Mike Reina on important township issues

Completed Township Revaluation After more than 20 years of delays, Mayor Reina successfully completed the township’s state-mandated revaluation process.  The process was arduous for township workers and administrators who followed the lead of the mayor.  It was also unsettling for some residents that were dazed upon learning the market value of their homes.  Mayor Reina addressed their concerns by holding several town-hall style meetings where he had representatives of the revaluation company, Tax Assessor and Business Administrator on hand to address concerns.  At the completion of the revaluation process he organized volunteers to hold a seminar on the appeals process and how to file a tax appeal on your property. Transfer station at Johnson Park Mike understands the adverse conditions placed on the Westlake community by the existing leaf and brush transfer station.  The location of the transfer station also poses a risk to children playing in Johnson Park and Mike has a proactive and beneficial plan that will relocate the transfer station to a new and green composting facility that will benefit residents.   The transfer station is scheduled to be shut down in the fall of  2009, freeing the senior community from the sights, smells and sounds created by it. Military Planes Mike understands the concerns of residents posed by increased air traffic from the nearby Joint military base and the impacts this traffic has on local quality of life issues.   As Mayor, Mike has invited residents of the community on a tour of the base to allow them to speak directly to the government officials in charge of the base to hear the residents’ concerns over the increased air traffic caused by the base.   Resident appreciation Mayor Reina as continued the Jackson tradition of recognizing achievements by local residents by awarding proclamations for good deeds, community service and accomplishments by both volunteer groups and youth sports organizations. Jackson Senior Center Mayor Reina has plans to expand the Jackson Senior and improve the services offered by the senior center.

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Mike Reina on important township issues

Jamaica seeks large cruise ships with construction of terminal …

Jamaica to build large cruise ship terminalKINGSTON, Jamaica — Construction of a cruise ship terminal expected to attract nearly 1 million visitors a year will begin now that Jamaica has secured financing, the government said Saturday. Read more: Jamaica seeks large cruise ships with construction of terminal …

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Jamaica seeks large cruise ships with construction of terminal …

Economic stimulus taking food off tables of the unemployed

Obama’s economic stimulus package was touted as America’s cure all program that was supposed to pull the nation out of the worst recession since the Great Depression and provide relief for the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs due to a faltering global economy.    Now, it turns out provisions in this stimulus are penalizing the people it was meant to protect.

Part of the stimulus package included a $25 per week boost to unemployment benefits for millions who have lost their jobs.   Unfortunately, to many of these people, that $25 per week makes them ineligible for the food stamps they desperately need to feed their families including their children.    For many unemployed workers, the additional $25 pushed them over the maximum income amounts, making them ineligble for the food stamp program.   Once an unemployment recipient crosses that threshold, even if by $1, they are completely ineligible for food stamps, turning hundreds of dollars of available income for food items into just $100 per month where they could have received upwards of $300 per month prior the recieving this ’stimulus’.   No matter where you live in America, you cannot feed a single person, let alone an entire family on $25 per week.

This oversight in the Democrat created and approved stimulus package is forcing once hardworking Americans to bring themselves to local food pantries and begin asking thier community for handouts, making their troubles worse than they were before the stimulus bonus was added to their unemployment checks.

In Washington D.C., the government says they are not even sure how many people this bonus will effect, but acknowledge that they have received many inquiries from desperate Americans looking for answers.   Many say lawmakers in Washington D.C. were well aware of this pitfall in the stimulus package but, after gaining approval within a few days by both the Democrat led House of Representatives and Senate, there was no time, nor attempts to fix it before signing it into law.

Many former Republicans who were falling on hard times admit that they voted for Obama because they saw his stimulus iniatives as a potential way out of America’s current econmic condition, but they now admit that had they known the future recklessness and lack of proper forward thinking and poor implementation  of such social programs, they may not make that same decision if they had a chance to do it over again.

Government Encouraging Homeownership By Giving Away $8,000

 By Louis Soto

We enjoyed a season of what seemed to be unstoppable double digit real estate appreciation that came to a tumultuous reversal as home prices return to more affordable levels. What drove our economy via home equity lines of credit, cash out refinances and speculation house flipping was real estate appreciation. In an effort to stabilize home prices and encourage homeownership amongst the segment of Americans that didn’t benefit from the real estate craze and were potentially priced out of the market the US government is giving away up to $8,000 to first time homebuyers. With a third of Americans standing by the real estate sideline unscathed by housing bubble blues the future of real estate growth rests in large part on them.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 introduced the way to get cash into the hands of first time homebuyers by offering up to a $7,500 interest free loan in the form of a tax rebate to first time homebuyers. While this money would be recaptured over 15 years it provides a stimulus for homebuyers that haven’t owned a home in the last 3 years. This applies to homes purchased between April 9th 2008 and December 31st 2008. The rebate was improved upon through The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Homes purchased between January 1st 2009 and December 1st 2009 qualify a first time homebuyer (an individual who has not owned a home the last 3 years) would qualify for a tax rebate of up to the lesser of 10% of the home’s purchase price or $8,000. These are free dollars so long as you live in the home for at least 3 years. In many cases this rebate is enough to offset the minimum down payment requirement which for FHA loans is currently 3.5%.

