SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Board of Trustees approved a change order for the renovation project at the Baird Community Center at its Aug. 9 meeting, adding another $189,970.49 to the total project cost with a 5-0 vote; Trustee Summer Jones was absent. The building has been closed since 2018 while a complete […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Village Trustee Karen Hartshorn Hilton, who is also chairperson of the South Orange Village Finance Committee, announced July 2 that Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings has revised its outlook for South Orange from stable to positive. “This is great news for our taxpayers, as this improved credit rating puts us in […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education took another step forward in its Long Range Facilities Plan at a meeting on May 10, approving a contract for renovations and to build additions at Clinton Elementary School and Jefferson Elementary School. The contract resolution passed with a vote of 8-0; BOE […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education passed the 2021-22 budget, which came in at $159,683,232, at its May 3 meeting. The measure passed with a vote of 5-3; BOE members Elissa Malespina, Johanna Wright and Kamal Zubieta voted against it. BOE member Susan Bergin was absent. There will be […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Board of Trustees passed two resolutions at a special meeting on Aug. 3, both memorandums of agreement with the local firefighters unions to enact a salary freeze through 2021 as a result of budget shortfalls caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Both FMBA Local 40 and FMBA Local […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Board of Trustees passed the 2020 municipal budget at its June 8 meeting, setting into motion plans to apply to civil service for furloughs and layoffs in the South Orange Fire and Police departments after three of the unions did not accept a proposed 2-percent pay freeze over […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Locked in a feud with the New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association and the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association, the South Orange Board of Trustees and South Orange Village President Sheena Collum released a statement in response to a letter that FMBA President Edwin Donnelly and PBA President Patrick […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange Board of Trustees introduced the 2020 budget at its virtual May 11 meeting, passing the $36,873,694.78 budget, in which municipal taxes will be raised by 2.72 percent, on first reading with a 5–0 vote. The average increase between 2011 and 2020 has been 1.8 percent, while the average […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education unanimously passed the district’s 2020–2021 budget at its virtual meeting on May 4, moving forward with planning for the next school year. The local tax levy will be raised by 2 percent with the passage of the $152,419,950 budget. Taxes make up the […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education dived into the waters of virtual meetings on April 20, when it held its first meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all nonessential businesses and gatherings. After Superintendent Ronald Taylor’s update about distance learning, each BOE committee chairperson gave a report, including […]