2 Percent Cap? Look at Your Tax Bill - I am Fed up!

Dear Fellow Lawrence Residents,

Remember all the fuss last April with the 2 percent tax cap, the proposed "garbage fee," the famous "extortion letter" funded by our taxes, and the dog and pony show put on to "sell" the 17 percent tax increase?

Well just to remind you all we voted down the budget that was overblown with excessive spending, in order to attempt to put our elected officials to work, managing our tax base and providing us with the appropriate level of service.  Something they are clearly unwilling and/or unable to do.

It seems like our elected officials have already forgotten the recent past, what with bringing up the idea at the July 17 council meeting of taking garbage collection out of the tax base (without the corresponding REDUCTION in our taxes that such a removal would require.)  As if we would all just take this lying down!

Now we have just received our tax bills for the upcoming year.  Remember that 2 percent cap?  Well, it's just a farce!  The 2 percent cap carries exclusions for the all-encompassing "fixed costs" category.

Look at your tax bill:

County taxes: Up 11.15 percent over 2011 (yes, you read that correctly)

Municipal taxes: Up 5.86 percent over 2011 (yes, even with the layoffs, the rest of the municipality got their increases, longevity pay, etc.)

Total taxes: 4.59 percent over 2011 (Makes you wonder what the 2 percent cap really is)

*To be fair, the school tax portion of our bill "only" increased by 1.03 percent over 2011

So why write this blog?  Because I am fed up with the ever increasingly bloated size of our Federal, State, and Local government feeding off of our hardworking backs.

It is now 100 days before election day 2012.  And it is 465 days before election day 2013, when we can start to try and take back Lawrence Township from our "rubber stamp" council members.

If you are Fed up as well, make your voice heard.  Send me an email to jmaxramos@gmail.com and let me know how you can help.  I am putting together a grassroots organization that refuses to continue to allow NJ politicians to double our taxes every six years.

By all means, if you want your money to continue to fund automatic pay raises, longevity pay, double and triple dipping for jobs, nepotism, public servants using taxpayer vehicles for personal use, among with dozens of other common practices by public employees that would embarrass any public company then just go ahead and continue on your day.

Fed up?  You bet I am.  I hope you are too.  And I want to hear from you.  Either here on the Patch or at jmaxramos@gmail.com.

J. Max Ramos