Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Ordinance would protect people from prosecution if they need medical attention or call 9-1-1 to get someone help.
In light of concerns that Madison's new law banning underage drinking on private property could give students pause when considering calling for medical help, the Borough Council has proposed a Good Samaritan clause meant to address the issue. Madison's governing body unanimously introduced an ordinance Monday night that would amend the law to protect underage people from prosecution if they need medical attention or call 9-1-1 to get someone help. The proposal also says the municipal court judge may waive penalties if a defendant is enrolled in a school that already has penalized them for the offense. Frank Merckx, associate dean of campus life and student affairs at Drew University, thanked the council for the proposed amendments and …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Ordinance approved with a 4-1 vote, with some wording changes suggested by the Madison Athletic Foundation.
Madison's governing body voted 4-1 on Monday to amend the borough's open space tax rate, lowering the rate to partially offset an automatic "stealth" tax hike. While the rate was lowered, the open space tax bill for the average Madison homeowner still will increase by around $38—to $120—for homeowners with property assessed at the borough average of $667,000, officials have said. The amount of taxes collected for the Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund is tied to the assessed value of Madison's tax base, which increased by around 60 percent with the borough-wide revaluation this year. Without any Borough Council action, an even larger tax hike was poised to take hold automatically. The larger tax base and new rate …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
No mayoral tie-breaker for first time since 2010.
The Madison Borough Council adopted the municipality's 2013 budget with a 4-2 vote Monday. As introduced on March 11, the budget called for a 1.48 percent increase in property tax revenue for the municipal budget. The spending plan was amended Monday to reflect a proposed change in the open space tax rate, lowering the rate from 2 cents per $100 of assessed value to 1.8 cents. Council members Jeannie Tsukamoto and Rob Catalanello cast the "no" votes on adopting the budget. Tsukamoto said reflecting all of the revenue anticipated from the borough's shared services contracts could have taken away the need for tax increases. Mayor Bob Conley said Madison counts its contracted revenue over two years as a way to budget conservatively and create…
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Revaluation means automatic tax increase for the Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund unless Borough Council acts.
Madison's Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund has raised approximately $416,000 a year through taxes since it was established by a 2003 public referendum. The amount raised each year is poised to increase by about 60 percent to $676,406 because of the borough's recently completed property revaluation. The referendum set the open space tax rate at 2 cents per $100 of assessed value, and when assessments increased this year so did the anticipated tax levy. "Although the rate is unchanged the amount collected is much higher because of the appraisal of properties—a stealth tax," according to a slide in presentation on the tax given Monday by Councilman Ben Wolkowitz. The revaluation coincides with Madison's plan to pay …
Monday, April 1, 2013
Councilwoman Jeannie Tsukamoto not seeking re-election.
Republican voters in Madison will have a choice when they head to the polls for the primary election in June. With two seats on Madison's governing body up for vote, five GOP candidates—including incumbent Councilman Rob Catalanello—are vying to be their party's nominees in the General Election in November. Republican Councilwoman Jeannie Tsukamoto announced Monday she is not running for re-election because of personal plans. Meanwhile, two Democrats—Jeffrey Gertler and Maureen Byrne, who are running on a joint ticket—filed to run by the 4 p.m. Monday deadline. The other GOP candidates are Patrick Rowe, Madison Board of Education vice president; Carmen Pico, who was on the Republican ticket in the most recent Borough Council race; Eric …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Madison's proposed 2013 budget, introduced with a 4-2 vote, keeps under state-mandated 2 percent tax levy cap.
A Madison homeowner with property assessed at the borough average of $718,000, near market value after a recently completed borough-wide revaluation, is expected to see a $39 increase in the municipal portion of their tax bill under a proposed municipal budget introduced Monday night. The municipal portion of the tax bill, estimated to be $2,683 for the average home, is less than a quarter of the overall bill, with most of the total tax bill going toward schools. A portion also goes to Morris County and to open space. Councilman Ben Wolkowitz, the governing body's finance liaison, said the 1.48 percent increase in the tax levy is below the state-mandated 2 percent cap, less than the rate of inflation, and the lowest increase since 2003. …
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Madison resident Wilfred Burkitt, who received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, died last week at the age of 95.
There were plans for Wilfred Burkitt to lead the annual Memorial Day Parade in Madison this year, but the World War II veteran never knew it. Burkitt's oldest daughter, Lynn Welsch, said parade organizers told her they planned to rope him into the role at the last minute because they knew the 95-year-old Purple Heart and Bronze Star recipient would have resisted the recognition. "He would have said, 'No, no, no, no, no,'" Welsch said. "He didn't know that." Burkitt died Thursday after a short illness, and Mayor Bob Conley held a moment of silence in his honor at the start of Monday's Madison Borough Council meeting. The funeral service was Monday. Burkitt was "not only a true hero and great representative of Madison, but one of the best …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Discussion accompanied by a presentation on guns by Madison police officers.
Madison's governing body on Monday approved a resolution that it will send to federal and state legislators and other municipalities urging federal legislators to adopt federal gun laws that are similar to those in New Jersey, which is considered to have among the strictest gun laws in the U.S. The "Resolution of the Borough of Madison in Support of Federal Legislation Adopting New Jersey's Strict Gun Laws" was passed unanimously as part of the consent agenda, and discussion on the topic was accompanied by a presentation by Madison police officers about various types of guns. The resolution says more than 48,000 Americans will be murdered with guns during the next four years and Madison's elected officials are outraged at the statistics …
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Mayor Bob Conley and Councilman Robert Catalanello have different perspectives on firearms, but both are addressing what they see as needed reforms.
Madison Mayor Bob Conley, a member of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, started the new year by signing a pledge joining Mayors Against Gun Violence. Separately, Borough Councilman Robert Catalanello, a member of the National Rifle Association, plans to introduce a resolution at the governing body's next meeting urging Congress to use New Jersey's gun laws as the laws for the entire U.S., the mayor said. The Madison officials are weighing in on gun laws in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Conley announced his pledge and the planned resolution during Madison's reorganization meeting on Tuesday. He said he signed the pledge earlier that day. Looking back on 2012, "We cannot avoid thinking about the tragedy at Sandy…
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Officials from hard-hit shore town attended Madison's reorganization meeting to thank community for its Sandy relief efforts.
A Madison Junior School school student nearly had the mayor of Union Beach in tears as she spoke at the Madison governing body's reorganization meeting about a field trip she and fellow students recently took to survey damage from Superstorm Sandy in the shore town. About 60 students cleaned the beach, unloaded donated building materials and delivered a check for money they raised for relief efforts. The field trip was part of Madison's boroughwide efforts to help the shore town. Union Beach Mayor Paul J. Smith Jr. and council members Victor Tuberion and Charles Cocuzza attended Tuesday's meeting to accept a donated Madison police car, a donation from Venture Crew 77 and thanked the Madison community for its efforts to help their town. "…
Aladdin Sarsippius Sulemenagic Jackson III
9:45 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Kids wouldn't drink to excess, or use any many drugs as they do, if these were not prohibited. Make it legal, available and inexpensive and the coolness factor will drop. If Dutch students manage to survive and thrive in such an environment, our kids will rise to the challenge. more ›