Around Town: Washington Township Cocaine Bust

On a tip from California police Washington Township police followed a suspicious package to a home on Harriet Court in the Sharon Mews development. There authorities arrested Vincent Corddick and Christina Diaz after finding two loads of cocaine and marijuana valued at $106,000.
Ontario California police called township police on Friday about a suspicious package headed to the Sharon Mews address. Township police watched as a UPS carrier delivered the package then raided the Harriet Court property. The package contained one kilogram of powder cocaine hidden inside a computer tower.
Vincent Croddick was charged possession of cocaine and marijuana and two counts of possession with intent to distribute drugs. He is held at Mercer County Corrections Center in lieu of $290,000 cash bail.
Christina Diaz was charged with possession of marijuana and released on her own recognizance.
Read the story here.

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Technorati: Current Events, Mercer County, Washington Township, NJ Real Estate News, Real Estate, NJ Real Estate Blogs, NJ Housing, New Jersey

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Realty Transfer Revenue Woes

It only makes sense that with the housing market softening that dependent enterprises would have a bit of trouble also. Well here in New Jersey as in some other states we have a fee called the Realty Transfer Fee. The fee gets collected when a home is sold. In fact the fees generated 2.5 percent of the state's revenue in 2006. It is doubtful it will generate the same amount in 2007 which is why in all probability the state is going to have big trouble staying within its budget.
The article is well worth read.

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Northeast Region Sales Rise

Existing home sales continue to decline nationally according to the National Association of Realtors. The median price of a home sold in July was 228,900, which is down 0.6 percent from July 2006 (230,200). The decline in July the 12th month of downward movement set a new record.
In the Northeast, however, both the median price (290,900) and the number of units sold rose. The number of sales increased 1 percent from last month while the median price of homes increased 5.9 percent from a year ago.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist said, "The rise in sales and prices in teh Northeast region on a fairly consistent basis in recent months is promising because this was the first region that underwent sales and price weakness after the boom. Now, it appears that it will be the first region to climb back, indicating that other regions could follow a similar path."

While the things are looking up in the region New Jersey continues to have homes selling at reasonable prices.

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Resident of 3 Towns Unite to Stop Wal-mart

Residents of Lawrence, Ewing, and Trenton gathered at the Lawrence Muncipal Complex to protest the plan to bring Wal-mart to Spruce Street near Halo Farms. The residents are concerned about the disruption of the traffic pattern the store will cause and the fact that Wal-mart does not pay its employees a living wage. The plus side of the venture is that the store will be convenient to public transportation and contribute to the township's tax base.
Read the article here.

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History vs Housing in Princeton

Well folks it looks like Princeton has joined the region's municipalities that has a history vs housing controversy. This time it is between the Institute for Advanced Study and the Princeton Battlefield Society. The Institute has 22 acres of land that is adjacent to the Battlefield and wants to use eight acres to build housing for faculty. Get this one, the Society does not dispute the Institute's claim to the land nor are they against the Institute building housing some place else.

The Battlefield Society is unable to purchase the land from the Institute but still wants to determine the legal owner's use of the land. The Society is unable the maintain the 85 acre battlefield for which it does have responsibilty, nor is it able to make improvements that would assist visitors in learning more about what occurred on the battlefield.

If the Institute prevails it will have its housing units and then plans to relinquish development rights to the land adjacent to the housing, which will increase by at least 10 acres the land around the battlefield to be conserved in perpetuity. Not a bad deal if the the Society does not get its way.

Read the story here.

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National Night Out

It is time for the 24th National Night Out. It is something neighbors can do to show their solidarity in crime prevention. It comes too late to help the Delaware State students killed in Newark, NJ or other innocent victims of violence in the United States but if everybody just made plans to participate tonight then maybe we could save one innocent victim.
To participate you are asked to turn on your outside lights and sit outside and watch. Some neighbors have parties for planned for this night that included the entire block others will sit on steps or porch in silent unity with law-abiding folks across America.
Whether you party or sit in silence, it is time to be counted.

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What's All the Fuss? Financial Matters Explained

Have you wanted to know what the fuss was about subprime mortgages or wondered why you should care? Sam Ali does a very nice job explaining why the experts are concerned and even touches on the disagreement on the impact the subprime meltdown has and will have on the financial sector in his article entitled "Feeling the ripple effect". Be in the financial know and get some answers!
Check is out here!

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Celebrating Diversity in Lawrence and Princeton

Princeton and Rider Universities are celebrating international communities with festivals. The Princeton festival will last about a month while Rider’s is a week. It all begins at Princeton on the Saturday March 28th 8pm at the Richardson Auditorium.

