Manville's Issues
Overview of the Issues
Manville continues to face many unresolved issues. Here is an overview of the issues, and in-depth details are provided below on each topic.
- Tax Stabilization - Property taxes continue to increase. Work to stabilize taxes, and ensure proper development of vacant land.
- Flood Mitigation - Fight for residents to raise homes, in areas of town where it makes sense. Fight for flood mitigation assistance.
- Council Accountability - Hold the Mayor & Council accountable for their decisions. They need to do what's best for the interest of Manville's residents.
- Work Together - Regardless of political party, work with our Elected Officials on all levels of government.
- Borough Staffing/Jobs - Hire properly vetted & qualified applicants to staff Borough jobs to serve you.
- Public Safety - Work with police to continue making Manville a safe town for everyone.
- Community Spirit - Bring back street fairs & events to bring Manville's community together.
Tax Stabilization
Property Tax Stabilization
Property taxes in Manville is an ongoing concern. Residents face year-over-year increases in property assessments. The Mayor may boast about how the "tax rate" is going down, but when coupled with a higher property assessment value, most experience an increase. Our taxes appear to be unpredictable each year.
Are residential and commercial properties being properly assessed? Sometimes, it seems the burden is placed on residential properties, where commercial properties don't change in assessed value. Why is that?
Are properties that receive a property tax credit, where an owner unfortunately passes away, causing the home to be sold, was the tax credit removed afterwards? (We hear this doesn't always happen.) There is potentially a lot of money that is not being collected from bad auditing of the tax records.
We need stable taxes. We need fair property taxes. We need creative ways to create new revenue streams. More on that next.
Proper Development
Responsibly Develop Rustic Mall
We need to get to work on Rustic Mall. For newer residents, you may not know what this. "Rustic Mall" is the very large empty lot behind Main Street. It's been sitting vacant for a very long time.
The Borough appears to want to acquire the land, and turn it into a new Municipal Campus. This is the worst possible idea for the property. Turning this into a Municipal Campus will lose the potential tax revenues that can be obtained from this very large plot of land.
Rustic Mall should be properly developed. Some retail, some residential. Do it responsibly. Allow input from the public (you!), to have a say in what should be developed onto this final, sizable piece of land in Manville.
Let's let the residents have a say, not just the Mayor & Council.
New Opportunities
Find New Revenue Opportunities, Not More Taxes
As many in Manville know, we flood. We can only hope each hurricane season that no hurricanes or tropical weather systems hit Manville. The storms can be extremely devastating. Ida in 2021. Irene in 2011. Floyd in 1999.
Manville continues to lose homes to Blue Acres buyouts. This means that once a property is sold as Blue Acres, the property is permanently removed from the "tax map" and Manville loses the property tax revenue from it.
We need to come up with new opportunities to replace lost tax revenue. We need to see what can be done to come up with alternatives. Taxes simply cannot be increased each year. This is the #1 concern we hear. It's becoming unaffordable for many.
We need to find new ways to recoup lost revenue. It can, and will be, accomplished. For starters, Rustic Mall. This property can generate lots of tax revenue. As of now, all this extra revenue has been "sitting on the table" for over 10 years now. Let's get the job done and stop procrastinating.
Once you can add ratables to the tax map, taxes as a whole will begin to stabilize. This is what residents want -- a consistent tax bill. Not a bill that goes up year-over-year due to the way properties in town keep rising in assessed value.
Further, commercial properties need to be evaluated too. We aren't looking, or wanting, to increase taxes. We don't want to create "extra fees". Nobody wants that. We want to ensure tax fairness, with the property tax levy shared fairly between both residential & commercial properties.
Flood Mitigation
Fight For Flood Mitigation Assistance
Flood mitigation is a big topic to tackle. We need to work to find solutions to the flooding Manville faces. For residents who want to raise homes in areas of town where it makes sense, they should be allowed to.
Right now, residents can pay for it themselves, as the State of NJ took away the funding for these projects. We're willing to fight with the State of NJ to restore such funding. Residents want to stay in Manville, and if the location of their home is in an area where it makes sense to raise the house instead of selling it out to Blue Acres, let's fight to make the State pay for it.
The Jersey Shore floods during major storms. Manville should be treated as if it were a "shore town" where flood mitigation is built into property development. Notice how homes at the shore are raised? That's what Manville should be doing in flood-prone areas, and have the State help us do this for residents.
Other neighboring towns, Bound Brook for example, were given a lot of funding for flood mitigation. Manville did not receive a single penny, because the government said Manville "wasn't worth it". That's wrong, and honestly, offensive to all those who live here.
We need to fight, at all levels of government, regardless of which political party controls what, to get Manville assistance. Manville deserves it. Residents deserve it.
