Paul:
OMG Just received my new tax bill and 45.85% goes to Neptune School District that has some of the LOWEST test scores in the state and HIGHEST cost per pupil in the state!!! And NO representation for our taxation.
Its time for Ocean Grovers to wake up, smell the ocean breezes and take our town back before it is over over- built, taxes go up further after an ill advised reassessment, and continued violations of our zoning regulations by a greedy Township. CARPE DIEM! (tr: “seize the day.”)
P. Revere
ROGER MCGUINN: “Ballad of Easy Rider.”
The Allegria was, in the past, a senior living facility owned and run by the Methodist Church.
Imagine if Neptune Township had purchased this, demolished it, and built a parking garage. Then, Neptune could start making money on parking to help with the budget (Asbury Park made $4.9 million from parking last year alone).
Editor’s note: Idle speculation about what might-have-been is useless. Allegria is a place where those who live there find a home and a community, and it is quite worthwhile and admirable. The new owners are not connected to Methodist Homes.
And another thing! Dear Ms. Rizzo, Ocean Grove is not Neptune….just its cash cow.
The time to take OG back may have passed. There are so many new part-time owners who don’t know what our town was and when it went off the rails. They also are part of an affluent influx that may not even care.
Interlaken has figured out how to run independently and so should we.
As for the ridiculous values being placed on our homes, I’ve noticed that of the four brand new fancy homes listed for 1.2 million, at Bath and Beach, only one has sold since last year.
While Ocean Grove’s taxes go up, the bulk of Neptune goes down. There is no fairness in increasing taxes significantly year after year. First the tax assessor increases your value by $100,000 this year and the last. Pay $100 to appeal.
Now after this increase the township sends out property appraisers. Guess is they will not reporting back with lower values.
Somewhere this must stop. We have already become a town where fewer and fewer live on a permanent basis. I guess if I opted to go live in my car for the summer and rent out my home for $3500 a week, they I could pay the taxes. But I was born here and want to live here.
45.85 % to schools. We may not be satisfied with them and may not be using them, but I believe in investing in our future by educating our children.
35.55% to municipal for police, sanitation, etc. Are we in Ocean Grove getting our fair share in this category or are we, along with Shark River Hills and Seaview Island, carrying the rest of Neptune?
3.23% to fire district. Definitely need this with all the fires here in the past ten years – big empty buildings that suspiciously burn down and also burn down neighboring homes.
1.59% to library. You may not use it, but a library is certainly important and the percentage of your tax is tiny.
So, total 86.2% goes to Neptune.
The remaining 13.8% goes to county.
The Mayor and Committee should at least wear a mask and a gun while they are stealing our tax money.
OG residents need to collectively hire a forensic accountant/lawyer to look into this tax situation.
Nothing will change unless there’s a MASS UPHEAVAL by the residents. TWP just laughs all the way to the bank. Is it time for a protest? A boycott? A demonstration? A march to the Twp offices? A refusal to pay en masse?
Penny, I agree with much of what you say but I love the Neptune Library. The people there are lovely and so helpful and that’s worth more than a nicer looking building.
Ms Rizzo: BULL!
The catch word is “market value.” We don’t trust Haney and his tribe of dwarfs to not over-estimate in Ocean Grove. That Neptune crowd, including him, don’t give a cow’s behind about OG. Look at how they have tried to help our residents with the parking issue (NOT).
So, if you improve your OG home and make the town more enticing for tourists, you get punished with higher taxes. If your crappy Neptune home deteriorates, you get rewarded with lower taxes.
And the services are not the same. Does Neptune pay for sidewalks outside of OG, because they don’t in our town?
As for the library, that 1950’s disaster isn’t worth much of anything. Go look at the libraries in other towns by comparison.
And the schools are much too luxurious—we didn’t need the Taj Mahal with an Olympic pool to teach those under-performing kids to read and write. OG has few kids in school, and we should get a discount on our school taxes and so should the many seniors in town who have never had a child in the schools here or the many second homers whose kids go to far better schools elsewhere.
This is part of a public statement made today by Carol Rizzo, Committeewoman Neptune Township:
“Everyone in Ocean Grove is paying their fair share of the cost to run Neptune. And everyone in Neptune is also paying their fair share based on what their market value is.
“Neptune provides police, emergency services, road services like snow plowing, garbage collection and recycling, sewer and drainage, recreation services, a senior center, and Code and construction oversight. Your tax bill includes that plus schools, county services, the library and the Fire districts. The Neptune portion is about 35%.”
“I am always available to talk with any resident. Just send me an email. Crizzo@neptunetownship.org”
Her full statement can be found at Nextdoor.com