Featuring: Princeton Capoeira, Raks Odalisque, Flamenco Puro, Seasame Street, Triple 8, Kalaa, Black Arts Company, TapCats, Naacho, eXpression, DiSiac, and Ballet Folklorico de Princeton

Both festivals are open to the public so come out, taste, learn, and enjoy!
Read the article.
Princeton Calendar

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Property Tax Relief Bill Held

The property tax bill saga is really something. Let me do a recap. First Governor Jon Corzine calls the legislature into special session and charges them to find a solution to our tax woes before the legislators go on break for Christmas. The legislators go through their partisan bickering but eventually come up with a comptroller, a four percent cap on increases, and a tax credit for most households. The latter may or may not be sustainable depending on who you ask. After getting the legislation through the Assembly and the Senate it now sits Governor Corzine’s desk.
Well most of us know the Governor only has 45 days to sign the legislation into law which is up on Saturday. What is less known, is that in New Jersey the rule applies only when Congress is in session. With the legislators doing other things Governor Corzine has opted not to sign the bill until some undisclosed time. My guess the dog and pony were unavailable or maybe the signing pens are on back-order. We will just have to wait and see.
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A Community Loss

What is going on in Princeton Township? First the Princeton planning board approved a project that would get rid of 900 trees and now there is another project that will get rid of another 804 trees. Granted the developers will replant 586 trees between the two projects but still an 1118 tree loss seems a bit excessive.
A friend said to me recently that New Jersey was going to have to change its name from the “Garden State” but cause it in not in the least rural anymore. While I agree we are not as rural as we were, we do have a lot of mature trees around with plenty of greenery left to see.
I guess the board got the idea about so many trees being lost might be a problem because they attached a provision to their approval that the developer minimize the number of tree lost.

The advisory panel also recommended that the developer be required to plant or pay for enough replacement trees on and off the site to ensure that the project does not lead to a net loss of trees for the community. Article here

Both developers will have to make financial contributions to the township's tree plantings. Whether that will replace the mature trees lost remains to be seen. It would be nice though, if the Garden State continued to have mature trees around.
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Hamilton Transit Village Back On Again

Well, it looks like the transit village is on again in Hamilton -- almost anyway. Seems the squabbling town council and the mayor met again with transit company representatives and agreed to act in the public interest and get more public input and further studies into the proposal to create a mixed use site at and around the Hamilton Train Station. The Republican council and Democratic mayor agreed to put partisanship aside and act for the public good much like their neighbors in West Windsor, who are also getting a transit village. The complaint of disruption the proposed project would create around the station is moot because the traffic pattern around the station is already changing due to parking expansion. The station sits alone with many, long abandoned, commercial properties. The transit village would definitely vitalize that area. If done carefully the Hamilton Station area could well become a destination in New Jersey in its own right allowing visitors to check out Hamilton’s attractions or use Hamilton as a base to hop over to Philadelphia or New York for big city shopping or entertainment. Hopefully the servicing the people attitude will last long enough to allow this project to move ahead.

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Blunder Costs Ewing Township $40Gs

Looks like the folks in Ewing Township had a bit of a blunder with a land deal. Seems the tax collector sold a tax lien on property the township did not own. The township’s tax collector sold the lien on property out by the Trenton/Mercer Airport. The lien was purchased by Capital Asset Research Corporation. When CARC tried to foreclose on the property, it discovered the property was actually owned by Mercer County rather than the township.
CARC was awarded $51,000 from Superior Court but struck a deal with the township for $40,000. Ewing Township may be able to recoup some of the money for this mess from the tax collector’s bonding company.
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Energy Conscious Get Knocked in the Wallet

Okay when I read this article I thought, no good deed goes unpunished. Do something environmentally conscious and what do you get: knocked in the wallet. It seems if you spend the money to have solar panels installed to provide energy for your home, then township assessors come along and counts the panels as a home improvement and ka-ching! You pay more in property taxes.
Folks it really does not make sense that on the one hand the state, encourages people to use less fossil fuel and solar energy is just what is need to fight global warming. Those hearing the call and having the means invest in solar energy and thereby use less fossil energy. But then the township turns around and taxes the improvement? That is a really good way to get resident cooperation and participation in energy conservation efforts.
Though I have not come across a property yet that has solar paneling in its assets, either for purchase or sale. I would imagine it would be a good selling point; however if townships are going to use the panels to raise the taxes that could be make them a liability.
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Tax Plan Passes Senate

Well, they took two months longer than they said they would and there seems to be some doubt whether the bill will be sustainable or not but the tax bill (S20/A1) is on its way to Governor Corzine’s desk.
There was a bit of drama with this vote because Senate leader Richard Codey (D) held the voting board open for two hours. He had four members of his party who either voted no or abstained from the vote altogether. Senator Codey brought the Senators back yesterday in effort to pass the bill and vowed to keep bringing them back until the bill passed. With some behind the scene lobbying of Republicans for votes by Gov. Corzine and Codey, the bill finally passed (28/10) and is now on it way to Governor Corzine’s desk where he is expected to sign it.
That the bill is bipartisan even though Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance (R) was against the bill means there is hope for property tax reform. Granted this bill may not be sustainable, granted it is not the sweeping change really needed to bring property taxes down in the future or adequately fund schools districts, but it is a start. The legislature is taking a long time to learn to walk but at least it is mobile at last.
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