In our lagoon community over 80% of the people now live somewhere else. It's like a ghost town at night! I've lived here 45 years and it's less populated now than when I moved here in the 60s. I can't believe that our taxes will stay this low, who will pay taxes on a home that is destroyed,unlivable and waiting for insurance money?

I see the spin has spread everywhere. Oh boy I guess we now know the tax increase and flood insurance are going to be really really ugly. Then we will be told how we still below the state average, so we should all be thankful.

BOHICA

Thats because 30% of the TR taxes are paid by the barrier island folks.

They can't get blood out of a stone, that's why their bond rating is falling. If the shore gets federal money to rebuild there should be absolutely no reason to penalize the residents with a tax burden we cannot afford. Something else will need to be cut. Not to mention, comparing us to the rest of the state is ridiculous, compare us to the rest of the nation, compare us to our neighbor's in NY, there is little value in what we are getting for our tax dollars when you look at that.

This is ridiculous... The whole state taxes are too high. It does take a rocket scientist to know why our taxes are so high... We need more business and less residential ratables. Because of Sandy the waterfront values should drop, and the taxes on waterfront and beach should go down. Overall taxes will go up. Per child school costs need to go down to control property taxes...

Taxes that Toms River collects on the barrier island should be reported separately from the rest of Toms River to get a clear picture of the taxes compared to the rest of the state. I'm sure you will see that the average tax collected by Toms River on barrier island residents is be much higher $5,460.39 reported in this article.

I guess my tax increase of 103% (on the barrier island) in 2009 is keeping the taxes low for Toms River.

http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/lpt/taxrate.shtml

Now look at this link. This story was taken from the Star Legder and out of context. Comparing apples to oranges don't cut it when your talking property taxes. Of course the elderly women who runs the Berkeley Patch deleted my post because she foolisly embelished the story and don't like being called out that she was WRONG. .

This link I posted which is from the NJ Treasury, Division of Taxation and reflecting your 2012 figures...it's $XYX times $100.00 accessed value. That is how you compare apples with apples.

Sandy has had an effect on the revenue of all that she touched. The insurance coverage in a lot of cases does not cover the full replacement of a damaged home. The stress and hardship caused by the storm is no excuse to raise taxes. I would like to see in plain figures. How much of the cost of the cleanup was picked up or reimbursed by other agencies and given back to the town. Then when we all know what the storm actually cost the town, we can discuss a tax hike. Let's not add to the hardship by raising taxes untill we know the cost and where the taxes are being applied to.

Our school taxes are one of the lowest in the state... They are in no way responsible for raising the tax rate over the past 16yrs. They are in fact the reason why our towns taxes are 1/3rd the rate of the rest of the state... Our per pupil cost is just over 10k which is either last or in the bottom four in the state.

I didn't realize how many Toms River council persons read this blog site.

Why are we required to pay taxes on property we are not able to stay in and is still in a"state of emergency" Even after allowed access we be able to enjoy a summer at the shore as owners begin to have there homes re-built and/or repaired. how about the owners who depended rental income to pay their taxes and those with morgages Several of my neighbors just bought thier homes in the past 2 or 3 yrs. It hard to sympathize with those who own 2nd homes but most of them worked hard to get them and may have used equity from their main home to buy their property. we certainly did our share to educate the students of TR and required fewer services fr the the main land. Its not a time to argue its a time for TR to find solutions that will not devistate those who are fighting to save their homes and ,in some cases, their memories of past and future. Lets not let Sandy do more destruction then has already occured

does anyone know what portion of the TR budget revenue comes from the island? If the island stays as is, and is slow to recover,then there will be an across the board impact for all of TR. I also agree with some others that a true and plain accounting of TR dollars spent versus Fed $ received to offset the $ spent by TR need to be known so one can make a fair case for needing additinal tax revenue. It may seem simplistic to compare,but where I live we often exceed the $ some winters for snow removal,and yet don't raise tax $.

As overtaxing the barrier island goes, It's not just that my child does not attend TR schools but I pay for it. 9 months out of the year I don't have any trash picked up, the library is closed or the hours scalled back, no parks or recreationsal areas to keep up, simply nothing from TR except the tax bill. You may see police in August on the island, but how many patrol the streets in February, the answer is almost none. A long time ago my grandmother, who by the way purchased our 550 sf mansion for $3,500 was conned by some hustler from TR, talking about paved roads and increased service. We have the roads, we have some services, now you own us and are abusing the relationship.

