based on these numbers, I believe (but do not know) that the number only reflects salaries, not benefits, pension contributions/payouts for retired officers nor the cost of maintaining vehicles and the police department HQ. I am pretty sure those numbers are buried elsewhere in the budget, and would assume them to be in the $3-10 million range. Assuming the midpoint, our police dept. costs then about $22-23 million of a $79 million budget, or about 28-30% of the municipal budget. Maybe that's an appropriate number for a municipal budget, but what it does do is illustrate that a lot of other services would have to go, or else we have to pay for them.
It is no secret that municipal pensions are quite generous. Obviously, that must change. But the police have been heretofore untouchable. Their benefits, most of which I don't even really know about, are substantially higher than pretty much any other group. And maybe that's right for the most important public service we have. But the truth is, cops can retire after something like 25 years on the force with a generous pension. This means something like 60-80% of full pay for the rest of their lives, some retiring as early as 45 yrs old!

Surely, unless injured in the line of duty, a 45 yr. old cop is still able-bodied enough to do suburban police work, no? Even if the pension benefits stay the same, no one should be able to retire before age 55. That alone would create tremendous savings, as so many police officers (and other public officials) retire at a very young age and then go back into public service or the private sector collecting pensions AND a full time position (see: new Wayne athletic director (who is at least retirement age). People, it's time to start looking under the hood at what is really driving these expenses, not just showing up at town meetings voicing displeasure.

great news-robberies up 99% too

Cost of law suits impact? (parents BOE re: PL bullying, BAE bldg/Pioneer Sch) I agree w/above posts, we the people are to blame, if you leave your wallet & bank book outside don't complain when you’re robbed. Or the neighbor (fr:Poland) who believes "everyone" should be entitled to an ivy league sch/edu courtesy of taxpayers, she wanted 2-go-back 2-school & can afford just feels $60K cost is 2-hi. I shook my head as she drove off in her Mercedes. I can imagine her heart goes out 2-the Sudan woman who has yet to complete English as a 2nd lang, but knew how 2-express herself re: “GED REQUIREMENT B4 free College” (PellGrant) “the GED is not easy”. Really? I'm a HS graduate, worked my way up to C.S. Mgr, drive a VW, tho not today, it's in the shop can't afford new! I'm 54 my full time job solely pays our taxes! I’ll have 2-get a p/t job so that some "walk around" & "retire at 45"? I need the tax increase money for a better security system in fear of a home invasion, cost of bars/doors, & guns/permits aren't cheap! The dream home has become the Wild West Wayne, my Mom's turning in her grave as she proudly grew up in Jersey City with simply"a" lock & chain, no guns, cameras! I guess they won't get it until there are more "foreclosures, empty bldgs/houses,"lost ratables".

And I'd like to know how (who) got DEP approval to destroy a large area of WETLANDS for a golf course (Sec) as I'm up to my neck in paperwork for simply REPLACING (much needed though we received the "must repair" notice) 100' bulkhead!

The only thing that should be acceptable is a 0 tax increase. or a reduction in taxes. Let the town council and our town administration find ways to achieve this. Dig deep into the budget and find ways to cut further. Many people in the private sector feel the pinch. Many have not gotten raises over the last several years. Why should our town employees be exempt from this. Put a freeze on all salary increases right across the board, including police. Enough is enough. Stop all this frivolous litigation. The town paid $50,000 to a local businessman because they refused to honor an OPRA request. He took them to court, won and the town had to pay his legal fees. How about the several hundred thousand already expended on this wind turbine case? That's our money being wasted. We should flood the town council meeting with people to voice our dissatisfaction with these high taxes. The same thing goes for our BOE.

