Dear Editor:
Again we’re facing another Healy tax increase. Since Mayor Healy took office in July 2005 through the end of this fiscal year in June 2010, we’ll have seen our city taxes raised by 36.4 percent! That’s just the city portion of taxes, which is approximately 56 percent of our tax bills. When I first moved here in the 80s, the city’s portion was approximately 40 percent of our tax bills.
On January 18, 2006, the first budget hearing for newly elected Mayor Healy’s budget took place. You can watch a 28 minute TV show of that budget hearing on TalkingPolitics.net, titled “JC Budget – Healy’s First.” His first budget raised taxes 7 percent for the fiscal year but as usual was loaded in the February & May bills. At that hearing I brought up the annual increases in salary expenses for various departments. The increases were staggering. Examples included the Mayor’s Action Bureau 35 percent, Cultural Affairs 35 percent, HED 65 percent, Commerce Dept 41 percent etc. The consistent explanation was more people, more people, and more people. It was very obvious that Healy didn’t get rid of the patronage from the previous administrations, Cunningham and Schundler, but just added his layer on top.
In addition, that year the city offered early retirements but the Healy administration hired many of them back! So where was the savings to the taxpayers? In Feb 2006, his administration refinanced $138.6 million in debt with a negative savings beginning in 2011 so more bad news is coming. The interest on that debt will cost the taxpayers more.
There will never be enough tax dollars if we continue to re-elect politicians who have a total disregard for the taxpayers and have their hands out for the developers. Please keep the FBI and US Attorney’s Office in your prayers. May they continue their good work and throw the bums out…
Mia Scanga, CPA
Jersey City