Unlike a tax deduction that you become eligible for once you become a homeowner enabling you to deduct property taxes, mortgage insurance and mortgage interest against your income: a rebate is a direct credit. Deductions reduce your taxable income that can impact the amount of tax that you would owe resulting in a potential refund of taxes paid. A rebate is a credit of dollars that you have not paid to the IRS. In most cases you would need to wait until you file your tax returns in order to get your rebate; however you may amend your 2008 tax returns in order to claim the 2009 tax rebate early.

With real estate prices substantially more affordable and interest rates at historic lows the tax rebate has begun to generate a buzz that is creating more activity in the real estate market. On May 29, 2009, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) allowed homebuyers to borrow against the credit to further aid in the home buying process.

Louis Soto is a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist with Mortgage Plus Home Loans based out of Clark, NJ and author of “Strategies to Successful Mortgage Planning in a Post Mortgage Meltdown Market” For more information you may contact Louis (louis@mpfgonline.com)  at (888) 734-7587.

To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by any person for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed in this communication. I recommend that you consult with properly licensed legal, tax and investment advisors for specific advice pertaining to your individual situation.

Are stay at home parents sacrificing?

By Becky Parr

I am the stay at home mother of five children, four of whom are biologically mine. I’m asked quite often how the heck we get by. I almost never give an honest answer. To do so would only make the person asking the question feel belittled and make me sound superior and that’s not what I would ever want.

When I look at the world around me today I see so many lost little faces. Little people feeling disconnected and big people feeling like they missed out on something but knowing not quite what. I have friends who work fifty to sixty hours a week. They take two vacations a year and have two new cars. Their children all have the best video games and computers. They are very stressed people. I know parents that only work forty hours a week. Both parents mind you. They also have at least one new car and massive credit card debt to get their kids the latest games and phones and computers. They are very stressed people. The thing I find amusing is where these children can be found. Not where the brand new computers are, ours is many years and many repairs old. Not where the latest video game equipment is, we don’t own even one, wait I might still have an Atari. Yep, you guessed it, they’re all at my house, lamenting about their horrid math teacher or gushing about the hot guy in 3rd period while I’m stepping over a toddler and a husky (my pound rescue and my comic relief)trying to fit 2lbs of pasta into a pot designed for much less because my 5 year old is using the big pot for a homemade “science experiment.”. The children wandering in and out of our home range from 18 months to 20 years. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We live comfortably, no new cars, no state of the art electronics but we’re not walking or taking the bus and we have cable. How we manage to get by is very simple, we prioritized. I’m not sacrificing anything by staying home to raise my children. Even if I did have to take the bus, have no TV and do without meat in my meal plans 6 of the 7 days a week it still wouldn’t be a sacrifice. (If that sounded a little specific, it was, we have had to do those things and I’d do them again, happily. Ooooh, there’s a word not used very often in conjunction with doing without.)

One of the little ones spent the night a while back. She was about 4 at the time. We got up on Saturday morning and took inventory. The only thing in the house we had enough of to feed us all was the makings for French Toast. She asked to call her mother about half way thru, I said sure and overheard her call. She had called home absolutely amazed that there was another way to make French Toast. Mom. she said, did you know that some French Toast is made with bread and eggs? Aunt Becky didn’t even put it in the toaster! Sacrifice? Please. My children will be raised with my beliefs and morals, not whoever the daycare center has making minimum wage pretending to give a rats ass about my children. I’ll know them well enough to see warning signs of future trouble and they’ll know me and my expectations. It occurs to me that instead of asking how much a person would sacrifice to be a stay at home Mother/Father, the question should be do you know what you’re sacrificing by not being a stay at home Mother/Father.

As I sit here writing these things I know that I’m sounding a wee bit defensive. Yeah, I said wee bit, problem? Huh, well, Huh? OK I keeed, I keeed! This comes from a part of me that has listened to women in our government as well as media and business people that make raising ones own children sound like a job that’s not worth the time of a well educated, motivated individual. Like by choosing to take complete responsibility for what I have brought into this world is somehow hurting the the cause known as Womens Rights. I for one don’t think getting out from under a big hairy knuckled thumb to replace it with a dainty well manicured one is what the original bra burners had in mind.

Becky Parr has started The Ordinary Woman at rltopreviews.com . If you like what you have read here please take the time to browse through the web site. It is a place to submit any DIY tips or stories, be they funny or disastrous. Currently there are several pages dedicated to small repairs that are traditionally way over charged for that can be done with minimal tools and no special skill. Thanks for your support, Becky.

