Category Archives: Politics

All eyes on school budgets

Posted on March 23, 2022 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Jersey City slams $1,600 school tax hike, but education group says sides ‘need to figure how to make that work’ The Fulop administration slammed the Jersey City Board of Education for its $1,600-per-average-homeowner tax hike in … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 132 Comments

Low tax counties see cuts to school aid

Posted on March 13, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: 6 NJ counties may see property taxes rise due to school aid cuts When Gov. Murphy announces a victory, you always have to look underneath for the real story. That’s because in a tax and spend administration like … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 137 Comments

Cheaper to live in NJ? Yeah, right.

Posted on March 4, 2022 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Murphy unveils plan for big property tax rebates to nearly 2M N.J. households Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday his administration will extend property tax relief to about 1.8 million New Jersey households by replacing the state’s Homestead Benefit … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 100 Comments

Time to serve

Posted on February 27, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: Get back to work! NJ lawmakers call for all Motor Vehicle offices to reopenLawmakers are trying to force the Motor Vehicle Commission to fully reopen. State Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic, said the reason for her proposed legislation is … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Politics | 223 Comments

NJ’s No-Stop Centers

Posted on February 20, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: NJ lawmakers want to force Murphy administration to open unemployment offices Lawmakers will be introducing legislation to force the Murphy administration to open the Department of Labor’s One-Stop Career Center offices as soon as March 1 to resolve outstanding … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Politics | 62 Comments

So how will we spend it?

Posted on February 3, 2022 by grim

From the Record: New Jersey in line for $641 million from opioids settlement, a lifeline for treatment New Jersey is on track to receive more than $641 million as part of a nationwide opioid settlement agreement with Johnson & Johnson and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 280 Comments

We’ve got all the risk

Posted on January 31, 2022 by grim

From NJ1015: More than 1 in 5 high-risk U.S. housing markets are NJ counties A 2021 fourth-quarter report released by ATTOM Data Solutions shows that one-fifth of the nation’s counties most at risk for damage to their housing markets due to COVID-19’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, Politics | 127 Comments

Halfway there

Posted on November 20, 2021 by grim

From MSN: House Bill Raises SALT Tax Cap; Senate Still To Vote Among the items passed by the House of Representatives Friday morning in the Build Back Better Act was an increase in the state and local tax (SALT) cap. … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 66 Comments

NJ (closer to) getting SALT tax relief

Posted on November 6, 2021 by grim

From CNN: Congress passes $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, delivering major win for Biden Congress has passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, delivering on a major pillar of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda after months of internal deliberations and painstaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics, Property Taxes | 90 Comments

Impact or not?

Posted on September 16, 2021 by grim

From the Philly Voice: U.S. housing market faces ‘shock’ from end of mortgage forbearance — but no bubble, experts say Pandemic policies have undoubtedly shaped the way the U.S. housing market has functioned throughout the health crisis, which has had … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, Politics, Risky Lending | 113 Comments

Great time to be a landlord in NJ

Posted on August 27, 2021 by grim

From the Record: Tangled relationship: Renters stop paying amid pandemic, forcing small landlords into bind Elena Walczyk had a buyer lined up to purchase the mobile home in Cape May County that she and her husband had rented out for years. But … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 148 Comments

Everything wrong with NJ, summed up.

Posted on August 18, 2021 by grim

From Jersey Digs: Orange City Council Ignores all Budget Cut Suggestions, Voting to Raise Property Taxes The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC), a nine-member board comprised of local business professionals, opposed the 6.35 percent increase in the municipal budget, proposing … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 454 Comments

Step away for a minute and the world goes to shit

Posted on March 15, 2020 by grim

Seems I picked a fine time to stop blogging. Markets in turmoil, global pandemic, potential real estate catastrophe looming. Couple of folks reached out to me over the past few days about opening the blog back up again. Totally get … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Unrest | 227 Comments

SALT Cap not long for this world?

Posted on December 22, 2019 by grim

From CNBC: House passes bill to lift $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill on Thursday that would do away with the $10,000 limit on the itemized deduction for state and local taxes … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 46 Comments

What could possibly go wrong?

Posted on November 14, 2019 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Murphy pushes taxpayer-funded bank for N.J. No state has done that in a century.  Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday took the first steps to make New Jersey the first state in a century to open a state-owned bank. … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Where's the Beef? | 120 Comments