By the way spoken we did not have a police present on the island until 2009 when many homes were broken into. Seem to me you would like to own a house on the island now your chance to become a bennie and stop being a whining whinnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeee move up and become a bennie. Maybe you can buy one on my block and we can live happy ever after.

Lizzy

I can't believe the bickering between the TR inland people and the island people. This is America. We should all help each other. No wonder starting with Washington the world is in such turmoil. Say a prayer that we all survive and can enjoy life.

Sounds like the island is an awful place to live, even without the awful devastation Sandy brought. No police presence, high taxes, no library, no parks or recreation, no children (except for those who you rent your houses to...), high taxes.... I am surprised that anybody who knew about that when house shopping would have bought any way. And I can't believe those that inherited their houses wouldn't have tried to sell right away.

I live in a small ranch on the lagoon in Green Island. Or should I say lived. The home was really damged in Oct and we cannot live there until is is fixed, raised or whatever. We are seriouly considering doing nothing and letting it sit, as we now for sure owe more then it is worth. We are kind of lucky to have a fully paid for condo in Fla. So let the bank have it in 3 years.

Leeny O: Make sure you have a mail box on that land as the bank and tax collector WILL get in touch with you and your pockets ! You HAVE to pay taxes and die for sure, and they will tax your death also in taxes at the Home/cemetery where you will be interned..county on it.. Surprised they don't charge an EXIT tax on death as they NOW do when you sell your home and leave this great State !

how about this my home was damaged and I was told by FEMA I get nothing 000000 because it is my second home so I have to pay for the whole thing to be fixed and not with my tax money that I pay for every year but you get us to pay for your primary residance so there is an inequality here. So stop bad mouthing the part timers who get nothing but abuse for no services at all.

The residents on the mainland are correct - the island is now paying our fair share of taxes, regardless of the services we use. That being said, should the island residents assume the mainland residents are in FULL agreement with the clean-up, street paving, extra police, etc., so we can get into our homes? After all, we are paying FULL-TIME taxes, so we should get FULL-TIME services :))

well said Ortley BEACH IS DEADS IN THE WINTER TIME WITH BLINKING LIGHTS AND NO TRAFFIC TO THINK ABOUT WHILE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE EVERYTHING IS ALIVE AND KICKING SURE WE PAY THE SAME TAXES SO WE CAN HELP YOU OUT AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO BASH US. YOU SHOULD KISS OUR FEET .

To spoken it really nice that no one can reply to you.So maybe you can answer two questions for me. First what is the difference if the damage is to the first or second home.Second did you write this yourself or did you get help quote (WAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)

THIS IS THE LAW FEMA WILL NOT HELP YOU BUILD IF ITS YOUR SECOND HOME IS THT TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND EVEN THOUGH WE ALL PAY THE SAME TAXES ON BOTH OF OUR HOMES AND YOU CAN BE DENIED BECAUSE IT IS NOT YOUR PRIMARY RESIDENCE. WITH THIS IN MIND MAYBE OUR TAX RATE ON MY SECOND HOME SHOULD BE DIFFERENT THAN OUR PRIMARY HOME.FAIR ENOUGH. NOW TELL ME IF THIS HAPPENED TO YOUR YOU WOULND'NT BE UPSET.

Is it true that the flood insurance premium for non-compliance or not raising your house above the new ABFE'S can be increased to 30 to 50K annually?
This was the information I was quoted when I called the Toms River building/construction department to inquire. We need to get together folks. Otherwise it's turn out the lights for the middle class in Toms River.

thank you for responding to me in such a professional manner. There are still some civilized people in Nj.

Here we go....up, up and away! The tax man cometh!

Patch, please print that sheet for your readers (1000s) whose homes were hit by the storm:
"I was at town hall today and they gave me a sheet called Rebuilding After Hurricane Sandy." We all can't get to town hall because we work weekdays, and the twp. didn't send it to anyone! THANKS.

We are only 2nd class citizens. We pay the same taxes as everyone in TR and we cant get a meeting on Sat or sunday. Remember in order to pay for 2nd home we cant take time off to attend a meeting.

OH MY GOD YOUR CRUEL WITH EACH OTHER !! PLEASE GET IT TOGETHER. THIS BEACH HAS BEEN ENJOYED BY BOTH AREAS. LAND AND BEACH