UCCF 4/25/19: 2019 Budget Approved

More UCDEM blogs to come but tonight happened to be a freeholder meeting with the 2019 budget being approved unanimously (and mindlessly) with these public comments:

More Open Space Tax Theft

The theft continues as money raised by the Open Space tax is diverted to the county budget:

2019 Executive Budget Calls for $7.2 Million in More Taxes

This 2019 executive budget calls for a 2% increase in county taxes from $360,978,181.27 to $368,197,744.88. A history of Union County taxes (excluding the Open Space theft) since 2001:

Union/Morris Budget Comparison – 2018

Back at nj.com I did comparisons for 2008,  2009 and 2010 of the Union and Morris County budgets and did 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 , and 2017 here.  Both counties serve about 500,000 people though Morris, with a larger land mass and a county library, seems to do it for a lot less. Here is the 2018 update comparing the budgets adopted by Morris County and Union County:

OVERVIEW………………….….UNION………………….MORRIS
Total Appropriations…….…..483,663,954……..…..305,823,695
Less: Surplus……………….…..(24,000,000)………….(25,343,797)
Less: State/Fed Revenue.……(71,730,773)………….(23,396,086)
Less: County Revenue….……(26,955,000)………….(19,773,000)
Amt. Raised by Taxation….360,978,181………..237,310,812

APPROPRIATIONS DETAIL…..UNION………….MORRIS
Salaries……………………….……….177,255,642…………….97,597,075
Debt Service……………………………67,826,644…………….41,355,614
Insurance……………………………….78,228,280…………….50,549,172
Social Security…………………………11,000,000………………6,843,665
Pensions…………………………………29,065,833……………..15,708,829
Other Expenses……..………………120,287,555…………….93,769,340
TOTAL……………………………..483,663,954…………305,823,695

Comparing 2008 to 2018 we see the percentage of the amount to be raised by taxation more than doubling in Union compared to Morris.

Taxes…………………………….UNION………………….MORRIS
2008……………………………..251,657,663…………..193,480,382
2018……………………………..360,978,181…………..237,310,812
$ Change……………………..+109,320,518…………..+43,830,430
Percentage Change…………….+43.44%…..…….…….+22.65%

Note that Morris County also uses their Open Space tax (which they routinely cut) to acquire open space. Compare that to Union County which consistently raids their Open Space ‘Trust’ Fund for their regular budget and plans to continue in perpetuity.

UCCF 5/24/18: Bond Anticipation Notes to Bonds

Official county debt is now:
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At last night’s freeholder meeting there were several resolutions paying off Bond Anticipation Notes and issuing long-term bonds. The next few blogs will look in detail at county debt but, for now, here are those resolutions and some Q&A:

Dildos at Work

Perhaps you have seen this video which nj.com terms shocking:
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Personally, this does not bother me assuming the cops are on some sort of break. But what bothers me, and is something that I can directly relate to, is what happened in Mountainside months before this story broke:

UCCF 4/19/18: 2018 Budget With An Objection

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2018-315: Resolution Introducing and Approving the Annual Budget of the County of Union for the Fiscal Year 2018.
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Though during the vote there was an objection: