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State aid comes up short
(by Corey Klein - July 14, 2008)
The state announced 2008 extraordinary aid awards to municipalities on Friday and south Bergen towns came up short. The two towns that applied for extraordinary aid, Carlstadt and Rutherford, received much less than they asked for. Rutherford asked for $850,000 and received just $200,000.
Carlstadt asked for $1.7 million and did not receive any extraordinary aid. The borough requested $1.7 million to make up for the large gap in its tax rolls since the state acquired the empire track from Mills Corp. in 2005 and converted the property to wetlands protection.
Taxes in Carlstadt and Rutherford were expected to increase 6.6 percent and 6.95 percent respectively this year. Extraordinary aid is awarded to municipalities who, because of extreme circumstances, would not be able to provide essential services to the community without a substantial increase in their property tax rate, according to the State Department of Community Affairs.
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