This edition of It's Your Town newsletter covers the Middletown Township Committee regular monthly business meeting that was held on Monday, August 15, 2011.
As is the norm lately, the meeting was rather short lasting about 35 minutes.
Committee members had little to say, Kevin Settembrino and Steve Massell just sat on the dais looking pretty with nothing to say, while Pam Brightbill, Gerry Scharfenberger and Tony Fiore spoke briefly.
Only 5 members of the public took the time to speak at this meeting but their questions,unfortunately, were left mostly unanswered.
Their questions ranged from why there was insufficient information in a $2.85M bond ordinance for tax appeals, that seems to have not appropriated $1M of the total, to what happened to grant money from the latest cable TV franchising contract that would have provided money to televise Township Committee meetings.
The newsletter also contains links to various proposed resolutions and ordinances.
Stay informed and read it all for yourself....Here
4 comments:
A correction/update: My questions regarding the $2.185 million (not $2.85M) bond for appeals related to discrepancies in the June application to the state Local Finance Board. There seemed to be incomplete information in the application to support the bond total. I reviewed the application in detail this weekend and found that the preparer had failed to update a summary sheet showing refunds by property. The summary sheet did not include a $1.1M tax refund for a recent settlement tacked on at the end of the application. Add it all up, including note issue and legal fees, and my total is still $219K lower than the application total, where $100K of the difference is due to a $249K refund being jotted down incorrectly as $349K in the application. That extra $100K would amount to about $1000 extra in interest, by the way.
I was just in touch with Town Hall and was told the $2.185M debt has not yet been issued. That would partly explain the obvious cash flow problem the town is having, but at least provides an opportunity for them to review the math.
I don’t know if the town is paying tax appeal awards as the settlements come in. I assume they are if the money is available in order to avoid costly delays that would result in interest penalties. The pre-judgment interest on a $1M refund for tax year 2008, for example, could be in the tens of thousands.
Thank You for the clarification Linda, good job as always.
Bill lists include payments to property owners for tax appeals that have been won.
Looks like the "Dark Ages" are back in Middletown !!!!
Shame on this batch of "representatives of the people" !!!!!
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