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Mayor Reports on Borough Property Taxes

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By Camille Sailer

WOODBINE – Borough Council met July 20 with Mayor William Pikolycky distributing a report on Woodbine’s 2017 property taxes. Per the report, out of every tax dollar that Woodbine collects, 69.5 cents is provided to its school to fund operational costs. 
The remaining 30.50 cents is divided equally between the borough, to fund its operational costs, and the other half going to the county for funding governmental costs.
Another report indicated that Woodbine had recently received an A-plus rating from Standard & Poors in conjunction with an infrastructure project noting the borough’s strong fiscal management and other positive factors such as virtually no borough debt and strong liquidity.
However, the fact that Woodbine has seen a 52 percent increase in school tax over recent years was considered part of its own municipal debt which dragged down the overall rating it could have received.
More Rumblin’ Over Strips
Like several other municipalities in the county, Woodbine is considering a plea to County Engineer Dale Foster, to reevaluate where rumble strips might be placed on country roads in the borough.
“The county has federal monies, about $2 million for this project, and they want to put rumble strips along all the county roads,” said Pikolycky. “That means for us Washington Avenue, Webster Avenue and Route 550, and there are areas along these roads where it would not be appropriate to have them such as by the school.
“Rumble strips are thought to save lives by reducing the number of fatal accidents but, on the other hand, they are really noisy and affect the quality of life for anyone living on a road with them.
“There are even two kinds of rumble strips, one kind is embedded in the asphalt, and the other is just placed on top and can easily be removed.
“Let’s get some more information about what we’re getting and specific locations where the County wants to place these rumble strips and see if they are appropriate.”
Hold That Land Donation
On council’s agenda was a proposed ordinance to authorize acceptance of a donation of land by Wells Fargo bank.
“We’ve been informed that Wells Fargo has left asbestos behind and we cannot accept the property in that state. There is siding containing asbestos that has been discarded in the rear of the property,” said Borough Clerk Lisa Garrison.
“We did receive a letter from NJDEP (Department of Environmental Protection) that another problem, that of fuel spillage, has been successfully cleaned up.” 
Given that this ordinance was to be approved after public hearing, on the advice of Solicitor Richard Tonetta, council approved a motion to continue the hearing at a future meeting when remediation is complete.
County’s Highest Point
Council approved another ordinance for flood damage prevention on second reading with no public comment offered. This ordinance is required by FEMA’s (Federal Emergency Management Agency) National Flood Insurance Program and adopts new standards and new flood insurance rate maps that replace an old FEMA map first issued in 1979. 
Pikolycky stated, “Although some private and borough properties are within the new Special Flood Hazard Areas, it seems that no one in Woodbine will be subject to additional compliance measures. Interestingly, the new map shows us to be at the highest elevation point in the county.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.

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