Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Respondents to our poll said the council needs to maintain the police and road departments and cut elsewhere.
Patch users want the Township Council to avoid cutting police, public safety and road services, according to a poll on balancing the township’s budget that ran over the weekend. An earlier poll on Patch showed overwhelming support for municipal trash collection. The most recent poll, which was unscientific, attracted 384 votes and 28 comments. The budget cuts are necessary because a tax referendum, which sought permission to raise the municipal tax rate 9 cents above the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap, was rejected by township voters by a 2-1 margin on April 24, with more than 3,700 total votes cast. Township officials said they would make a decision on the budget by May 15. The results of the poll, which asked “What services and programs…
Friday, April 20, 2012
In the wake of the tax referendum defeat Tuesday, Lawrenceville Patch wants to know what you would do to help balance the budget. Today, we ask about trash collection.
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Friday, April 20, 2012
On Tuesday, voters said no to a proposed 9-cent municipal tax increase by a 2-1 margin. On Wednesday, a crowd at the council meeting told the council that it had better find alternatives to the trash collection fee being proposed. Now, it is your turn to weigh in. Lawrenceville Patch will run a series of polls and open-ended questions over the next 10 days, asking township residents to outline their priorities and give the council a sense of where it needs to go with the budget. The referendum, which sought permission to raise the municipal tax rate 9 cents above the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap, was rejected by township voters by a 2-1 margin on Tuesday, with more than 3,700 total votes cast. Residents during Wednesday’s meeting told …
Less than 24 hours after voters shot down a 9-cent municipal tax increase, angry residents appeared before Lawrence Township Council Wednesday to demand that a trash user fee not be created as an alternative to the tax hike to balance the 2012 budget.
A parade of angry residents appeared before Lawrence Township Council Wednesday evening (April 18) to voice their displeasure with how the municipal tax increase referendum was presented to voters and to urge council not to institute the trash user fee that township officials previously put forth . The referendum, which sought permission to raise the municipal tax rate 9 cents above the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap, was rejected by township voters by a 2-1 margin on Tuesday, with more than 3,700 total votes cast. Residents during Wednesday’s meeting told council members they felt council was arrogant and had tried to “blackmail” voters into approving the referendum by threatening to impose a trash user fee should the 9-cent tax hike be …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Lawrence municipal budget question, school board tally were among the very few to get nixed by voters in New Jersey this year.
In the end, Lawrence Township voters made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with an 17.8 percent municipal tax hike, and they did so by voting in overwhelming fashion. By a 2-1 margin, voters nixed a 9-cent municipal tax rate increase -- which was on top of an approved 5-cent hike -- that the township sought to balance the 2012 municipal budget without further cutting staff or services. The Lawrence school budget also went down, though by a relatively narrow margin, in what school board President Laura Walters called "collateral damage." “Residents of Lawrence Township are concerned over taxation, not just taxes from Lawrence Township municipal government but all levels of government," Lawrence Township Manager Richard Krawczun told …
Lawrence Township voters rejected the municipal tax referendum by a 2-1 margin. The discussion of how to amend 2012 municipal budget will begin tonight (Wednesday, April 18) at the next council meeting.
Updated: 2:45 a.m. March 18. By a 2-1 margin, Lawrence Township voters on Tuesday (April 17) rejected the 9-cent municipal tax rate increase that the township administration and council had sought in order to balance the 2012 municipal budget. With absentee ballots not yet included, a total of 2,501 no votes were cast in the municipal tax referendum, compared to 1,282 yes votes. Those 3,783 votes amount to 19.4 percent of the township’s 19,450 registered voters. Also on Tuesday, township voters rejected the Lawrence Township public school district’s 2012-2013 budget by a vote of 1,982 to 1,770 – a margin of just 212, again with absentee ballots not yet included. Elected to full three-year terms on the township school board were Jo Ann …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Lawrence one of only two towns to seek special vote to exceed 2 percent tax cap.
