MESSAGE FROM THE PROPERTY TAX COMMITTEE
To: CCMT Members<
Following up our most recent communication we wish to report there have been ongoing meetings between attorneys and officials in the Township. There are a number of potential outcomes to these conversations ranging from, nothing at all, to the need to file some form of assessment appeal on a timely basis. As we have learned, it is almost impossible to predict anything with any level of certainty in this matter; so your Steering Committee has looked at the various possible outcomes and how to be best be prepared for each.
We think we have most situations covered except for one, having your permission to file an assessment appeal in a timely manner (by April 1, 2008) on your behalf.
If all our calculations hold up we’ll be able to file these appeals at minimal ($25) or no costs to you, but we cannot file them without your authorization. Therefore, your Steering Committee is recommending you reach out to one of the Steering Committee members listed below and send them an email, or letter authorizing us to instruct the law firm of Archer and Greiner, LLC, to file an appeal on your behalf. For your convenience, arrangements will be made with the Community Manager, in our respective clubhouse, to accept your written statement to us.
Here is the statement we would like to receive from each CCMT member:
Dear (John, Norm, Stu, Jerry or Frank)
On this day of March_____, 2008 I hereby request you communicate my authorization to file a petition of assessment appeal on my behalf to the firm of Archer and Greiner, LLC for tax year 2008.
Sincerely:
Name
Address
Block and Lot number (if you know it)
Do not delay. Send the above statement as soon as possible. If there is a need for you to pay the filing fee of $25 we’ll let you know but it’s very important you get this statement to a Steering Committee member now. If the situation arises where we need to file an appeal to get the last increment of the promised settlement, we will not be able to file one for you without the above statement. Finally, do not be concerned that you are authorizing the law firm to bill you an indeterminate amount of money. The maximum amount cannot exceed $25.
Thank you,
The Steering Committee:
Regency at Monroe: John Keane and Jerry Krxyzkowski
John Keane's email address: jekeane1@verizon.net
Renaissance at Cranbury Crossing: Stuart Block
Renaissance at Monroe: Frank Giubeleo and Norman Rubenstein
TEXAS HOLD'EM TOURNAMENT - ENCORE AND REGENCY
AUGUST 17TH
SAVE THE DATE. REGENCY & ENCORE MEN'S CLUBS WILL BE SPONSORING "TEXAS HOLD'EM"
SUNDAY AUGUST 17TH - ONE DAY EVENT
OPEN TO MEN & WOMEN 0F BOTH COMMUNITES
FURTHER DETAILS TO FOLLOW
THE TOURNAMENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT REGENCY
MEN'S CLUB - MOTHER'S DAY CELEBRATIONS
MAY 10TH
CLICK ON LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://www.adrive.com/public/718ae322a7a76de6c3e615f62b22833375e3d2f9a9bd5c061c71dfc1019e87f1.html
LET'S SHUFFLE ON DOWN TO THE SHUFFLEBOARD COURTS
The weather is getting warmer so it must be shuffleboard time. Starting in April, every Tuesday at 5:45 PM and Sunday at 9:30 AM we will be "shuffling". Call Alan Maltzman, Ron Post or Stan Sandler for information
IT'S TIME TO SHOOT A FEW BASKETS
It's time to shoot a few baskets. We shoot at the Monroe Rec on Wednesday's at 5:00 PM and in April on Saturdays at 9:30 AM. We shoot free throws to get us ready for the Senior Olympics. For more information call Alan Maltzman, 732-656-1443 or Barry Kleinman 732-521-9461
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB MEETING
THURSDAY, MARCH 20TH
Regency Digital Photography Club has the next meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 20 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. This promises to be exceptional. Marc Farb of Olympus will make a presentation covering photography elements, illustrated by his own work. He will, of course, discuss Olympus’ product line and directions. Most importantly, he will answer our questions about Olympus cameras and any other general topics. ALL RESIDENTS, WHETHER OR NOT YOU’RE A MEMBER OF OUR CLUB, ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THIS MEETING. We meet in the Clubhouse Library – but, of course, if we overflow that room, we’ll move to a larger one. Please contact Howard Wichansky if you have any questions
THIS IS A TRUE STORY - I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING
A resident told me a true story that happened to his friend. Two neighbors, let's say their names were Smith & Jones, lived next door to each other. They both had beautiful back yards with no fences. One night Smith let his dog out in his backyard. When the dog came back he had a rabbit in his mouth. Jones had a pet rabbit in a cage in the backyard. Smith called his wife and said, "what are we going to do?" Our dog just killed Jone's rabbit!" So Mrs. Smith said, let's bathe the rabbit and use a hairdryer to fluffy up his hair and then put the rabbit back in the cage, which would make Jones feel that the rabbit died of "naturally causes". So that's what they did. The next morning Jones knocked on Smith's door and said, "you cannot believe what just happened with my rabbit!" Jones continued to say, "two days ago our rabbit died and we buried him in the backyard and now he is back in his cage, looking cleaner then ever". Jones was beside himself wanting to know how a dead rabbit got back into the cage and looked better now then when he was buried. Yes, Smith's dog dug up Jone's rabbit and brought it home with him. This is a true story.
