News: POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: Why get a farmland tax assessment when you can have a parsonage?

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: Why get a farmland tax assessment when you can have a parsonage?

Apr 07, 2021

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Good Wednesday morning!

What does a church do if it can't afford to pay a pastor a salary? It buys his house from him for $1.65 million — $100,000 more than he paid for it two years earlier.

That, anyway, is what I can draw from the answer Phil Rizzo gave to me about 24 hours after I began asking about his house in Harding, which is located about 45 minutes from his North Bergen church. The house has two Subzero refrigerators, five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a sleek pool with a hot tub attached and even more finished space in a detached garage. And since it's a parsonage, there are no property taxes. All those stories about people paying lower property taxes because of a farmland tax assessment seem quaint by comparison.

Rizzo appears to be the candidate that the most far-right, pro-Trump Republicans who can't stomach Jack Ciattarelli are rallying around ahead of the gubernatorial primary, taking up the lane that Hirsh Singh has tried to occupy for the last four years.

You can look at the Zillow listing yourself to see what kind of parsonage this is . I have some follow-up questions. How did his small church afford such a large purchase? Why did it pay Rizzo more than he paid? Who paid for the extensive renovations to the house? And what are some examples of church-related events he's hosted at the house? Rizzo's campaign declined to answer those questions.

Read more about it here .

That's two days in a row this top has been about Rizzo, directly or indirectly. Forgive me.

WHERE'S MURPHY?: In Trenton for a 1 p.m. coronavirus press briefing

CORONAVIRUS TRACKER : 3,382 newly-reported positive PCR tet for a total of 820,686. 53 more deaths for a total of 22,132. 2,329 hospitalized, 461 in intensive care. 1,845,335 fully vaccinated, or about 20.7 percent of the population.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: PHL17's Eric Cheavers, former Lance staffer Bill Killion, Dept. of Ag's Rob Vivian . Missed yesterday: McCarter & English's Guillermo Artiles

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It would have been possible, maybe wise … to wait until we actually needed the money. And had we done that we would have found we never needed the money." — State Sen. Declan O'Scanlon (R-Monmouth) to State Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio on the Murphy administration's borrowing

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

IT'S DEBTFUL — "Will Gov. Murphy honor his pledge to pay back billions he borrowed now that N.J. is flush with cash?" by NJ Advance Media's Samantha Marcus: "Gov. Phil Murphy's multi-billion dollar borrowing pitch always came with a disclaimer. If New Jersey somehow, someway borrowed more money than it needed to dig out from the coronavirus pandemic, the governor had a Plan B, he said. 'We can just pay the debt down immediately,' Murphy explained on April 16, 2020, addressing what his administration presented as an unlikely scenario … Now, after New Jersey borrowed $4 billion, the Democratic governor finds himself in that exact position … The catch? Up for re-election, Murphy has to be willing refuse a golden opportunity to use billions to further stabilize the state's short-term finances or spend on programs that will directly benefit Garden State voters … Treasury Department spokeswoman Jennifer Sciortino said Murphy's administration will continue to work with the Legislature 'to advance our shared priorities.' However, the state is still waiting for federal guidance on how the aid can be used. It's unclear if paying off debt will be allowed, she added. If it is, there could be opportunities in the next few years to retire some debt or set aside enough cash to meet future principle and interest payments and get bonds off the state's balance sheet, Sciortino said."

61.4 MASTROS — OLS increases revenue estimates by $553M, by POLITICO's Katherine Landergan: Treasury officials defended their tax revenue estimates during a budget hearing in Trenton on Tuesday after legislative analysts projected New Jersey will collect hundreds of millions of dollars more than initially thought. Budget analysts from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services are projecting revenues for fiscal year 2021, which ends June 30, and fiscal year 2022, which begins July 1, will be $553.2 million more than what the Murphy administration initially projected in February. Specifically, OLS revenue estimates are $428.3 million higher for FY 2021 and $124.9 million higher for FY 2022. David Drescher, the OLS Revenue, Finance, and Appropriations section chief, told lawmakers during Tuesday's budget hearing that while there is a "significant gap" between the OLS and Treasury estimates, "the difference likely has more to do with when we are making these forecasts." OLS is able to incorporate tax collections from February and March, which Drescher said were "unexpectedly strong this year." Revenues will also perform better as a result of more stimulus checks, extended unemployment insurance payments as well as an extension of the Payment Protection Program to businesses.

