EAST ORANGE, NJ —
Former East Orange 5th Ward Councilwoman and Essex County Freeholder Carol Clark speaks to the City Council about the ‘double whammy’ of high taxes and recent water rate increases that she and other city taxpayers are forced to deal with as, from left, 1st Ward Councilman Chris James, 4th Ward Councilman Casim Gomez and 5th Ward Councilman Alicia Holman listen in at the regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, March 14.
At the East Orange City Council’s regularly scheduled meeting Monday, March 14, several residents spoke up during the public comments portion of the meeting to express concern about property taxes and the recent water-rate increase.
“I have some concerns,” said Brighton Avenue resident Marion Brantley on Monday, March 14. “First off, where are my tax dollars going? I want someone to answer that question for me.”
According to former East Orange Water Commissioner R. Greg Ward, the city pays the most property taxes in Essex County. The certified public accountant and certified municipal finance officer sent an email on Thursday, March 10, to the Record-Transcript listing the Essex County municipalities with the highest average local property tax bills for 2014; East Orange tops the list at $5,977 per average taxpayer, according to Ward’s calculations.
“The cost to run our government with 10 council members and Board of Education is the reason why East Orange, an urban area, has the highest tax rate, while affluent and suburban Livingston has the lowest,” said Ward on March 14. “You also have to factor in abandoned properties and foreclosures in the city and the cost of borrowing. Residents which pay property taxes have to pay more for the ones that don’t, which is called the ‘Reserve for Uncollected Taxes.’”
According to East Orange resident Almeda Walker at the March 14 meeting, “One of my concerns in the past is we have department heads and we’re not sure when or how salary increases are given to them. Once they start the budget process, guess what? We’re going to pay. We need to know what the plan is going to be.”
Former 5th Ward Councilwoman and Essex County Freeholder Carol Clark also spoke out at the meeting about the city’s taxes and the recent water bill increase, calling it a “double whammy” for taxpayers.
“The folks in East Orange are getting a double whammy, because the taxes are going up and the water bills are going up,” said Clark on Monday, March 14. “I don’t normally come out to these meetings to speak, because I know how much work you do, since I was once a member of the council, just like you. But I felt I had to come out tonight to talk about some issues that I and people I know in the city have been discussing.”
East Orange resident Maravan Covington said she came to the council meeting specifically to talk about the city’s water rate. She said the recent emergency temporary rate increase that began in August 2015 and ended Monday, Feb. 1, has put a strain on customers of the EOWC at a time when property owners also have to deal with another overall tax increase.
“I called the Water Department and I got no answer, so I figured I would come out to the council meeting, because I’ve heard the City Council and the Mayor’s Office control the Water Department,” Covington said.
Covington said her bills and those of other EOWC customers were more than doubling, so she came to the meeting to suggest a solution to the recent rapid rate increases to the city’s governing body.
“I think they should retract those bills that just went out,” said Covington. “I think it’s unfair that we pay all these taxes and now the water rate is doubling. I’m asking the council to look at the water bills that were sent out to the residents of East Orange, or else I will start a petition.”
Fourth Ward Councilwoman Tyshammie Cooper said, “After several meetings, we have requested a report from the Water Commission. It’s been several meetings now and I still haven’t gotten that.”
Second Ward Councilwoman Jacqueline Johnson, chairwoman of the council’s Public Works Committee and the council’s liaison to the EOWC, said at the meeting, “As far as water is concerned, there is a water commission meeting tomorrow at 5. We are going to be there. We are going to ask if they’re doing a sampling of our water.”
Johnson said she would also ask EOWC Executive Director Chris Coke and the commissioners about the recent water rate increases and other concerns voiced at the meeting when she attends the Water Commission meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 15.
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