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Tree Removal Ordinance and how it affects homeowners

After reading the article comments today in the Asbury Park Press, it amazes me that people who are so concerned about the implications of the tree replacement ordinance never bothered to go to look up the town code on the township’s website and see what the ordinance really is.

Here are the answers to some misconceptions.

I have to pay $200 to cut down any trees on my property?
No, only trees greater than 6 inches in diameter or greater.   A six inch diamter tree is fairly large, so it rules out most sassafrass and other “weed” trees you might have on your property.   It also rules out most of those expensive decorator trees you probably planted around your house.

What about trees that pose a risk to my home?
Other areas of the township code permit the removal of trees that pose a risk to dwellings.   You will still have to obtain a permit from the township prior to removal.

Replacing trees is going to cost me a fortune!
Trees purchased through the NJ Forestry Center between Don Connor and Route 527 can be bought very cheaply.   Reforestation trees cost just a couple dollars.  Here is their catalog: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/forest/bw_2009_nursery_catalog.pdf

Builders will stop building in Jackson
This is doubtful.  Builders are greedy capitalists, just like any other business.  They will build houses in desirable communities like Jackson as long as they can turn a profit.   This ruling has indeed made Jackson a more desirable community to live in.  Builders will be forced to build responsibly and abandon their past habits of clear cutting to build houses which will in turn make new developments even more desireable.

Why should I have to pay for a certified tree expert?
You don’t have to pay.  Take a sample of the tree the Ocean County Agricultural Center on Whitesville Road in Toms River and for a very nominal fee, they will run an analysis on your sample.  You don’t need to pay a commercial service for this action.

Those were just some of the questions posed, but if you read the actual code, you will get a better understanding on how this ordinance does help our community and even contains flexible wording that will give credits to responsible commercial and residential development.

 Tree replacement shall be required in accordance with the standards set forth in § 10-3 Dead and fatally diseased existing trees, as determined by a certified tree expert, shall not require replacement tree planting. Existing tree replacement shall comply with at least one of the following criteria:    
 
 A.One-to-one tree replacement. For each tree six inches in DBH or greater that is removed, the applicant shall prepare a replanting scheme on other treeless areas of the property to compensate the clearing of the tree area. The replacement plan or landscape plan shall reflect a one-to-one tree replacement for each tree six inches or greater to be removed. All proposed replacement trees shall be in accordance with § 109-173A(2)(b) and submitted for review and approval prior to the issuance of a tree removal permit.  
 
 B.Tree area replacement/reforestation. For each square foot of tree area to be removed, the applicant shall prepare a reforestation scheme on other treeless open space areas of the property to compensate the clearing of the tree area. The reforestation plan shall be based on twenty-foot by twenty-foot grid. Of this number of trees, 10% shall be balled and burlaped two-inch to two-and-one-half-inch caliper, 20% shall be balled and burlaped one-and-three-fourth-inch by two inches caliper, 30% shall be bare root one-and-one-fourth-inch by one-and-one-half-inch caliper and 40% shall be bare root six-foot to 8-foot tall whips. A mixture of trees, indigenous to the area and site, shall be utilized. Proposed trees shall be planted in natural groves and may be spaced five feet to 20 feet on center. The ground shall be seeded with a meadow grass mixture approved by the Township Forester.  
 
 C.Tree cost replacement. Should the quantity of the trees to be removed be greater than the quantity of actual tree replacement as identified on the tree replacement/landscaping plan due to limited available planting area, then the outstanding balance shall be provided in accordance with the replacement tree value calculations as indicated.   
 
 (1)Replacement tree value calculations. The replacement value of all trees to be removed where replacement trees are required by this chapter shall be calculated as follows:  
 
 Trees to be Removed 
 Size/DBHReplacement Trees  
  (inches)(cost per tree)  
 greater than 6 up to 12$200  
 Greater than 12 up to 18 400  
  Greater than 18 up to 24 600  
  Greater than 24 800  
  
 (a)In cases where the tree cost requirement criteria is combined with other criteria of this subsection, the value of proposed shade, ornamental, evergreen and shrub material shall be deducted from the calculated amount for replacement trees. The value of the proposed landscape material shall be calculated based upon average local material costs for planting.  
  
 (b)The applicant will receive a one-for-one replacement tree credit should stands of 10 or more trees greater than three inches in DBH be preserved within tree removal areas.  
  
 (c)A tree escrow fund shall be established by the Township for the administration and promotion of tree and shrub planting projects on or within public properties or facilities. A separate trust account shall be established for this purpose. Appropriations from the tree escrow fund shall be authorized by the governing body and shall be used for the foregoing public purposes through the recommendation of the Township Forester, Township Engineer or Township Planner.  
  