—" NJ fiscal picture $430M better, analysts say"

RADIO HOST TO RANT ABOUT THIS IN EFFORT TO STIR UP VAGUE GRIEVANCES — "N.J. releases data showing every time cops hit, tackled or shot suspects on groundbreaking new website," by NJ Advance Media's Blake Nelson, S.P. Sullivan and Nick Devlin: "New Jersey authorities on Tuesday unveiled a trove of data on every use of physical force by officers statewide, providing a level of detail law enforcement leaders said isn't available anywhere else in the country. The interactive portal shows every time cops hit, tackled or shot suspects in recent months, and the data is both viewable online and downloadable. The tool was modeled after The Force Report, a 2018 NJ Advance Media investigation that found glaring problems in how officers used force, ranging from racial disparities to officers with high use-of-force rates — including one cop who later faced criminal assault charges … Force can range from twisting a suspect's arm to firing a gun and is a normal and necessary part of policing, but some of the numbers are already raising questions. Since late last year, police reported using force on Black people 2,434 times. That number is higher than any other racial group and amounts to more than 44% of all force, despite Black residents making up less than a fifth of the total population."

—"2nd District GOP Senate primary to create plenty of buzz"

PRIMARY PRIMER — "Infighting, turf wars, surprises … It must be the start of NJ's primary season," by NJ Spotlight News' Colleen O'Dea: "The deadline for filing to run in New Jersey's June 8 primary elections is today. While the governor's race will be the big political news later this year, an unusually high number of legislative openings means intraparty primary battles for Senate and Assembly seats, with the possibility of the biggest shake-up among legislative members in recent years. While the governor's race tops the ballot, there is not likely to be a serious challenge to either party's frontrunners, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman. There's much more action among legislative races. Four seats in the Senate are open; a fifth vacancy that arose when longtime Republican Gerald Cardinale died earlier this year was filled last month by former Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi. Nine seats are open in the Assembly, including five vacancies caused by members who are seeking Senate seats. At least three more Assembly members are at serious risk of losing their seats after failing to win party backing."

WHEN YOU VOTED AGAINST THE BALLOT CURE ACT — "Auth, DeFuccio file wrong petitions in 39th district ," by New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: "Assemblyman Robert Auth (R-Old Tappan) and Assemblywoman-elect DeAnne DeFuccio (R-Upper Saddle River) may have partially used the wrong petitions and filed general election petitions instead of ones designed for the Republican primary, according to the state Division of Elections. Auth and DeFuccio appear to have submitted primary election petitions with 105 signatures for part of their filing, with additional signatures — about 60 of them — on the wrong petition form. That's not a problem for Auth and DeFuccio if at least 100 of the 105 are valid, although they don't have much room for error. The first set of petitions might be enough for Secretary of State Tahesha Way to certify Auth and DeFuccio. Way could also permit the two Republicans to cure the defect on the petitions — primary and general petitions are similar."

CONTRACTING CONTRACTORS — Pandemic brought public contractor donations down in 2020, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: Donations from New Jersey public contractors fell last year amid a pandemic lockdown that put a stop to most in-person fundraisers. But as political donations dried up, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin's law firm became one of the biggest political donors in New Jersey and saw its public contracts increase for the fourth straight year since its founding in 2017. In all, public contractors reported just $8.1 million in political donations last year, a number that will likely grow a bit as some latecomers file their reports, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Jeff Brindle, the commission's executive director, estimated that once all the reports are in, the amount of donations from public contractors will be at least the second lowest since his agency began keeping tabs in 2006.

