Wantage taxpayers, please wake up
Former Wantage Attorney Michael Garofalo (then with Laddey, Clark & Ryan) and Mayor Bill DeBoer, with the all to willing help from Deputy Mayor Bill Gaechter, Committeeman Ron Bassani, Administrator/Clerk James Doherty, Tax Assessor Kristy Lockburner and the Friends of Lake Neepaulin (FOLN) have backed Wantage Township into such a legal lose-lose situation that they now plan to force all of us Wantage taxpayers into paying over $1.2 million in additional property taxes over the next 17 years to repay the FOLN’s NJDEP Loan for the rehabilitation of the FOLN’s PRIVATELY owned dam.
What do we get for our over $1.2 million? We get an all but useless, totally over developed, (stagnant?) Lake Neepaulin, along with all of the liabilities associated with owning a lake and a dam, and a 0.91 acre “park” with no facilities or parking. As of the end of July, there was only a very tiny trickle of water flowing into the culvert under Old Clove Road and then into the Lake.
It should be noted that for 2014 the Lake is assessed at $27,600 (after the $1 million repair to the dam) and the Beach is assessed at $32,800; therefore, for our more than $1.2 million in additional taxes we will get two properties assessed at a total of $60,400. Sounds like a great deal for someone, but not for us Wantage taxpayers. What will it cost you personally? Based on Doherty’s email dated July 15, 2014, the average Wantage residential property owner, assessed at $261,000, will pay about an additional $16 a year. “This includes the anticipated costs of treating/maintaining the lake each year.” $16 x 17 years = $272. Or put another way, for each $100,000 of assessed value, you will pay about an additional $104.21 in property taxes over the next 17 years. But what else will they add on later?
A few residential examples using Doherty’s $16 per year for a property assessed at $261,000:
1. Average Lakefront, Tier 1: $152.85, $8.99 per year for 17 years.
2. Average Lake View, Tier 2: $158.98, $9.35
3. Average R-2 Zone: $164.62, $9.68
4. Average R-2 Zone, Tier 3: $165.95, 9.76
5. Average Clove Hill Manor: $222.82, $13.11
6. Average Wantage Township: $272.12, $16.01
7. Average Wantage Township, not including the R-2 Zone: $292.09, $17.18
8. Tom Jable, FOLN’s chairman of the board, Lakefront: $202.28, $11.90. Under the co-borrower agreement, Jable would have paid $17,501.78 plus a part of the FOLN’s $121,000 share. That ‘s a savings of well over $17,299.
9. Joy Steinbacher, FOLN’s President, 2 line items, not lakefront: $315.14, $18.54.
10. Peter Johr, FOLN Trustee (former?), Lakefront: $101.30, $5.96. Under the co-Borrower Agreement Johr would have paid $8,750.89 plus a part of the FOLN’s $121,000 share. That ‘s a savings of well over $8,650.
11. Me, 3 line items, 8 miles away: $398.31, $23.43
12. My neighbor, 8 miles away: $347.45, $20.44
Based on the above examples, how can this proposed system of taxation to repay the FOLN’s NJDEP Dam Rehabilitation Loan be in any way considered to be fair and equitable? The properties that allegedly receive the most “benefit” from the lake, on the average, pay the least; whereas the properties that receive zero benefit from the lake, on the average, pay the most. Then the property owners in the age restricted Clove Hill Manor, who have their own swimming pool, will be forced to pay an average of $222.82, $13.11.
Please note, based on Ordinance 2013-06, Mayor Bill DeBoer had no authority to sign the co-borrower agreement on Jan, 27, 2011. He had even personally voted for the ordinance that rescinded the authority.
Now they want to hide their total legal and financial fiasco by forcing all of us Wantage taxpayers into repaying the FOLN’s $1 million NJDEP Loan, instead of implementing the system of Special Assessments against the real estate benefited as required by N.J.S.A. 58:4-12d.(1).
If you don’t want to be forced to pay for part of this over $1.2 million political blunder, come to the Wantage Township Committee Meeting on Thursday, August 21, at 7 p.m., and let the members of the Wantage Township Committee know that you (we) don’t want Wantage Township to own Lake Neepaulin.
William H. Gettler
Wantage Township