In reality, I don't find all that much fault with Wayne's expenses, other than some obvious places of waste. Bergen county taxpayers pay separately for water/sewer and garbage, all of which is included in our taxes. The REAL culprit is county taxes. The county system as it exists in NJ is pretty absurd. They have a police force with no real jurisdiction (but lots of expenses) beyond courthouses and jails. They have all sorts of services that duplicate that of local/state/feds. If a county gov't is to exist at all, it should be limited to courts and jails and maybe some national election duties. I never understood the distinction between county roads and local roads, why counties run parks, have health care services, issue passports and a whole host of other things. Those things should be administered by the state or the localities themselves depending on service. For example, parks/roads/police to be provided by each municipality...other services to be kicked up to the state level. That's an entire layer of government with attendant expenses that could be eliminated. The best part is, the people element, the actual workers, might be only reduced a little bit, as you still need people to administer those jobs....HOWEVER, you eliminate the need for the additional elections, bureacracy and resources associated with the county, not to mention real estate, supplies and expenses.

That way, we could have more autonomy locally and our local taxes, although somewhat higher, would not include the 25% cut that goes to the county, and the increase over which we have no say.

If Council Scuralli does not want higher taxes he should stop provoking litigation. At last nights council meeting he was once again, arrogant and condescending to a Wayne business owner who has 3 restaurants in town and is looking to open a 4th.

Thankfully Mr. Vergano and the restaurant attorney stopped him in his tracks and warned him and the council to back off. He read some silly quote out of a magazine. Mr. Scuralli you should give that to the town attorney I’m sure that will be very helpful in court.

The council vote clearly express their disagreement with his antics and voted 7-1 in favor of granting the extension. His mouth has become a liability to this town.

This town should be rolling out the red carpet for new business. Handing out coffee and donuts to our business owners every morning. Instead they push them out. Yet he talks about the taxpayer. He could care less, he is about him and himself only.

He might win over the old folk in town who are half asleep watching his rants. But residents who know better see through his nonsense. Mr. Scuralli is a phony, arrogant, condescending, fool, and is everything that is wrong with our town politics today.

Bravo! AS & WW join PW & get in2 politics, maybe "change" will come. An elderly Wayne res/woman is moving in2 a "wealty" retirement home (not bcause she can't afford her home). While she didn't share specifics did manage to chuckle as she told me she realized just how many "deductions" (senior) she gets. There is absoultely room 4-cuts but the 2nd u-suggest "seniors" people scream "ahh, the poor seniors"! We also stood in front of that council & was basically harrassed...threatened, told to do things they had no right to tell us.... I was livid as we're paying HIS salary & he's mistreating us! Finally the council attorney spoke up & it ended! This is a county, state..... etc. etc. wide problem, but we can start in our little town, say "enough". The average citizen need only pick up a phone book & look thru the "blue" section, pages upon pages of gov'nmt agencies!

The 'real story" is why was this pre-planned and approved tax increase announcement postponed until after the election.Let me count the ways.Rumana and the Regular Republican Party machine.

I agree 100% w/ Mr. Walters. I too, unfortunately live in Mr. Scuralli's Ward and cannot believe he was appointed President of our town council. He is so arrogant and pompus and if any of the residents actually believe "he cares about the tax payers of this town" they are sadly mistaken. He is so condescending it is disgusting. Thank God Mayor Vergano stepped in or Wayne would be facing yet another Law Suit. Guess what taxpayers, you are paying for those law suits. Oh, Mr. Scuralli you sure do care about us. Thanks so much.

There is a tremendous amount of abuse of power in this town. Our local mayor and council break the law and they take advantage of the fact that residents and business owners do not have the time or the money to defend themselves in our court systems.

You see when our local politicians get sued they defend themselves and the town on the taxpayer dime. You the residents foot the bill. That is way litigation goes on for years. They wait and hope you run out of money. This is way this town is buried in litigation. Law suit, after law suit, after law suit.

It is going to be very interesting to see how much tax dollars are going to be used in the settlement with the windmill guy Burke. From what I am told it could be well over 100,000 dollars in TAX DOLLARS.

If the town was so worried about "every dollar" the town pool and lake would be open for business yesterday and today.

