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Health & Fitness

Letter to the Editor: The 3.8% Garbage Tax and the Fiscal Cliff

How the Lawrence Town council is avoiding its own fiscal cliff with a new 3.8% Garbage Tax.

The Fiscal Cliff looms.  Locked in closed door meetings Politicians argue and grab for "revenue" in any way they can to avoid "going over the cliff."

The Beltway?  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?  Nope.  2207 Lawrence Road, Lawrenceville, NJ.

Yes, the fiscal cliff looms.  After fighting and clawing, threatening and browbeating, the Town Council in 2012 Unanimously tried to increase our taxes by 17% in order to sustain the massive payroll, salaries, and benefits to our public sector employees.  After the taxpayers shot it down 2 to 1 in April, one of the Councilmen actually denied attempting the referendum on the record on Tuesday December 4.  Dr. Maffei emphatically stated that it wasn't true and he doesn't want it said anymore until "you can prove it."  Well it's already been proven by readers as well as the editor of the Lawrence Patch.

Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

So what does this have to do with Garbage?  Well, we still have our own fiscal cliff, the 2013 Budget.  It seems that the result of the closed door meetings at 2207 Lawrence Road have produced a new 2013 "revenue" grab, Ordinance 6D, introduced Tuesday night, about 25 minutes after Dr. Maffei denied 2012's shakedown.

Ordinance 6D, if adopted by council on December 18, will give Council the authority to set a mandatory "Bulk Waste Collection Fee" to all residents who own property (here's the catch) whether they use the service or not!  Let's repeat this because it's worth seriously noting.  They are going to charge you an annual fee (from 0 to 55 dollars) for something that you may have never used and may never use.  If you don't pay this fee, they will put a lien on your house.  If you do need to have a bulk item picked up, you will pay an additional fee for the ACTUAL pickup.  Welcome to the official start of the 2013 shakedown season - The 3.8% Garbage Tax.

Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The average house in Lawrence is assessed at $160,828.  That's the figure 2207 Lawrence Road uses to explain tax increases, so I'll use the same illustration.  The current municipal tax rate is 89.1 cents for every $100 of assessed value.  So the average property owner pays $1,432.98 in municipal taxes every year.  Add to that the new $55 "Bulk Waste Collection Fee" and bingo, bango, presto, you've got a 3.8% Garbage Tax increase.  (Psst. - Don't tell Dr Maffei in case he needs to deny it.)

Make no mistake.  The fee will be mandatory, whether you use the service or not.  If you don't pay, the town has every right to treat you as they would treat you for being delinquent on your taxes.  But hold on, according to Dr Maffei, this is for your benefit.  He and his fellow council-members voted unanimously to introduce Ordinance 6D - the 3.8% Garbage Tax.  

Yes, up to $400,000 in new "revenue" is available for the politicians at 2207 Lawrence Road, so they're not really sweating going over the fiscal cliff.  The only problem (for us that is), is that there's a 5-0 majority, and we have no voice.  This isn't a referendum.  There's no get-out-the-vote effort possible here.  All you need to hear is 3 "ayes" on Dec 18, and the 3.8% Garbage Tax is here to stay.

One thing is for certain, and that's this:  After 11 months of this nonsense, This Garbage still Stinks!

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