 (d)All tree replacement requirements and/or fees as set forth in this subsection shall be approved and/or paid prior to the issuance of the tree removal permit by the Township Forester.  

Mike Reina addresses township about age restricted housing bill

Jackson Township’s official website has a new update from Mayor Mike Reina.

Source: http://www.jacksontwpnj.net/Townhall/Administration/mayordesk.html

Overcrowding and runaway development is a serious concern for me, the Council and every resident of Jackson Township. Unfortunately, various mandates from Trenton and the Courts have placed significant strains on our resources and unsustainable development remains a potential problem for our community.

With that in mind, I want to share with you that Governor Corzine has Conditionally Vetoed legislation that would have permitted any age-restricted development not already under construction to switch the houses to non-age restricted housing. The legislation as drafted could have led to changes in housing approved by the Planning Board that would have severely strained Jackson’s taxpayers and our infrastructure. The Veto calls on the Legislature to change the bill to give local government additional approval authority in these cases.

The bill remains a concern however and we will be reviewing the veto language further to ascertain its impact on our community. I believe that we should continue to oppose additional State Mandates on development in our community and I would like to thank our 30th District Legislative Team of Senator Singer, Assemblyman Malone and Assemblyman Dancer for representing Jackson’s interests in opposition to this legislation.

Is Chris Christie Jackson’s Governor?

After watching tonight’s Republican Gubernatorial debate, I can’t help but think Chris Christie is the man for the job and that he is  somebody who would be on Jackson Township’s side as the Governor of our state.

Many of the topics Chris Christie covered tonight seem to be in line with the bipartisan desires of local politicians.  They seem to be things we need to take our township back from the Abbott districts, from COAH, from the DEP and most importantly tax cuts instead of increases for residents.

While John Corzine has taken away tax rebates to all but seniors, Christie instead spoke of reducing government spending in order to restore tax rebates to homeowners.

When talking about the abbot districts and what to do for students whose schools have failed them, Lonegan talked about vouchers and spending more money for children to get an education.   Christie hit hard and close to home for Jackson residents and claimed “The Abbot Experiment has failed” and expressed his commitment to fixing the problems created by the failed Abbott districts in our state that takes hard earned tax dollars from residents in towns like Jackson and gives that money to “less fortunate” towns like Lakewood.  That money was supposed to help those districts compete and provide a quality education, but has instead lead to out of control spending in many districts who received the funding.  This leaves towns like Jackson with schools that are falling apart, kids learning in trailers and school boards making poor decisions such as charging seniors to park to compensate for lost tax revenue under this program.

COAH?  Christie said that COAH was a fundamentally flaw concept that is holding back growth.  In Jackson COAH is promoting growth, but very irresponsible growth that will put a burden on our town and our taxes for years to come.

Chris Christie also supports maintaining what open space is left in New Jersey.  Jackson happens to have a lot of open space in which the folks currently in Trenton have their greedy little eyes set on, trying to force us to build more low income housing under COAH forcing us to change the dynamic of our town.

There are many people in our town on both sides who will always ride the party line right off the cliff, but when you think responsibly about the future of Jackson from the state level, there’s really only one politician who seems to be in our corner and that man is Chris Christie.

Democrats will undoubtedly support John Corzine as he continues to support legislation and policy that will eventually destroy the very fabric of our community, such is always the way in politics.    I just don’t see at this point in time how anybody who truly cares about the future of Jackson will be able to continue to publicly support John Corzine and be able to look the taxpayers of Jackson in in the eyes and say “I’m working for you”.

The unfortunate part of this story is that I cannot vote in the Republican primary because I am not registered with a party and will not.  I will always back the right guy and so far it’s turning out to look like Chris Christie.  I’ve always been very socially and environmentally liberal, but militarily and financially very conservative which really doesn’t sit well with either party, so I continue to ride the center line and voting the person, the agenda and the future and not the party.

What are your thought’s on tonight’s debate and Chris Christie?

Jackson Township NJ Public Official Approval Ratings

The polls are up for Jackson Township public official approval ratings.  When commenting on these polls, please leave the political bashing for the APP forums and contribute only constructive criticisms.    If you disapprove with somebody, feel free to explain why and perhaps what that person can do to change your mind, because one thing this site is about is positively influenced change.    I’m hoping to maintain a bit higher standard here than we see in the dregs of the internet.   If you approve, let people know of some of the good things they have done for our community.

Here is the preliminary list of officials I have added polls for.  Enjoy!

Jackson Politics
Mike Reina – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings
Mike Kafton – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings
Bobby Rivere – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings
Scott R. Martin – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings
Anne M. Updegrave – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings
Howard Tillis – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings

Jackson Schools
Tom Gialanella – Jackson NJ – Approval Ratings

If you wish to add names to this list, please suggest them here, but remember, they must be a high ranking or high profile public figure in our community of newsworthy interest to be listed.