Hummm. Maybe theres more to it.. Mr. Scuralli gets $omething for the attorneys who get the work/handling the suits/cases? Doesn't make sense. I'm just a little ole realtor yet I have to watch what I say "or else" I suffer consequences... I just don't get it.

Kinda hard to believe that the "average" home is only valued at $229,000. According to Garden State Multiple Listing Service, There are as of TODAY. 383 home on the market for sale with an average price of $499,570.. Also there are 125 homes under contract with an average price of $430.000. And also, as of Jan 1st 2012 to June 20th 2012 there were 144 properties sold and the average sale price was $421,976...These figures DO NOT take into account For Sale By Owners..Or sales of trailers at Finn's Trailer Park..But my point is..How does the town come up with the figure of $229,000.....

What im wondering now when they say the "average" home is valued at $229,000. are they talking about assessment value or "market value" its not clear. Homes in Wayne are selling just under 100% of assessment value. That is what appraisers look at.

Assessment value.. is a function of (used in calculation) FMV. The formula is: FMV (market value) X's the Equalization ratio (I think like 48.9? in Wayne) =Assessed OR Assessed X's Eq Ratio=FMV

Equalization Ratio/Wayne is now 51.28, Tax rate is 4.689

Jorgey, i have used that formula many times. And you are about right on the money with the 48.9%.. But im still confused about the 229,000? Has to be assessment value, only because the average market value is well over that. And thats even taking into consideration the condo's at Manchester Village and Valley Terrace

Sounds like a combined average (assessed). who knows how they figure though. If you've ever attended a tax appeal? Its pretty frightening. Bergen Cty they told one elderly man "we can't lower your taxes cause you look like a nice guy". They sit there with little proof (& can be off by 15%) you have to prove your case ..... "because they can".. while you have to fight. Again, the rate is (EQualization) 51.28 & Tax rate is 4.689.

Have done quite a few tax appeals, only get involved with ones that i know might have a chance. Some people come in and look to get taxes lowered by 25-30%..We both know that ain't happening

Oh & we've won a couple of tax appeals w/out an attorney, just little ole taxpayer who did their homework! Sure they use scare "wait all day" ..."or else offers off the table" & you'll have to go alllll way to Trenton ,.... tactics. Most people I saw last month settled for any decrease they could get (even w/an attorney) @ the BergenCty hearing. It's really an odd feeling to be in w/allllll those 'suits' (& angry faces) tugging at your wallet to fund their pensions. I wish I'd gone to college, should've been a teacher The jobs in this countrys future seems NOT in the private sector... But I wonder where the money will come from for salaries? eventually the well runs really really dry.

Eyes, Call up Neil Bellet,Waynes BA at 694-1800 Ext.3202 or call Dorothy Kreitz Town Assessor at 694-1800 Ext.3226. Either one should be able to explain how they come up with 299K as Average. GOOD LUCK EYES!!

True & Thanks for the laugh 'eyes wide".... although So. Jersey once was lowered 25% ..... via appeal.

ha..ha... you're too funny Eyes wide.. ..but we need humor in this madness. thanks. Have a good day.

Enjoy Jorgey stay COOL out there

Eyes, Heard he lost because he didn't have a leg to stand on !!

Eyes, did you find out anything from the town about the average assessment ?

Nose Renee very well, will get you the right information. By the way, you left a message ? All the regular employees (making less than $25,000) are still working , Those making over that have either left for the day or are on their computers playing games. The NOSE NOSE!!

ha..ha.. quick thinkin "nose wayne." , "Eyes wide" comment was wide open for that one.. "didn't have a leg to stand on". Funny.. Thanks. Now if you really want a laugh, should be amusing to hear from the town, how they arrive @ their assessment... But yes, I'm stayin' cool & cool.. At 54 still no meds not even B.P. & I want to keep it that way! Hey keep us posted after you hear back if you can. Thanks.

FYI... website:
www.app.com (asbury park press) @ the top: "Data Universe" you can find any public employee info (salary, etc)

Wow, sounds like quite a few of you are upset with yet another tax increase! So I urge you to get involved. Write to the Town Council, attend meetings.

