Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas everyone, and thank you for your support and comments during the past year. We hope that the new year will bring you peace and happiness and may God bless our troops!

The Edgewater Park Reporter

Edgewater Park, Did You Get Your New Sewer Bill?

The new Edgewater Park Sewer Tax just jumped from $60 dollars at quarter to $81.25 a quarter. That's a whopping 35.4% increase.

Just one year ago the sewer tax was $50 dollars a quarter so the Edgewater Park Sewerage Authority has raised your sewer tax by 62.5%.

Wow, what a great job you have done running the Edgewater Park Sewerage Authority, Chairman Dave Levay, Co-Chairman James Hall, James Daly, Lester Holley and Geraldine Wing. You have done such a fantastic job increasing our sewer tax by 62.5% in the short time you have been in control of the EPSA.

I guess you lied Chairman Levay! The following is what was reported last year in this blog on Monday, July 14, 2008 (link to story).

Chairman Dave goes to great lengths to explain how all of the additional expenses for moving, new employees, additional hours for payroll, additional cost for the employee benefits, additional utility cost, additional rent, additional legal cost and potential new equipment, are not going to affect the current sewerage rates.

Chairman Dave is right on this point, because what he didn't tell you is that the rates have been set for this year (2008), and it is next year that the rates will see the affects of all this new spending.

Chairman Dave also explains that the move was

provided for by surplus funds in the budget. What Chairman Dave didn't tell you was that the Auditor stated in his verbal comments, made while presenting his 2007 audit report to the Authority Members at the Authorities 2008 budget meeting, that the Authority lost money during the 2007 operating year, and based on the expected increases in operating expenses for 2008, the Authority should consider increasing the sewer tax to offset those increased cost. The Auditor's comments were made prior to the unplanned additional cost associated with the move, additional employees and legal cost Chairman Dave spoke about in his article.

Chairman Dave and the Authority are about to do to the Edgewater Park sewer tax payers, what the Township Committee did to the Edgewater Park taxpayers over the past 4 years. Chairman Dave and the Authority, will deplete the surplus for day to day expenses and then increase the sewer taxes next year to cover the additional operating expenses for this year.

Did you also see were Chairman Dave and the Authority also want the Sewer Authority Rate Payers to also pay to expand sewers to areas of Edgewater Park that do not have sewer now? This is a great deal for Developers, so now they can build residential high density housing on land that was supposed to be preserved for farmland or open space, and who now will not need to pay for that expenses, and we the Sewer Tax Payers get to pick up the tab.

See what happens when you keep electing and re-electing politicians who raised your local municipal property taxes 87.5% during the 10 years they have controlled our township committee and who appointed the current Edgewater Sewerage Authority Members who raised our sewer tax 62.5% in 1 year!

Keep it up Edgewater Park, keep rewarding financial and managerial incompetence and see how long you can afford to live here and pay your taxes!

To JB and other anonymous critics, give the readers a good reason why the facts presented, are not factual or why these tax increases are an example of good governance.

I can't wait for your response and yes you are right, this is about sour grapes. Sour grapes about how our town being mismanaged!

The Edgewater Park Reporter