PUBLIC MEETING MARCH 31ST 7:30 PM TOWN HALL
MUNICIPAL BUDGET
A resident sent me some information regarding a public meeting to discuss the Township's Municipal Budget. Some salient points of information are as follows:
1. The Mayor is proposing a $2.5 million increase which will mean a $174 increase in the average household. You know we aren't considered "average", so be prepared for an increase greater than $174.
2. Supposedly this is just the municipal portion of your property tax. It doesn't represent the addtional amount that will be added to your taxes for the recent approval of the school referendum that will add addtional dollars to our tax bill.
Again, I am not sure if the $174 will include this amount but this was what was stated in the letter from the homeowner.
3. Naturally some of the gains our Property Tax Committee has gotten for us will be "eaten up" by the increase in our taxes.
4, If you look at your tax bill it is composed of 6 main taxes and it will be anyone's guess how much the other items will add up to. For example, the Fire District 3 and the County Tax portion add up to a sizeable amount. Will these increase as well as the School and Municipal taxes?
We all realize that many of the residents living in the adult communites of Monroe Township live on "fixed incomes". Increases like this may force many residents to move (if they can find someone to buy their homes). Listening to some radio programs dealing with the State tax problems and the different ways our Governor is thinking about dealing with the billions of dollar deficit, the talk show announcers clearly indicated that people are "fed up" and are moving out of New Jersey, where taxes are very high. With more people moving and less people moving in, yes, this means fewer people would have to share the burden and this will increase for those who are still left, by lots of dollars. It's basically a "Catch 22".
Many years ago when I was the Director of Pharmacy at a hospital in NY, the President of the Board of Directors, who so happens to have been the Founder and President of Sweet N Low (real nice guy and a good friend) said to me and I still remember this, "the sign of a good Administrator is a person who isn't given millions of dollars extra to run his operation, but when the chips are down and you need to make cuts, then you must make these cuts without jeopardizing your operation." So I cut 15% or $3 million dollars and patient care was NEVER jeopardized. I became a little more creative and we all know about generic equivalents, well, I came up with a program called Therapeutic Equivalents. Basically, we know that drugs like Tagamet and Zantac aren't generically equivalent but they are Therapeutic equivalent. I was paying at that time about 10X more for Zantac then Tagament. So I went to the Medical Board and for 2 hours talked about Therapeutic equivalents and they "bought it". This save me over $2 million. The point I am trying to make is - whether it be the Township, the County or the State, become CREATIVE and look at what you are doing and say we can do the same things but lower our costs. To me, this would be a politician I would vote for. You can always build a building by asking people for the money, but can you build a building without asking for the money? The answer is YES if you cut down some of the needless expenses, waste, review policy's and procedures and modify if necessary to cut costs. By the way, with the $3 million I saved, not one job was lost.
Let me give you just one example. One portion of the Tax bill is for the Fire taxes and it is a sizable amount. Jerry Kaplan said why do we need so many fire districts? CONSOLIDATE! By doing so, you can save dollars and you will NOT jeopardize the safety of Township residents. I came from Manalapn Township where our fire company was a VOLUNTEER fire company. I am not sure why Monroe Township has a paid fire company but through attrition (I don't advocate people losing jobs), why not add Volunteers as paid firemen leave. If you can't find volunteers, then naturally hire someone. My son was a volunteer fireman in Manalapan for many years. The use of "volunteers" saved Manalpan taxpapers a significant amount of money on their taxes each year. I think almost every resident in Manalpan gave some sort of contribution to the fire company because of the fact that they were just volunteers. Here in Monroe Township, the "contribution" is mandatory because it is part of your taxes.