Eyes The reason some of the people are making over 25K is that they have been there for over 25,30 years. Oh, so everybody NOSE, NOSE RAISES FOR THE REGULAR EMPLOYEES !! So don't blame them for the RAISE in your taxes.

Thanks & no, "Nose" we won't blame any1 for their salary, thou in private sector hiring I presented an entire "pkg deal" health insurance (espec if it's good, and/or if you don't have 2-pay in2), X-amt of sick/vacation days, pen$ion, etc. So IDK, only have heard about these "great" job opp's in any govn'mnt job. I'm learning alot on this site alone. Just for the record, I've delt w/the Town Bldg dept(Zone, Planning, Engineer) the last 4 yrs & found them to be courteous, helpful. & always busy.

As for getting involved, this Saturday at 1:00 the Mayor (along w/others I believe the police chief? etc) will meet the public to discuss the recent burglaries. I believe @ the library? IDK. Try selling a house in Wayne these days.. when the burglaries made 1010 news! Add that to Wayne being associated with "floods" ... being a Realtor, not easy. We're not upset just beCAUSE of "a" tax increase or paying police $150K? it's the TIMING; not just the economy, especially bcause it's not safe to live in Wayne apparently! I wouldn't hesitate to shoot an intruder, what worries me is how I'd live w/myself for killing another human being.. regardless. It would change my entire life. Just maybe they could've waited on increases until we have jobs & raises too or at least till this wave of crime ends.

Here's a question for people in the know/Nose. I recently paid over $1,000 in building permits for improvements I want to make to my house. I literally had sticker-shock. I figured a permit would be like $25-100 or so. Between building, electrical and plumbing inspection, the bill is outrageous. It seems to me that the money is going toward paying for the inspectors' time...my question is:

1) Is that actually the case; and
2) If so, doesn't the town hire these guys as employees/contractors and isn't their salary part of the municipal budget? If it is, are the permit fees nothing more than a shameless money-grab? No wonder many homeowners choose to forego permits and the resulting tax increase on their property. My contractor believes that dealing with towns is like dealing with the mafia.

I still say get rid of the overlapping jobs at 475. That is what the private sector does and I don't mean the $8.00 an hour clerical jobs either.

http://www.nj.com/news/bythenumbers/

Many people are winning tax appeals in Wayne. Many are being unfairly assessed and the Township is losing 35 million in taxes this year. Next year will be more. They need to freeze hiring in this Township. They are always hiring and creating positions especially at the top. All hiring should be frozen. Imagine if we had a paid FD and EMS? Thank God for the volunteers. The PD is always hiring and many are out collecting disability pensions at a very young age. Yet they work on the outside in other jobs. Maybe they could work inside in other assignments not on street duty. It doesn't take much to get a state disability pension. On the outside they would be saying "Back to work". These cost need to be controlled and only officers who are truely disabled should be collecting a disability pension. We have a fantastic Police Department and some really fantastic officers but much can be done to control cost in all departments. There should also be an effort to increase productivity of town workers. I see many Township vehicles in parking lots killing time till the end of the day. Maybe a vehicle tracking GPS system would help out with this issue.

More TAX-AND-SPEND Government.

Please consider voting for the CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS for Council and Mayor Next year.

Get rid of the taxers & vote for WAYNE REPUBLICAN PARTY FOR THE PEOPLE.

WHO YOU VOTE FOR REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Pad , Just think if we did have a Paid Fire And First Aid Squad ? At least they are saving us alot of taxpayer money. More than I can say about the Township. Speaking about the Township, did anybody hear about The BOE just COMPLETELY REMODELED the Administration Building that includes a COMPLETELY SOUNDPROOF ROOM the board can use for their secret meetings. Spent thousands of dollars on SOUNDPROOF glass and walls in the area of the supers office. Can't make this stuff up !!!!!

Everytime the district hired a new super, the Administration Building has been remodeled. Can anybody count how many supers we have had in the last couple of years ? Has your house been remodeled that many times ? Mine hasn't !!!