Council Accountability
Accountability of the Mayor & Council
Holding the Mayor & Council accountable for their actions is our priority. Have you noticed the turnover of employees at Borough Hall? This trend has yet to show signs of slowing down.
The Mayor & Council need to be accountable for the decisions they make. Are they spending money unnecessarily? Are they planning for Manville's future? On the latter, we know for a fact that the current Mayor & Council is not adequately planning for the future of Manville.
One notable mention is aging DPW equipment. During a Council meeting, it was openly stated how equipment is aging and will cost tens of thousands of dollars in repair bills. Why aren't we planning for the future?
Why are we continuing to spend so much money to repair such old equipment, instead of working it into the yearly budget to expect these expenses years from now? And no, you don't need to increase taxes to accomplish this. The schools had 5-year plans long before they were given extra State funding.
It seems on the outside, everyone at the Borough is short-sighted. Accountability matters, and we're going to hold the Mayor & Council accountable for their actions, to make sure things are done in the best interest of residents.
Borough Staffing
Hired Qualified & Experienced Staff
We had a very experienced Borough Clerk, who abruptly resigned back in the spring. Why? What is going on internally that is causing qualified employees to resign and leave the Borough? We need to get to the root of this problem, and hold those on Council, as well as the Mayor, accountable for this issue.
In regards to hiring new employees, we need to make sure anyone hired actually has the experience and credentials to do the job they're hired to do.
We are not in favor of hiring someone today, if they have no experience, and then spend yet more money on training the new employee to only have them leave town after they received their credentials that taxpayers paid for. We need to hire experienced and qualified employees from the beginning.
We need to make sure that those hired are placed into part-time or full-time depending on what the job entails. For example, you cannot run this town with a part-time Administrator. That job needs to be full-time. And there needs to be adequate support staff.
Many residents complain of slow responses to inquiries, voicemails not returned, and people at Borough Hall not knowing the answers to questions. This is not acceptable. Residents are the taxpayers. We are paying the salaries of those hired. Our taxpayer dollars should be spent wisely on making sure Borough Hall can properly serve Manville residents.
It's long overdue to hold the Mayor & Council accountable for their actions, as their current methods are simply broken and not working.
Working Together
Work Together, Regardless of Party
The only way to accomplish these things is to work together. It shouldn't matter if you're a Democrat or Republican. At the end of the day, there is only one common goal: serving the Manville resident.
If Manville needs help from our "higher-ups" at the State or Federal level, we need to work with them. It doesn't matter what political party they belong to. They are also elected to serve you. They are elected to serve and represent Manville in their respective district.
Political nonsense needs to be put aside, so we can focus on solving the problems Manville faces. There are many things that our State and Federal counterparts can do to assist Manville, such as finding us grants, and including us in projects that can better Manville as a whole.
To accomplish this, we need to work together and focus solely on Manville and its residents. Leave the political party at the door.
Public Safety
Keep Manville Safe for Residents
We plan to work with the Manville Police Department to continue their efforts to keep Manville safe. We are a safe town without much crime, and we need to keep it that way. Working with the police to address any concerns of residents will be another top priority.
Continue working with the Police on things such as pedestrian safety. Main Street had improvements made to it, but there is still room for further improvement. For example, how many times have you witnessed people crossing Main Street outside of crosswalks? This happens too frequently, and is why some people get hit by a car.
We need to continue enforcing our traffic laws, and possibly increase enforcement. While the reduction of the speed limit on Main Street to 25mph was a step in the right direction, it's not enough. How many people driving do you see actually obeying the 25mph limit? Only a minority. We need to address these concerns too to the County, as Main Street is a County road, and only they can help us implement new things such as signage, rumble strips, etc.
Community Spirit
Manville: Small-town Community Spirit
Saving the best for last, community! Manville is a great community. We still have that small-town feel, which is rare nowadays. People know each other. And when something happens, the community comes together in ways that absolutely make you proud to be a Manville resident. Everyone's differences are put aside to ensure the well-being of each other. This is small-town community at its best, and what community is all about.
Manville should start having more community events to bring everyone together. There was talk of having a Street Fair, but nothing ever came of it. Let's figure out how to make it happen.
Street Fairs were fun, they brought out the community for a day of fun, helped support Manville's small businesses, and definitely brought out community spirit. Let's do them again.
Other things that have community spirit include holding information and educational sessions for topics that are important to everyone, such as how to write a will or create a trust. Let's help residents make their lives easier and direct residents in the right direction.
Let's get creative and have our Small Businesses participate in fun things, like holiday window displays, or artwork murals. These will bring out the community to see what Manville is all about.
Manville is a small town with a big heart, and community events showcase it!