N.J. Mayor Bans Woman From Selling Home (can't afford to lose the taxes)

[The Straight Story]

N.J. Mayor Bans Woman From Selling Home

HILLSDALE, N.J. (CBS 2) — A homeowner says her house is unlivable because it constantly floods. She thought relief was in sight when she got accepted into a state program that would take the home off of her hands.

The only problem is her town is saying no way.

The woman who owns the home recently moved out of the country. She said the home is unlivable because of constant flooding over the years, including water from Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

...

Vaccaro said she was just given an opportunity to get her head above water, getting accepted into a state Department of Environmental Protection program called Blue Acres. It buys properties in flood zones areas, but Vaccaro said the mayor of Hillsdale is blocking the deal.

“I cannot get on with my life. I cannot get on with my life while I own this property. I live in London. I am married now, yet I am constantly paying for a property that no one can live in,” Vaccaro said.

Mayor Max Arnowitz didn’t want to be interviewed on camera, but he told Sloan the town can’t afford to lose $7,000 in taxes it gets from Vaccaro every year. He also said he’s worried other homes in the area may do the same thing, costing the borough more tax dollars.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/12/13/n-j-mayor-bans-woman-from-selling-home/

[Angry Dragon]

1. What a selfish man

[LiberalFighter]

2. She needs to figure something out to get around his refusal.

Get the property reappraised so the value of the property is substantially less. Send the mayor a dead rat.

Get the property declared unlivable and therefore requiring reduction of property taxes Tear down the property.

[WolverineDG]

3. Then Arnowitz should buy the house & pay the taxes himself

asswipe.

dg

[slackmaster]

17. He already pays almost $10 K in property tax on his own house

Which is on higher ground.

[WolverineDG]

21. He feels so strongly that the city needs that measly $7K

why should it come out of her pocket, when she wants to sell the house?

dg

[glinda]

4. well that is frightening if more of that happens

[northernlights]

5. she lives in another country?

abandon the damn place. stop paying the property taxes. let the town take it in lieu of taxes...it has no value anyway.

[SidDithers]

7. +1...nt

Sid

[slackmaster]

15. Could be a typo. Her mailing address, according to the assessor, is in another COUNTY

Or maybe someone is being less than honest.

:hi:

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

6. It must have some kind of insureance... I'd vote to light a match.

[Celtic Raven]

8. Here's contact info from the city website

You can write, call, email:

Borough Council and Mayor Contact Information
380 Hillsdale Avenue, Hillsdale, NJ 07642
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Mayor: Max Arnowitz [e-mail]
Borough Administrator: Victor M. Polce [e-mail]
Borough Clerk: Robert P, Sandt, RMC [e-mail]
Council President: Andrew Weinstein [e-mail]
Councilman: Jonathan DeJoseph [e-mail]
Councilman: Douglas E. Frank [e-mail]
Councilman: Michael Giancarlo [e-mail]
Councilwoman: Marie Hanlon [e-mail]
Councilwoman: Donna Schiavone [e-mail]

Asshats like this mayor need to know that holding people hostage for property taxes is not acceptable.

I included the other contact info so he can't dump messages without anyone else knowing about it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Wouldn't the Blue Acres, as a buyer, then owe the taxes?

[hughee99]

16. If Blue Acres is part of a state agency, does it have to pay local property taxes?

I don't think a state pays local property taxes on state-owned land.

[FormerDittoHead]

25. No.

I live in a county seat in NJ, and there's a lot of county buildings (4x courts, legal offices, etc along with the parking lots for them) and I know that none of these pay property taxes..

[slackmaster]

20. If they raze the improvements on the lot (i.e. the house), the assessed value will go way down

:D

[hughee99]

27. Once they come out and reassess the property,

which the town may be able to drag their feet on. In the end, how much will it cost to raze the house compared to the local taxes, though?

[customerserviceguy]

10. I never heard of a situation

where a branch of local government was able to have any power to stop a person from selling their own property, especially to a state government institution. How is it that they supposedly have this power?

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. Let me get this straight.

The London-based owner is pissed because the NJ government can't buy her worthless house unless the city agrees to lose their tax base.

The mayor said: “Hundreds of other homes are for sale in this economy and they won’t sell. why should all taxpayers absorb the loss?”
Still, at least one other neighbor questioned the mayor’s reasoning.
“I don’t think it’s right. I know the water comes down from up there and goes right into the house ‘cause it’s built on ground level,” resident Rachel Oostdyk said.
But the mayor said the house was built without the proper permits by Vaccaro’s father and there are deed restrictions that relieve the town of all responsibilities.

I'm supposed to be sympathetic?

I have no idea if the mayor is within his rights to prevent the sale, but he's acting in the interest of his constituents.

[galileoreloaded]

12. $7,000!!!?? I live in the most suburban of suburban areas and pay $1100.

With a 4 minute EMS response time, and a really nice and safe neighborhood.

$7,000 is ridiculous unless the house comes with staff and free transit. You can have it. Sheesh.

[slackmaster]

14. I live in an expensive city and pay a little under $2,000

Thank God for Proposition 13.

[AngryAmish]

18. The taxes where I want to move average about 10k for a 500k house

[Matariki]

22. NJ has notoriously high property taxes. So does PA.

It's baffling as to what the hell they do with the money.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

23. Its NJ, what do you expect?

[FormerDittoHead]

26. In NJ here we pay about 4.1% a year.

Our crappy little 100,000 house, we pay $4,100 a year.

A neighbor with a 320k house (which is quite common) pay 12,000 a year.

Between the prop tax and now the bridge tolls are $5, we'll be moving an gaining almost 2 months mortgage payments a year.

[slackmaster]

13. $7,000 in annual property tax on a place that FLOODS?

It's assessed at $355,300. I wonder what the insurance premiums are.

Mayor Max Arnowitz didn’t want to be interviewed on camera, but he told Sloan the town can’t afford to lose $7,000 in taxes it gets from Vaccaro every year. He also said he’s worried other homes in the area may do the same thing, costing the borough more tax dollars.

I suppose it hasn't occurred to His Honor that the town government might have to cut SPENDING.

[RC]

19. Cut spending? Like his Honor's salary?

[hobbit709]

24. Exactly. Like to Zero.