News & Events
Your tax dollars at work. The 2023 budget details for Warren County’s biggest towns.
Warren County municipalities had until April 28 to set their spending plans for 2023, including general fund budgets covering the costs of public services. By and large, property taxes pay for most services, and budgets are kept fairly unremarkable, but one consistent trend we noticed, across municipalities, was the approval of relatively flat or low tax...
Herb Op-Ed: It’s time to review laws on hazardous materials
The Ohio train derailment should prompt a review of measures that are supposed to protect people and the environment. Many New Jerseyans followed the Feb. 3 derailment of a train operated by Norfolk Southern, near East Palestine, Ohio, that triggered a fire sending fumes from several toxic chemicals into the local environment. Chemicals released...
Some NJ officials will no longer have to disclose their addresses. This is why
Legislation removing address disclosure requirements for New Jersey local elected officials cleared its second major hurdle Thursday. What the legislation says: The bill would no longer require local elected officials — and some non-elected public workers, including zoning officials, members of independent municipal authorities and certain high-ranking...
Can NJ Fix Its Messy School Funding Formula?
It’s a complicated situation. New Jersey’s school funding formula, which is supposed to equally provide all students with the chance to get a good education, is constantly being tweaked because some school districts wind up getting more or less than they need based on a variety of factors that change frequently. After the allocation of funding was modified...
Deep cuts to NJ school funding could be partially reduced
Lawmakers have fast-tracked a bill that would restore two-thirds of the state aid that school districts were set to lose in the upcoming year. Schools throughout the state were collectively preparing for a loss of about $157 million. The proposed legislation would restore $102.8 million and provide a one-time payment to districts that were losing funding...
Murphy’s New Jersey budget plan would beef up reserves, pay down debt
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled his executive budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, a record $53.1 billion plan that takes into account the state’s expectation for a shallow and short recession by holding off on large new initiatives while boosting reserves and addressing long-term obligations. “This budget will better prepare New Jersey for any...
These North Jersey taxpayers may not get their full SALT deduction this year
The average property tax bill in six North Jersey towns rose to over $10,000, making it impossible for residents with bills higher than that to deduct their entire tax bill from their federal taxes. That’s thanks to a $10,000 Trump-era cap on deducting state and local taxes from federal tax returns. Between 2021 and 2022, the average property tax bill...
How the ultra-rich, from Trump to Bruce, dodge their taxes and increase yours
Drive around an exclusive town like Mendham, in Morris County, and you’ll see homes that are palaces, with big swimming pools, tennis courts, and manicured lawns that seem to stretch on forever. These folks are doing all right. Many of them are also getting away with murder when it comes to property taxes by pretending they are farmers. If you own at least...
Some N.J. municipal council meetings are still virtual. Residents are asking why.
Piscataway is one of several New Jersey municipalities still holding public meetings remotely nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic. While some Piscataway council members sit in the council chambers for the Zoom call, others sign in for the meeting from home. And the public can only watch or listen online or on the phone. Some residents in...
Ensuring Access to Nature and Outdoor Recreation: Advancing Health Equity for People with Disabilities
The following blog was published by the New Jersey State Policy Lab, February 23, 2023 By Jeanne Herb The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 21% of New Jersey adults have some type of disability. CDC reports that people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases and conditions which are contributed...
Recent Products
Draft Report: New Jersey Non-Residential Lighting Market Characterization
Abstract DNV completed the New Jersey Non-Residential Lighting Market Characterization on behalf of the Rutgers Center for Green Building (Rutgers), and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The primary objective of this study was to assess the status of...
A Global Building Occupant Behavior Database
This paper introduces a database of 34 field-measured building occupant behavior datasets collected from 15 countries and 39 institutions across 10 climatic zones covering various building types in both commercial and residential sectors. This is a comprehensive...
State of the Climate: New Jersey 2021
Global climate change will present unique challenges to the state of New Jersey. This report by researchers from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist, and the University of Delaware summarizes the current scientific...
Ten questions concerning agent-based modeling of occupant behavior for energy and environmental performance of buildings
Abstract The complexity of occupant behavior is one of the major contributors to uncertainty in building performance simulation. Agent-based modeling (ABM), a computational simulation technique, has gained attention in the occupant modeling field due to its capability...