Tax Men
A bill sponsored by Vince Mazzeo would set up a countywide tax assessment program to replace the system we have now, where municipalities do their assessing on their own. It has the support of a committee made up of mayors John Armstrong (Absecon), Jesse Tweedle (P’ville) and Sonny McCullough (EHT) who went around the state last year looking at how different counties did their assessments. Dennis Levinson, the county exec, does not support the plan because it’s unlikely we’ll get funding from the state, he says. The point is you should read John DeRosier’s excellent report on this issue in the Press of AC.
Lawyer Up, Monsignor
New Jersey’s forming a task force to investigate sex abuse and cover-ups by the Catholic Church, following the grand jury report last month from Pennsylvania, which found about 1,000 victims.
“We owe it to the people of New Jersey to find out whether the same thing happened here. If it did, we will take action against those responsible,” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said.
New York’s doing one too, and their AG subpoenaed all eight Catholic dioceses.
Drivers Licenses For The Undocumented
There’s a push to let undocumented immigrants apply for drivers licenses, something that is already done in twelve states and the District of Columbia, one argument being that if you have lots of unlicensed drivers on the roads, insurance costs go up.
For more feats of journalism from across your region, see below:
Hurricane Florence weakens to tropical storm as N.J. weekend weather cools considerably–As the heat wave breaks in New Jersey ahead of a much cooler and likely dreary weekend of weather, forecasters continue to track Tropical Storm Florence's slow path across the Atlantic and potentially the east coast of the U.S. next week. www.nj.com
See where home values have increased (and decreased) the most in N.J. in the past 10 years–From 2008 to 2012, the home values in each of New Jersey's 21 counties tanked. The nosedive matched the trend line of the U.S. housing market, which peaked in 2006 but hit new lows in 2012. www.nj.com
NJDEP expands Blue Acres to Atlantic County–The state’s Blue Acres program has expanded to Atlantic County, recently holding a kickoff meeting with eligible property owners in Pleasantville who are interested in participating in the program, which moves residents away from areas that are impacted by severe storms. www.downbeach.com
EPA FUNDS WILL HELP GARDEN STATE RESOLVE SOME OF ITS WATER WOES–Money to fix contaminated wells in Winslow Township. Funds to install rain gardens in the city of Camden to reduce pollution from runoff. A project to prevent raw sewage from flowing into the Raritan River. www.njspotlight.com
Former Miss Americas support recovery efforts at Ventnor cafe–Former Miss Americas had an enlightening lunch Thursday, as several gathered at the Ventnor eatery that offers a place for those in recovery to work and get help. breakingac.com