Irvington Taxes Going Up again.

Dear People,

Let's face it....anoither tax increase in Irvington? Can any one figure this out? We had a 17% increase for the 2nd tax quarter in May, then a 3rd quarter tax increase of 4% in August. And, now, it is expected that we will have another large increase in November, 2010.

I think that means that we must work together to get to the best solutions.

On Monday, August 30, 2010, please come; and bring your family, your neighbors, and your friends to help plan for next steps. It is so important that we preserve our rights to our homes and our precious investments. We have worked hard. We have cooperated by paying our property taxes. And, we deserve to keep our homes!

A representative of Governor Christie's Office is expected to attend this meeting. Let us come together for answers to our problems. Let our voices be heard.
MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 2010 7 PM 60 Paine Ave., Irvington, NJ

Kathleen Witcher 973.371.5798

Taxes

Thanks to all who attended the Irvington NAACP this past Thursday evening at Greater New Point Church.

There are some tips that we need to obey as presented by the New Jersey Citizen Action:
1. Keep up your tax payments as there is little aid you will receive if you are in arrears for two or more years.
2. Negotiate with your mortgage company and bank to be able to possibly refinance your property and thus bring down the amount of your mortgage payments.
3. Read all notices. Some notices state that your home goes into a tax lien by a certain date. This means your name and address might have been listed in the July 1 and July 8 editions of the Irvington Herald for the accelerated tax sale that occurred atIrvington Town Hall on July 12. Once a lien is sold, you owe on the unpaid balance plus a hefty 18% interest on that balance. It can result in you losing your home even if it is simply an unpaid sewer tax bill or a single quarter's tax bill that you have to pay.
Ask the Town Clerk at Irvington Town Hall for more information.

4. There is no SENIOR FREEZE fund if you did not apply and receive that benefit last year (2009). Someone has been notifying seniors in Irvington that they should apply for Senior Freeze. The notice that appeared in the August 2 edition of the STAR LEDGER clearly states that Gov. Christie has provided tax benefits for those already receiving them. There is no fund available to those who are applying for the first time this year.

If you are 62 or older the Town Hall does have applications for you to receive a senior tax benefit. Check in the Tax Office at Irvington Town Hall. If you are a veteran, you can also apply and applications are in the Tax Office.

Tax appeals may be filed by April 1 for next year at 51 Washington St., East Orange. Tax appeals are processed through theEssex County Court. The process includes proving that your home is overassessed.

Help is on the way---for help against foreclosure and tenants' problems call 973.643.8800 New Jersey Citizen Action, 23 W. Park Pl, Newark or for legal assistance 732.529.8448 New Jersey Legal Services also online at njlslaw.org or www.njls.org

The Community meetings have brought about a way to fight higher property taxes in Irvington. A petition is now being circulated. For more information, please call me at 973.371.5798
where you should leave a voicemail message. Please let us work together now to help fight high property taxes in our town.

Next Community Meeting is Monday evening, August 30 at 7 PM. All are welcome to participate in next steps to preserve our precious homes. There is greater strength in working together.

Kathleen Witcher

2nd quarter Property Tax balances are due by August 12.
3rd quarter Property tax bills are due by August 10.
KW

Irvington River

Recently I had the opportunity of meeting with a resident in Irvington on a very important issue that I feel should have an investigation into and other residence should take a look at also. That is the river that runs through the town. It is deteriorating and no one seems to do anything about it. I have a lot to say about this issue but I am not going to do that in this blog because I have some investigations to do, but I just want to tell you to pay attention to the river and its rotten positioning and let me know of your concerns and issues for my upcoming blog that will shock you on what i have found about the river flowing through our town of irvington.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them on the blog so I can read them and get back to you.

Irvington Taxes

Today on 8/2/2010 there was a meeting organized at 60 Paine avenue, which is a church and the meeting was for the awareness and acknowledgement of the increase in taxes. The turn out was good and the turn out gave some good information, but it is important to see how many people are actually going to follow through. One of the important things that i think came out of the meeting was the information on a class action suit. I think this is important because it is important to really show the people that we mean business. The other thing that was important was the cry for making sure there is a web site developed for the transparency of the organization.

OK let me start by saying I have addressed this already with the mayor and some of the council people already and I have suggested that every council person have a web site designed that will allow the people in their areas to be up to date on issues and concerns and it would also allow people to be able to speak to their council people frequently and often. This will allow the people to voice their concerns to the council person that represents them from a pot hole in the street to the drug dealer holding them hostage. One of the things we have to look at, is the people are getting elected because there are still a great amount of people who believe these people are doing the right thing and until we can gather these people to let them know of what is actually needed we can make change the way it needs to be made. One of the most powerful ways to make sure we make change, is making sure everyone can access an email account and we can reach more people that way then we can any other way. We can reach many people on twitter, facebook, text, there are so many ways we need to reach out to people and get them involved. Also my blog is very important as well because if people view and respond, I can eventually assign a street team reporter to go and get us the issues at hand and keep the focus on the big picture and our concerns. Having someone on the streets and attending meetings, going to functions, going to city hall and asking the right questions and getting people to open up, is going to be awesome because as you bring the questions and concerns to us, we bring the questions to the people who need to answer. We can be your street reporter equipped with a camera and microphone.

So support this blog so we can do more with each other. Share this blog with others and voice your voice loudly so I can see it is worth fighting with you. If you dont have a email or access to a computer, please have some one set you up with one or have someone be your voice and communicate with me and others so we can help to make change.

Taxes are rising and many other things are falling and the only way we can make a difference is with a mass cry through all the avenues we can possess and all the people we can bring together. We came together for President OBAMA so why cant we come together for our community.

I know people are moving out and I know people are leaving and we cant change everyone mind, but we can fight for change as long as we are here and WE HAVE TO VOTE IN NUMBERS!