Finally, please try to attend the public meeting on March 31st at 7:30 AM at Town Hall, if you are for or against the proposed budget and you want to get your viewpoints heard.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BARBARA AND FRANK PERRELLI
Barbara and Frank Perrelli are pleased to announce the birth of their new grandaughter, Alyssa Paige Stump who was born on Friday, March 7th. at 2:40pm weighing in at 7 lbs. She is the third child for Denise and James Stump. Her big sister Rachel age 5 and Nicholas 3.
This is the eighth grandchild for Barbara and Frank rounding out the genders at 4 each.
(EMAILER'S NOTE: I THINK THE PERRELLI FAMILY NEEDS A TIE BREAKER. PLEASE PASS THE WORD ALONG TO YOUR CHILDREN)
TWO TICKETS AVAILABLE - McCARTER THEATER
If anyone would like to buy two (2) tickets (Total $67.50) to the McCarter Theatre (Cabaret night) on Friday, March 21, please contact Bobbie Waller at 732-656-9203. James Naughton will be performing.
Invitation for Regency to join together at the 2008 MS Walk
We all know someone whose life is affected by Multiple Sclerosis. Our community can make a difference. The 2008 MS Walk, which marks the 20th anniversary, is Sunday, April 13th, 2008 and we will be walking at the new Freehold location. We chose the Freehold location because the walk will start and end at the new MS Center at the CentraState Medical Center's Wellness Campus. This resource has been made possible by previous walk contributions. It is also more convenient to reach from Regency and will avoid the parking problem and crowd confusion of last year. It's a fun day with a chance to work together for this common cause. Meet for coffee and bagels between 9:00 and 9:30 AM, walk as far as you want, and have lunch after the walk.
You can register and collect donations from your friends and relatives to be submitted at the walk or donated without attending the walk. Register online at www.nationalmssociety.org/njm and indicate our “Team Bright Future”. A collection packet will be sent out to you immediately. If you walked last year you should receive this packet automatically. Otherwise, you can can register by phoning Howard or Shelly Wichansky or submit donations directly to them. Please make checks payable to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. There will also be applications in the club house lobby and a collection form is attached.
Last year we turned in several thousand dollars in generous contributions and the Mid Jersey Chapter raised over one million dollars. So let's have more walkers and even bigger success to ensure a "Bright Future" for those with MS.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE A SPONSOR AND MAKE A DONATION, CLICK ON THIS LINK
http://www.adrive.com/public/8c5fbfed807f743147831024fa10cbf5686cc20fa9672f39e436de1ba5fc55cb.html
CHANGE IN ROMEO'S SCHEDULE - MAY 18TH
THERE IS A CHANGE IN THE SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY MAY 18TH WE ARE GOING TO: MAIETTAS(PEOPLES) IN ENGLISHTOWN
RED HAT FASHION SHOW AND LUNCHEON
MARCH 19TH
Red Hat Fashion Show & Luncheon
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Regency Clubhouse
The Regency Red Hat Ladies are hosting a Red Hat Fashion Show on Wednesday, March 19, at 12 p.m. The cost of the luncheon is $20 and will be catered by The Chef’s Table.
The Chef’s Table will cater a variety of luncheon sandwiches, salads, soda, coffee, dessert, etc. We truly will be our very own “guests.”
Plan on attending this wonderful Red Hat Fashion Show! The show will include outrageous “Red Hats” and “Red Hat” clothing. The Red Hat ladies will model these fabulous fashions. If you are interested in being a model, please note that information on the bottom of the form. Several ladies have already volunteered to be models.
If you are interested in attending this enjoyable event, please submit your check payable to cash (or cash) to Elaine Robin, 127 Country Club Drive by March 12. If you need further information, please contact Elaine at 732-605-7960. Your check will be your reservation.
SUBMIT THE FORM BELOW WITH YOUR CHECK/CASH $20
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Red Hat Fashion Show—March 19
RSVP BY March 12
NAME _________________________________________________________
CHECK/CASH $20___________________Model_______________
YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS PICTURE
Alan Herschman sent me a picture of his entire family. I added two pictures of his family but one is with a border that I added some hearts too it. It's great to see not only our friends and neighbors of Regency and their pictures, but to see our families and all the kids and grandchildren, well, that's PRECIOUS! So, dig up one of your favorite photos and send it to me. Then send your kids and grandchildren to my BLOG to see how they look. Alan & Ruth - great looking family - all the best to you and your family!
THAT'S IT FOR NOW
RON
