Monday, April 29, 2013
Report says cost to repair all 908 spans would exceed $874 million.
Essex County’s aging bridges are in need of repair, but the cost to do the work would exceed $874 million, a new report released Monday shows. Of the county’s 908 bridges, about 4 percent have been rated structurally deficient, according to a report on the issue-driven website NJ Spotlight. Additionally, 1-in-5, or 20 percent of the bridges are considered to be functionally obsolete and not in line with current lane and shoulder standards, or occasionally flood, according to National Bridge Inventory data. The average age of an Essex County bridge is 50 years old. About one in four bridges in the state are either in poor condition or unable to handle current traffic loads, the data shows. Each bridge was rated based on structure, …
Monday, May 14, 2012
Data shows Essex County staying even with recycling, while many counties are recycling less waste than in mid-1990s.
Residents in Essex County are doing a pretty good job recycling their waste. In a county where 1.57 million tons of waste was generated, 61.6 percent was recycled, according to NJ Spotlight's latest interactive map. Overall, New Jerseyans are recycling less of their waste than they did in the mid-1990s, data from the state Department of Environmental Protection show. At the peak, residents across the state were recycling 61 percent of what they discarded in 1996 and 1997. That number dropped to 57 percent statewide in 2009. Prior to the enactment of the state’s mandatory recycling law a quarter of a century ago, 10 percent or less of waste was recycled. The law initially set a goal of recycling 25 percent of the municipal solid waste …
Friday, April 27, 2012
In Essex County, we mailed in an average $2,382 to the NJ government.
Last Tuesday was tax day, one of the most universally hated days of the year by citizens. But the New Jersey government loves it. Or, at least, needs it. NJ Spotlight’s latest interact map looks at the tax stats -- the number of returns, total income and the change from 2008, taxable income, the total tax liability and average incomes and tax bills per return and per capita. Read the story here and use the map to learn more. Here are the Essex numbers: Essex County Returns: 325,672 Total Income: $24,772,530,600 Change from 2008: $(675,823,200) Percent change: -2.7% Taxable Income: $22,538,945,200 Tax Charged: $775,750,000 Average Total Income: $76,066 Average Taxable Income: $69,208 Average Net Tax: $2,382 Total Income Per Capita: $31,900 …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Essex County ranks the highest for crashes despite tough cellphone law.
If accident data is any indication, New Jersey’s tougher cellphone law does not appear to be having much effect. (See NJ Spotlight's latest interactive map here). The state passed its first ban on using a handheld cellphone while driving in 2004, but at the time it was a secondary violation, meaning drivers could only be ticketed if they were pulled over for another motor vehicle violation. With nearly 3,600 crashes linked to cellphones in 2006, lawmakers made New Jersey the fourth state in the nation in which the use of a handheld cell phone is a primary violation. That law took effect March 1, 2008. But it has not resulted in much of a reduction in the number of traffic accidents in which cellphone usage was a factor, according to data …
Friday, April 6, 2012
How fast is New Jersey growing?
New Jersey’s population inched close to 9 million last year, but the continuing flight of residents kept the state’s population increase lagging against others, according to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The first statewide and county-by-county population estimates since the official 2010 Census show New Jersey continues to lag behind areas in the west and south, including Washington, Texas and Georgia, that have been growing much faster. New Jersey’s smaller population increases led the state to lose one of its seats in Congress come January. According to the Census Bureau estimates, New Jersey’s population rose by 29,261 between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011 to 8.82 million. That’s an increase of just .3 percent…
Monday, March 26, 2012
The release of more details from the U.S. Census helps put NJ's Hispanic population into sharper focus.
Despite its relatively small size, New Jersey is home to 8.8 million people, as counted by the 2010 U.S. Census. Nearly 18 percent of those residents are Hispanic, making this group the largest minority in the state. They are also the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group. The growth in the state’s Hispanic population has challenged government at all levels, particularly when the residents are relative newcomers with poor English language skills. Some school districts have boosted their English as a Second Language programs. There has also been an increased need for translators to help those seeking services. And many governmental forms are now bilingual. Recently, the U.S. Census Bureau released additional details from the decennial …
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Essex County taxpayers paid more than $750,000 in broker fees, could save millions by cutting out political middle men.
To State Comptroller Matthew Boxer and Citizens Campaign Chairman Harry Pozycki, it's a simple question: Why are New Jersey's county and municipal governments and school districts spending tens of millions of property tax dollars unnecessarily on high-priced insurance plans and broker fees? NJ Spotlight's Mark J. Magyar reports on this politically sensitive question: The biggest name in the insurance brokerage business for local governments is George Norcross, the South Jersey Democratic power broker and often ally of Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Norcross's firm, Conner Strong & Buckelew, is by all accounts the biggest player in New Jersey's local government insurance market, and could have the most to lose if Boxer's and Pozycki's …
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Almost 90 percent of NJ high school juniors graded proficient in reading and writing.
About nine in 10 New Jersey public high school juniors were proficient in reading and writing, and three-quarters mastered math last year, according to results from the High School Proficiency Assessment. How did your school do? You can find out on NJ Spotlight's new interact map. Click on the map to see a district’s average scores, as well as the number of students tested and the percentage that passed (rated proficient and advanced proficient) and those that failed (partially proficient). (Use the map here). Each school’s profile also shows its district factor group (DFG) ranking. DFGs range from A, which have the lowest socioeconomic characteristics, through J, the wealthiest communities. R indicates charter; V, vocational. Schools in …
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Share and share alike? Not Christie's $213 million bump in school aid.
To big applause, Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday highlighted that his proposed fiscal 2013 budget would include an additional $213 million in aid to public schools, but the cheers may not be widespread when the details reveal how the money is distributed. Districts are to learn today how each will fare under Christie's $32.1 billion spending plan, and although the overall amount in state school aid is going up about 1.7 percent, state officials said it will not be across-the-board increases to all 500-plus districts. State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said a "vast majority of districts will be getting a slight increase." But the administration also for the first time will be using the state's funding formula in the distribution of aid…
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Poll finds most New Jerseyans want property tax relief. What do you think? Take the Patch poll.
New Jerseyans want tax relief, but they especially want property tax relief, at least that is the finding of the most recent Rutgers-Eagleton poll. When asked whether they would prefer to have income taxes or property taxes reduced, 76 percent cited property taxes and 22 percent said income taxes, NJ Spotlight reports as its Number of the Day. Indeed, even Republicans (79 percent) and conservatives (81 percent) said they would prefer a property tax reduction over Governor Chris Christie's suggested 10 percent income tax cut. That doesn't mean the state's taxpayers turn their noses up at an income tax cut, since 52 percent (72 percent of Republicans) say they are in favor of that too. Nevertheless, respondents vastly overestimated the …
Adam Kraemer
8:34 pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
We can bond for mini golf and paddle boats and let the bridges fall down. The prioritizing of the three quarters of a billion dollar county budget needs massive work form Joey D and Freeholders more ›