by Kevin McArdle of NJ 101.5 Doing things electronically is cheaper, faster, and far more efficient, so why is it that in 2015, towns and counties in New Jersey are still paying their bills using paper checks shipped through the mail?  The answer may surprise you - they're not allowed to do it any other way. "Under current law all local governments have to use antiquated paper checks to pay their bills," explained John Donnadio, Executive Director of the New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC). NJAC is helping lead the effort to change state law to authorize all local governing bodies to ...

by Michelle Brunetti Post, Staff Writer for the Press of Atlantic City  New contracts for the unionized sergeants, lieutenants and captains of the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office bring the pay for superior officers close to or above that of the county executive and administrator. County Executive Dennis Levinson makes $141,930, and County Administrator Jerry Del Rosso makes $130,924.  The two have responsibility for oversight of all county government. Captains in the Prosecutor's Office make $138,550 this year, and their salary will rise to $152,962 in 2020, the final year of the superi...

by Nicholas Huba of the Atlantic City Press With the New Jersey pension system possibly heading for insolvency, a state commission has suggested that towns and counties help bridge the growing funding gap. Local officials, who say they made their state-mandated contribution to the pension system while the state ignored its payments, don’t want anything to do with that recommendation. “Money was squandered,” said Gerald M. Thornton, director of the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders. “We can’t allow these pensions plans to be merged. We have followed the rules and made the contribut...

by John Reitmyer of NJ Spotlight Concern is that Republican changes could drive up property taxes, already highest in the nation Nearly three months have passed since Gov. Chris Christie released his latest plan to cut the cost of public-employee pension and health benefits. And though Christie has been regularly making the case at town hall-style events for sweeping reforms, including freezing the current pension system and moving employees into less costly health-benefit plans, so far none of his proposals have won support from Democrats who control the Legislature. But another key obst...

by John Reitmeyer of NJSPOTLIGHT If Christie and legislators don't find a new source of revenue for the TTF, Garden State drivers may be dodging bigger and deeper potholes. With potholes dropping out up on roadways throughout New Jersey as the weather turns warmer, the future of a state program that helps municipal and county governments maintain thousands of miles of roadways remains rocky. Gov. Chris Christie and lawmakers in Trenton have yet to strike a deal on a new source of revenue for New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund. As a result, state spending on roads, bridges, and rail pr...

TRACEN Commanding Officer Will Be Present At the next official Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders' meeting on March 10th at 7 p.m., the freeholders will vote upon a resolution addressing the U.S. Coast Guard's recent designation of Cape May County as a "Coast Guard Community."  U.S. Coast Guard Captain G. Todd Prestidge, Commanding Officer of the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May ("TRACEN"), will be present at the March 10th meeting to receive official notice of the Freeholders' actions. The "Coast Guard Community" designation, announced after several levels of Coast Guard flag r...

TRENTON - Governor Chris Christie delivered the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Address to the Legislature and to the people of New Jersey on February 24, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Please select below the State of New Jersey Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Summary to view and download its PDF. (9.2 MB)

by Bruce A. Scruton of the New Jersey Herald bscruton@njherald.com NEWTON – At 7:24 p.m., the subject was doing 1 mph, apparently stopped at the intersection of Routes 10 and 46.  A minute later, she was on Route 10 doing 37 mph. At 7:26p.m., her vehicle turned onto Hunter Street, approaching Main Street and moving at 14 mph.  The Google map presentation on the computer screen showed she was almost to a church, neatly outlined in blue. “That blue indicates an approved place,” said Mark Turtur, supervising juvenile detention officer in the Sussex County Department of Human Services, as ...

by Chase Bush of POLITICKERNJ TRENTON — Flexing their political and labor support muscles in a jam-packed committee room up on the fourth floor of the statehouse annex here today, Forward NJ — the blue-ribbon coalition launched last year to advocate for the state’s ailing transportation system — offered a scathing appraisal of the progress the legislature is making toward fixing a depleted Transportation Trust Fund. “For New Jersey to ignoring its unique strength as the epicenter of a wealthy, well-educated metropolis, as a gateway to international markets, and its location in close proximit...