October 29 Town Council meeting

Council approved proposals to pay out nearly $400,000 in successful property tax appeals funded in part with emergency borrowing, to acquire the contaminated 549-51 Valley Road property and cancel its 2013 property taxes, and to approve two construction change orders of an additional $310,000 at the October 29 council meeting.

The meeting agendas and related materials are here. The council meeting video, downloadable and indexed so that you can find specific issues, is here.

Council approved $395,136 in successful property tax appeals. These appeals eliminate another $11.9 million from the tax base, or nearly 7% of the properties’ original $174.06 million in assessed value. The appeals include:

-  A $225,001 refund of 2011 taxes – reflecting a reduction of nearly $6.5 million, or 12%, of assessed value -- on the West Mill Gardens apartments on Old Short Hills Road.

-  A $76,034 refund for 2013 and 2014  for West Orange Plaza, at Prospect and Eagle Rock Avenues.

-  A $35,438 refund for 2011 and 2012 for 10 Oak Bend Road.

(Generally, successful tax appeals reduce the town’s cash to pay for refunds and also decrease future tax revenue because of lower assessed values. At the 2013 general tax rate of $3.648 per $100 of assessed value, a $1 million reduction in assessed value cuts tax revenue by $36,480, including $9,210 from the municipal budget. West Orange has lost approximately $1.4 billion, or 20%, of its tax base since 2008.)

In response to my questions about the overall impact of tax appeals, the town chief financial officer said so far in 2013, successful appeals have:

- Reduced assessed value in all years covered by the appeals by $68.9 million, or 11.4% of the original value.

- Reduced assessed value in 2013 alone by $13.5 million.

- Cost the town $3,084,373 in refunds or credits against taxes.

- These figures do not include the town’s net payout of $278,292 in a proposed settlement of the tax-appeal litigation involving the city of Orange’s reservoir.

In all of 2012, successful appeals:

- Reduced assessed value in all years covered by the appeals by $35.2 million, or 10.3% of the original value. (My math doesn’t match the CFO’s numbers, so I’ve asked him for clarity and am using my computation. I’ll update when I have confirmation.)

- Reduced assessed value in 2012 by $19.2 million.

- Cost the town $1.68 million in refunds or credits against taxes.     

The CFO indicated we may face additional successful appeals this year. The administration is asking for council approval to borrow up to $3 million to fund 2013 tax appeals. This type of borrowing must be repaid over seven years or less, which will have the effect of raising property taxes. The term of repayment will be set by the state Local Finance Board.

Council was asked to approve the acquisition of 549-51 Valley Road, previously a gas station. The state Department of Environmental Protection has designated the site “brownfield” because of environmental contamination. The town has held an option to acquire the property since 2006. The town would acquire the property for $1 and cancellation of 2013 taxes of about $6,000.

According to Town Engineer Leonard Lepore, contaminated soil remediation to date has cost $458,670, including $38,486 by the town. The property also has contaminated groundwater that is part of a much larger “brownfield” site. Mr. Lepore said it’s unlikely that regulators would ask the property owner to contribute funds to water remediation. He also said the town’s consultant said it was highly unlikely that any additional work would be more than the estimated $170,000 value of the property. Mr. Lepore also estimated renovating the building for a police substation would cost about $225,000.

The resolution passed 4-1, with me voting against because of the potential remediation and renovation costs.

At the start of the public meeting, I asked Council President McCartney why she had not placed on the agenda my request to discuss the council meeting schedule and the related ordinance, in the wake of her cancellation of two council meeting this year (unilaterally, without asking input from other council members). I pointed out that our ordinance doesn’t allow for cancellations, only rescheduling, and is quite specific on when meetings are scheduled. After a brief discussion, the issue was moved to the end of the meeting where the newly created Matters Pending portion of the meeting would normally be scheduled.

At that time, Assistant Town Attorney Ken Kayser indicated that the council did not have to strictly follow the meeting ordinance if the council and administration decided that was impractical or inconvenient. I disagreed, saying we should follow the ordinance until we complete the process to change it. I made a motion to retract the cancellation of the November 26 meeting. The motion failed for lack of a second. The council is likely to continue discussion of the issue, including the 2014 calendar, at its next meeting

You can watch and download the 25-minute excerpt on the issue here.

Council also approved change orders for various construction projects, including:

- An additional $175,000 for work on Aspen Road and Oak Crest Road to relocate a sewer line, repave road and install curbs.

- An additional $92,000 for resurfacing, curbs and speed humps on Edgemont Road.

- An additional $18,000 for four speed humps on Redwood Avenue.

- An additional $25,000 for modifications to the rebuilding of the gazebo at the passive park on Ridgeway Avenue.

The total cost of the additional work is partially offset with a $19,000 encumbrance that brings the proposed net expenditure to $291,000.

Proposed ordinances approved on second and final reading include:

- Placing additional responsibilities on landlords for violations by tenants that includes potential imposition of a bond subject to forfeit for additional violations.

- Re-establishing the Environmental Commission.

-The proposed ordinance giving senior managers a 2% pay raise was tabled because of an inaccurate legal advertisement.

Other approved resolutions included:

- Correcting the given cost of four shuttle buses, approved at the last council meeting, to $240,674, up from the original stated cost of $237,008.

- An executive session for council to consider a proposed settlement of a dispute with New York City over the use of two emergency radio frequencies, as well as the proposed settlement itself. The town will surrender one of its frequencies for a $20,000 payment, which will be offset by about $8.000-$10,000 in legal costs.

- Purchase of a $46,620 fingerprint scanner for police, paid for with forfeiture funds, to meet a state mandate.

- Authorizing the creation of a redevelopment escrow account for a potential project at 22-26 Central Avenue and 9-15 Mitchell Street by property owner Valley Road Residential LLC. The company is also trying to renovate the abandoned Harvard Press site between Mitchell and Central with 100 income-limited apartments.   

Issues raised during Public Comment included:

- Security issues in schools used as voting locations.

- The federal investigation of alleged discrimination against an unsuccessful applicant for executive director of the Downtown West Orange Alliance, which manages the town’s Special Improvement District along Main Street and Valley Road.

- Requests by five residents for additional street repairs and interim safety improvements in the Aspen Road neighborhood.

- Recent crime.

If you’d like to contact the council with your thoughts on any of these issues, please send an e-mail to council@westorange.org or call 973.325.4155 to leave a message.

I’m a West Orange Township councilman since 2010, reachable at jkrakoviak@westorange.org. I'm a business communications consultant in my spare time.