This is another waste of taxpayers money by the BOE. Yes, the Super before Sico spent alot of money on remodeling her office and other areas. Soundproof room? What are they the CIA? What BS this is. This Super and the BOE Board members has to go. They are on a spending and hiring thier friends spree and it needs to stop. November will be here real soon so some maybe packing thier bags.

Pad,They should all pack their bags. They will do in the soundproof room so NOSEbody hears them packing !!

We need to stop comparing the private sector with the public sector. To state the obvious, they serve different constituents. If you layoff in the public sector, you'll see things get worse. Maybe your taxes won't go up, but that means less $$ going to local businesses. Sure, benefits are generous but salary increases of 3% is not out of the park when you look at the cost of living, especially in NJ. The budget should always be re-evaluated for savings here or there and getting more ratables, etc, but consistently slamming government employees makes no sense if you are concerned about the local economy, home values, etc. The private sector is not investing or spending, so that should mean the opposite - the public sector in theory should be spending more! The analogy of private sector tightening and public sector tightening, or one family's budget tightening should translate into the public sector tightening its belt, is not the way to get our town on the up.

One person's income is another's spending, and one person's spending is another's income. This is how it works on a national, state, and local level. Look at our stats NJ - higher unemployment than the national average, the economy is getting no better. Is the solution really to cut jobs and salaries?

Things get worse when you lay people off in the public sector? Why? I've been through countless layoffs in the private sector and things didn't get worse - services weren't cut to any clients or customers. The public sector has a penchant for building up administration and not knowing how to get rid of this in bad economic times.

How about work needed to be done in towns. Must have three bids and they always go for the low bid. You NOSE the old saying "You get what you paid for". Now after the work is done haphazardly or the contractor walks off the job because he bid to low ,towns have to get another bid out and fix what the old contractor didn't do. What do you think that costs ? Happens alot more than people think. Something that was suppose to cost half a million dollars ends up costing a million.

Why does our township administer the water bills? Why are we not billed directly by the local water utility that serves Wayne? Does our town gov't negotiate a better rate for us? If not, then what's the purpose? Does the township add anything to the actual cost? In other words, is the township making money on the water bills? Even if they negotiate a better rate, you'd have to add in the cost to administer the program which is built into our taxes. This naturally includes salaries, bennies, pension costs, space cost,etc., etc. Are we getting a better deal or are we getting shafted? Can someone clarify this for me?

The problem is public sector workers are getting higher raises then the private sector and paying alot less for thier health benefits. The police and teachers are paid very well and have benefits that exceed the average private sector union worker and even white collar workers. Yes, there maybe some at the bottom making less but look at the teachers contract and the raises they have received. They push the last one by us before the old contract expired so they could beat the state mandated caps. The BOE has no guts when it comes to the WEA. Maybe because many of them have a direct relative employed by the District including the BOE President. Conflict of interest for sure. Not voting on certain issues is just really a scam because the other members vote and believe me they know how you would have voted. Its just one less vote.

I hate to say this, but I am leaving this mess behind. Moving to Port St Lucie, Florida. My taxes on a BRAND NEW home, under 4k. My maintenance fee (gated community) $255 a month, includes basic cable, water, and internet. You pay more than that for a CONDO on valley rd. This whole town, county, and state is ridiculous with the amount of $$ spent. Look at the budget that came in the mail this week, highlight the things that are questionable ($500k in additional expenses in some departments??? does paper and toner really cost that much??). 40 days till i say goodbye to high taxes, jerks speeding down my street during the day with no tickets issued, but getting a parking ticket because i forgot to move my car into my driveway at night, crappy roads (hamburg and alps is a kidney shaker!), ect. 30 years in town, the last 10-12 have seen this place go downhill quick! spend more tax more spend more tax more...good plan!

Chris, come on now,did you see this place go downhill or did you really see this place go to ---------------------------------------------------!!!! 39 days left, and counting.