The More Things Change...

Some things have changed since the days when Washington was fighting the British in the colony of New Jersey.

Some things have stayed the same.

Today, our residents are leaving New Jersey in greater numbers than in years passed.

During Washington’s crossing of the Delaware, he and his troops were coming in to New Jersey to push back the Brits, rather than leaving.

Today, many towns in New Jersey have an overcrowding problem in their towns due to the scarcity of affordable housing. Looks like Washington and his troops also had an over-crowding problem in their boats, when crossing the Delaware.

Once thing is for certain: Back in Washington’s day, we were fighting the British because of taxes imposed by the King on the colonies. That has not changed much.

People still don’t like paying taxes, some 230 years later.

New Jersey officials can't seem to give money away

“New Jersey officials can't seem to give money away when it comes to the nation's highest property taxes. About 200,000 people have failed to apply for their property tax rebates, costing themselves $200 million total, Democratic leaders said yesterday. About 1.1 million rebate checks were mailed to homeowners last week, but Senate President Richard J. Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. urged those who haven't applied to do so before the Oct. 31 application deadline.” (Hester, AP)

So, the state with the highest property taxes in the nation left rebate checks totaling about $200 million on the table. Go figure.

And there are 200,000 of them. Clueless.

Probably these are the same types of guys who drive a Pacer or a Yugo, drive with their left signal on in the left lane, have an eight-track deck in their car, is not registered to vote, live at home with their parents, did not think that Don Imus said anything wrong, does not have an EZ-pass, and roots for the Mets (North Jersey) or Phillies (South Jersey).

Here is the way to make sure the State actually distributes the money: Send out a press release telling people they CANNOT have their money back. "Nope, you can't have it back. We're going to keep it and use it to....buy glow in the dark shoes for all the deer in the state so that....can be seen at night".

People will go nuts making sure they get their money back.

Best Places to Live in America: NJ Style

The cynics among us always blast New Jersey at every conceivable moment for our high property taxes, high auto insurance rates, crowded highways, and sprawl being built upon more and more sprawl. We are the home of “The Sopranos”, the state where Miss New Jersey was blackmailed, and where we see the backside of the Statue of Liberty each morning from our side of the Hudson. The state song should be “I’m from New Jersey” by John Gorka.

When my New York City friends come to New Jersey for a visit, they lament over having to figure out how to handle jug-handle turns. They also love being able to make a right turn on a red light. They love our gas prices and the fact that they pump the gas for you, but they hate the toll roads. You gotta take the good with the bad in any state, I say. And the Garden State is no different.

Money magazine recently released their list of the “Top 100 BEST PLACES TO LIVE” in America. While no city in New Jersey made the top ten, we did place six towns in the top 50, and eight towns altogether. If you include all the towns nearby these eight, you get a pretty impressive number for a state the size of NJ.

The most impressive statistic: California has a population of 36,457,549 and 155,959.34 square miles of state ---- and they have the most number of cities in the “Top 100 BEST PLACES TO LIVE” at NINE. What about New Jersey? Well, with only 8,724,560 people, and just 7,417.34 square miles --- we have EIGHT cities in the “Top 100 BEST PLACES TO LIVE”. Our neighbors to the east and west of us have only 3 and 4 respectively in top 100.

Take that Los Angeles. Stick it where the sun don't shine, ‘Frisco.

Here are our proud winners:

13. Montville, N.J.
Population: 22,100

23. Hillsborough, NJ
Population: 41,100

29. River Vale, NJ
Population: 9,500

33. Marlboro, NJ
Population: 38,500

45.Berkeley Heights, NJ
Population: 14,000

47.Sayreville, NJ
Population: 45,200

58.Readington, NJ
Population: 19,000

78.Moorestown, NJ
Population: 20,700

And we have a better ocean than California, too. Everyone knows the Atlantic is better than the Pacific.

Save $$$ in Property Taxes: Become a diplomatic mission to the UN

The folks in Mongolia hate property taxes as much as NJ does:

The US Supreme Court sided with Bloomberg and NYC last week --- that the government of Mongolia must pay the $ 2.1 million in property taxes their nation of 2,594,100 owes the Big Apple for buildings where they operate diplomatic offices.

Come on, Prime Minister Miyeegombyn Enkhbold: youse guys can certainly come up with that in either dollars or tögrögs, your official currency.

That’s less than a buck a head for every Mongolian man, woman or child! And certainly much less than we pay per head in New Jersey. You guys have a bargain in the Big Apple.

New York City has been trying to collect property taxes from nations that house their employees in the same buildings where they operate diplomatic offices. And there are plenty of these around Manhattan, given the United Nations building in town. Those “countries have tax exemptions for the diplomatic mission section of the properties, but the city says they must pay taxes for the space that houses employees,” according to Fox News.

Mongolia owes a little over a cool 2 mil. India owes over $16 million. And that's a lot of tögrögs or Indian Rupees any way you slice it.

We all have to pay property taxes. Even Mongolia and India. But tax exemptions for the diplomatic mission section of the properties?

This gives me a great idea for NJ property tax payers: Rent your house to a diplomatic mission. They get out of NY, and you get a tax break! It's win-win.

Let’s say you get a small nation to house their diplomatic mission to the UN in your house? That should get you some property tax relief in the form of the diplomatic exemption. Certianly not China, India or Russia ----they probably have huge delegations to the UN and need lots of space. But maybe Chad, Tuvalu, or San Marino can use the help. After all, how many delegates to the UN can a nation of a few thousand have? One, maybe two guys? And they’re probably at the UN most of the time.

So, maybe you can offer the rep from the Palau Islands in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines your garage or the folks from San Marino your back bedroom for a few nights a week. And I am sure the folks from Tuvalu would not mind putting their feet up on your coffee table, chugging down a cool BudLight after a hard day of diplomacy, and listening to the Tuvalu national anthem. So, become an official diplomatic office ----complete with the property tax exemption it comes with.

I am sure you can easily explain that to your town tax collector.

So, Mongolia and India: I am certain that while NYC can give you a little more time to pay your property taxes ---- but after that, we folks in the Garden State will lend them the Sopranos to collect. After all, they're not busy in New Jersey any more.