—"NJ landlords fight back: Lawsuit challenges Murphy executive order"

—" Budget battle: Republicans take on the Murphy administration"

—Snowflack: "In Morris, LD25 lights up early"

—" Gov. Murphy 'completely confident' in accuracy of New Jersey's COVID-19 data"

—"New Jersey, ignore the outsiders. We've got our own experts to help us thrive. | Opinion"

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BIDEN TIME

VAN WHO? — "Looks like House Democrats have given up trying to oust N.J.'s Jeff Van Drew," by NJ Advance Media's Jonathan D. Salant: "The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Tuesday released its list of 21 House Republicans it planned to go after in 2022, and Van Drew's name conspicuously was missing … The omission came a year after the campaign committee and its aligned super political action committee spent $6.6 million to defeat Van Drew."

LOCAL

HUDSON COUNTY, OF COURSE — "Suarez: Internal affairs unit investigating missing money at the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office," by Hudson County View's John Heinis: "The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Public Integrity Unit, Internal Affairs Section, has opened an investigation into missing money recovered from crime scenes and being stored at their headquarters, Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. 'This is a sheer betrayal and disgrace of the sacred oaths taken by those who wear a badge and were involved in these appalling acts. What compounds this even more is the fact that members of the prosecutor's office are held to an even higher standard when it comes to integrity and trust,' Suarez said in a statement."

NOT PARTY TIME. NOT EXCELLENT. — "Legal weed sales in Wayne? 'I don't want to be that type of town,' mayor says," by The Record's Philip DeVencentis: "The unofficial commercial hub of Passaic County will take an official stance on marijuana sales when the Township Council meets on Wednesday. The Republican-controlled council is expected to adopt a zoning ordinance to ban all six classes of cannabis establishments, including medical dispensaries, from opening in the township. Officials enacted a similar law in September 2018, but that was before Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to decriminalize the drug and set up a marketplace in which it can be sold. Mayor Christopher Vergano said he was fielding many inquiries from dispensary owners hopeful to open a weed shop in the township. 'We've told people that we're not interested,' the mayor said, minutes before the council introduced the zoning measure last month. 'I don't want to be that type of town.'"

REPUBLICANS LAMENT WASTEWATER TOO LATE TO JOIN THE BERGEN COUNTY GOP TICKET — "N.J. county's wastewater shows COVID levels similar to last fall when cases surged," by NJ Advance Media's Rodrigo Torrejon: "Bergen County's program to test sewage for COVID-19 shows levels of the virus similar to those from last fall into winter, signaling a potential spike in cases for New Jersey's most populous county as the state vies with the highest rate of coronavirus in the country. The wastewater testing program is able to predict spikes and drops in COVID infection as much as two weeks in advance, the Bergen County Executive's Office said in a Tuesday announcement."

HAHNISSANCE — " Going, Going… Hahn. Edison Republican looks to be the last man standing," by InsiderNJ's Max Pizarro: "On the shoulder of a flea bitten highway, the mangy, COVID-19 ravaged dog otherwise known as New Jersey gazes into its own emaciated soul and wails the same old baleful moan: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; while Edison — namesake of the famous inventor — keeps coming up with new ways for politics to get even more vicious. Sadistic political junkies around the state have already reserved seats for the grim gladiatorial spectacle that is the Democratic Primary here, where contenders Sam Joshi, with a wink from the Middlesex County Democratic Committee, faces Mahesh Bhagia, chair of the local party. It's not even May, and it's already mayhem. It's even worse than it looks. A lot of the main combatants are old political allies, most of them fellow veterans of the Mayor Tom Lankey years, who have the dirt on one another. As Lankey's empire apparently crumbles, they're not afraid to use it to gain an edge on the town's political future. Somehow, retired cop Keith Hahn projects an almost Buddha-like calm through it all, the twinkle in his eye undimmed by time and the twists and turns of his own improbable political career."

