News & Events
Full-time perks for part-time work? For these politicians, taxpayers footed the bill
Mercer County’s elected commissioners earned a salary of just $32,853 last year. They largely hold jobs outside their political posts, with careers in government, non-profits or the corporate world that pay the bills. To the public, the county describes its seven commissioners as part timers. But when it comes to health benefits, the commissioners treat...
Sagging revenue, looming costs could sink big senior citizen tax cut plan
Sagging revenue and a bevy of looming funding needs in the coming fiscal year threaten to pull New Jersey’s $8.1 billion surplus below a threshold that would pause the nascent StayNJ property tax relief program before it sends out a single payment. Revenue from New Jersey’s major taxes — like its income, corporate business, and sales taxes — were down...
West New York police earn high salaries, even more than Jersey City cops
“Public safety employees are generally the highest compensated primarily because they have collective bargaining rights and binding arbitration,” said Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director of Rutgers University’s Bloustein Local, the local government research unit at the Center for Urban Policy Research.
NJCCRC to Host Webinar 1/23/24 to Introduce Newest Data-Visualization and Mapping Tools
New Jersey residents and planners alike have a new set of decision-support tools to help prepare their communities for climate change, thanks to a suite of data-visualization and mapping tools developed at Rutgers University’s New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center.
Bar part-time officials from full-time perks, incoming N.J. lawmaker says
“That doesn’t excuse individuals who have consciously abused the system,” said Pfeiffer, now a professor at Rutgers University. “But there are probably any number of cases where elected officials can spend 30, 35 hours a week in their job as an unpaid or low-paid elected official.”
While most towns have gone back to in-person meetings, Lakewood remains virtual
Pfeiffer said holding meetings online also risks technical problems, as well as online infiltration: “You should carefully consider the risks of meeting disruptions and make sure you balance the interests of people.”
N.J. town catching heat for plan to ban abortion clinics, tattoo parlors
A municipality in Union County has attracted some controversy on social media for a proposed ordinance prohibiting abortion clinics, tattoo shops, massage parlors and animal hospitals, among other businesses.
Marc Pfeiffer Uses Claude AI to Help Write Article: AI in Local Government, Helpful or Harmful?
For local governments, chatbots create exciting opportunities to improve customer service, automate tasks and cut costs. Marc Pfeiffer, Assistant Director of Bloustein Local, Center for Urban Policy Research, uses Claude AI to help write two articles on how to best incorporate this new technology.
Pfeiffer – TECH UPDATES: What Municipal CAOs Need to Know, Part 1: Tech Fitness and Cyber Hygiene
There are two basic elements of technology that every municipality must have. Most places already do this, but it doesn’t hurt to highlight them. The first is an expert to advise you and your governing body on technology issues. As with other experts you hire—a police chief to advise you on law enforcement concerns or an engineer to advise you on...
Lakewood schools borrowed millions from New Jersey and still can’t pay its bills
The Lakewood School District in New Jersey is facing severe financial distress, having borrowed $165 million since 2014 and now seeking an additional $93 million loan from the state to stay afloat. This mounting debt has been primarily attributed to the district's unique circumstances, including a vast private school student population, high transportation...
Recent Products
Behaving or not? Explaining energy conservation via identity, values, and awareness in U.S. suburban homes
In this study, we compare electricity consumption of the suburban households with similar socio-economic, demographic, and geographic profiles to assess possible roles of social-psychological and behavioral factors. We examine the extent to which these factors...
AI in Planning: Opportunities and Challenges and How to Prepare
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been in development since the 1950s. However, due to the availability of big data and increased computing power, the AI market has grown substantially over the last decade and is expected to grow more than 20 percent annually over the...
Planning the Built Environment and Land Use Towards Deep Decarbonization of the United States
Many governments, businesses, and institutions are committing to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a goal and process known as deep decarbonization. Achieving this goal in the United States requires a national, economy-wide transformation in energy production...
Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida
This technical study examines the many substantial economic effects of historic preservation in Florida. The study examines the total economic effects of historic preservation; these encompass both the direct and multiplier effects. The direct impact component...