Gov. Chris Christie thinks voters should vote against special tax referendums. Speaking on New Jersey 101.5's Ask the Governor show (as reported by NJ.com), Christie said voters should not allow towns to get around the 2 percent property tax cap. "I know they’re looking for ways to get around the cap," Christie said of the towns on 101.5’s Ask the Governor show. "They gotta find other things to cut. I think you call their bluff." Lawrence Township is proposing that the municipal tax rate be increase 14 cents, to 98 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. A 5-cent increase is covered under the 2 percent cap, but the additional 9 cents are needed to maintain municipal trash collection, according to township officials. The township will levy a…
40.28219
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Lawrence Township Municipal Building
2207 Lawrenceville Rd, Lawrenceville, NJ
/articles/governor-weighs-in-on-municipal-tax-referendum
1197931
/locations/6811551
The sample ballot mailed out to Lawrence Township voters incorrectly instructs voters to “vote for two” candidates to fill a single two-year unexpired term on the school board.
The sample ballot that was mailed to Lawrence Township voters in advance of tomorrow’s (April 17) school board election, school budget vote and municipal tax increase referendum vote contained an error. The error appears on the school board election section where three candidates are listed to fill an unexpired term with two years remaining. The ballot incorrectly instructs voters to “Vote for two.” There is only one 2-year unexpired term; voters will be allowed to vote for only one of the three candidates listed. Lawrence Township Board of Education President Laura Waters said the error was noticed after the sample ballots were mailed out by the Mercer County Clerk’s Office. She said the correct instructions will appear on the ballot in …
Friday, April 13, 2012
Carol Harle, who served as mayor of Lawrence Township in the 1980s, has been going around town this week dressed like Uncle Sam and holding a sign encouraging residents to vote against the municipal tax increase referendum next week.
Carole Harle has been an outspoken critic of the municipal tax increase referendum that will be put to voters next Tuesday, April 17. She has spoken against the tax increase at several recent township council meetings. Now the Review Avenue resident – who served on Lawrence Township Council, including a stint as mayor, in the 1980s – is going around town trying to encourage residents to vote against the referendum. Dressed like Uncle Sam, Harle has spent the last few days standing at prominent intersections holding a sign reading “Vote No!” that also describes the referendum as a “Violation of the Public Trust.” On Wednesday, she was spotted near the intersection of Lawrence Road (Route 206) and Gainsboro Road.
The writer is Lawrence Township resident Max Ramos.
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Friday, April 13, 2012
Dear Editor, This is an open letter to Lawrence residents and Lawrence Council regarding the upcoming referendum. After reading our Mayor's and Municipal Manager's Letters to the Editor from earlier this week, I would like to offer an alternate opinion from an ordinary tax-paying citizen. As background, my wife and I moved to Lawrenceville from New York City 12 years ago, right after getting married but prior to having children. We moved here because it gave us the best of both worlds: An opportunity to raise our future children in a great, safe neighborhood with reasonable taxes and a superior school system, and still be able to commute to New York. Prior to moving here, we thoroughly researched at least 15 different municipalities with …
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The final public forum about the municipal tax increase referendum that will be put to Lawrence Township voters on April 17 will be held this evening, Thursday, April 12, beginning at 7 p.m. at the township police station.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
The final public forum about the municipal tax increase referendum that will be put to voters on April 17 will be held this evening, Thursday, April 12, beginning at 7 p.m. in the community room of the Lawrence Township police station located at 2211 Lawrence Rd. (Route 206). Township Manager Richard Krawczun will explain why the township is asking for voters permission to raise the municipal tax rate 9 cents above the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap and why a trash user fee will be assessed against residential property owners should the referendum be rejected by voters. Following Krawczun’s formal presentation about the township’s financial situation, he and members of township council will answer questions from members of the public. The …
David Smith
4:48 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
I just love it when taxpayers say no to higher taxes and no to cuts as well. One you have a choice about but when you do make that decision you can't complain about the latter. I'm all for going after waste but sooner or later you have to decide which is more important paying more or getting less. You make this decision every time to go to the store so it shouldn't be so painful nor so dramatic. … more ›