LORD HAVE MERCER — " Mercer County Democrats clearly aren't seeing eye-to-eye with each other," by The Trentonian's Jeff Edelstein: "Hughes' car woes — and ensuing cover-ups of the incidents … has caught the attention of the commissioners. The last time I heard a Democrat publicly call out Hughes was … well, 'ever' sounds about right, which made Sam Frisby's comments — he's the chair of the commissioners — all the more noteworthy. 'We have an obligation to the taxpayers to make sure we are protecting their interest,' Frisby said of Mercer County taxpayers. 'That's why I'm so disappointed that they didn't share that this had happened. I don't like continually getting phone calls about things I don't know about.' Frisby even went as far to say that if he and the commissioners don't get the answers they seek, they'll haul Hughes in front of them … Interparty squabbling. The commissioners going at the county executive. Road races in Paris. Makes you wonder just who's in charge here, don't it?"

CLASS ACTION JACKSON — "Jackson fired township officials to retaliate for forming labor union, lawsuits claim," by The Asbury Park Press' Kathleen Hopkins: "Two former Jackson officials have filed lawsuits against the township, claiming they were fired and replaced with substantially younger people in retaliation for forming a labor union for township supervisors. Daniel J. Burke, Jackson's former municipal engineer, and Fred Rasiewicz, the township's former public works director, alleged in separate lawsuits that they were retaliated against for their activities as union leaders and were let go partly because of their age."

R.I.P. —" 'All he wanted to do was to help people': Middlesex commissioner Kenneth Armwood honored in NJ "

— "Toms River GOP primary shaping up as bitter battle; crowded field vies for council"

—"Hoboken council to vote on resolution asking AG, HCPO to open probe into 'terrorism' flyer"

—"Camden native launching grocery delivery service for city residents"

—"Wall man admits running Bitcoin business without a license"

—"Jersey City hosting tributes for late Councilman Michael Yun on one-year anniversary of his death"

Did you know that POLITICO Pro has coverage and tools at the state level? All the state legislative and regulatory tracking, budget documents, state agency contact information, and everything else you need to stay ahead of state policy movement integrate into our smart and customizable platform. Learn more and become a Pro today.

EVERYTHING ELSE

THEY THREW THE OLD NAME OUT THE BROKEN WINDOW — "Sky Blue FC rebrands as NJ/NY Gotham FC ahead of NWSL season," by Sports Illustrated's Andrew Gastelum: "National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Sky Blue FC officially announced that it has rebranded as NJ/NY Gotham FC. With a new crest featuring the Statue of Liberty's crown, officials at NJ/NY Gotham FC said in a statement that it is seeking to extend its reach further into the New York market while recognizing its New Jersey roots. The club, which moved its home matches to Red Bull Arena last season, is the nation's longest-standing women's professional soccer club. 'Today marks a new chapter for women's soccer in the region,' club chair Tammy Murphy said. 'We're making this important change due to our rapid growth and evolution.'"

LITTLE CAESARS TO COMPETE WITH REGULAR-SIZED CAESAR'S — "Atlantic City's Ocean Casino gets buy-in from owners of Detroit Tigers, Red Wings, Little Caesars chain," by The AP: "A New York hedge fund said Tuesday it is selling as much as half its ownership of Atlantic City's Ocean Casino to the Ilitch family, which owns professional sports teams, a nationwide pizza chain and a casino in Detroit. Officials of Luxor Capital Group LP told The Associated Press they have reached a deal with the Ilitch organization to acquire, through an affiliate, up to half the ownership of the casino."

—" A New Jersey restaurateur gobbles up space during Covid-19 pandemic"

—"NJ blames bacteria for dead fish in rivers, bays since fall"

A message from Uber Driver Stories:

When Olivia was diagnosed with MS in 2017, it became clear to her that having a regular job would no longer be possible.

"I drive with Uber because I love to drive," she says. "It just puts the MS far out of my head. There's no way I could work a regular 9-5."

With Uber, Olivia can choose when, where, and how long she wants to drive. This flexibility lets Olivia be there for her daughter and for her own health needs.

If she's not feeling well, or her daughter needs her, she doesn't have to worry about asking her boss or requesting time off—she can take the time she needs to focus on herself and her family.

To see more stories like Olivia's, click here.

*Driver earnings may vary depending on location, demand, hours, drivers, and other variables.