March 2, 2016 • www.theobserver.com • Vol CXXVIII, No. 40 Visit our
BUSINESS DIRECT RY on
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD
Town taxing hospital?
• EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
Crooks bank on skimmers By Karen Zautyk Observer Correspondent
By Ron Leir Observer Correspondent
NUTLEY –
BELLEVILLE – Could Clara Maass Medical Center turn into a cash cow for the Township of Belleville? It’s possible – now that a judicial decision that permits a partial taxation of Morristown Medical Center has opened the doors for radical revenue surgery at hospitals around the state by cash-hungry municipalities, as reported by The Star-Ledger last week. Martin Allen, an attorney with the Warren-based law firm of DiFrancesco Bateman, is currently representing Belleville and six other communities in different parts of the state in tax appeals challenging the tax-exempt status of hospitals in those areas. It was Martin who persuaded N.J. Tax Court Judge Vito Bianco last summer to lift the exempt status for most of the Morristown hospital, which is part of Atlantic Health System, leading to a settlement in which the hospital – in lieu of an appeal – agreed to pay $15.5 million in back taxes and penalties in addition to annual taxes on part of its property from now to 2025. In his decision, Bianco found that the Morris hospital see TAX page
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utley police, who have been warning residents about skimming devices being placed on ATMs throughout New Jersey, last week discovered one at a local 7-Eleven. On Sunday, Feb. 21, the NPD responded to the store on Passaic Ave. and recovered a skimmer attached to its ATM, Det. Sgt. Anthony Montanari reported. Where there’s one in a town, there might be more, so in response the police having been handing out flyers at all local ATM locations in Nutley advising the business proprietors about the devices and urging them to regularly check their machines. They are also advising ATM users to be vigilant. The skimmer, Montanari explained, is a sophisticated electronic device that is placed over the existing machine card slot. When a user swipes a card, the skimmer “reads” the account information, allowing a thief to subsequently access that account and withdraw funds. Blocking the keypad from view when you type in your access code, as is often advised, does not Photo courtesy NPD
see ATM page
Det. Sgt. Anthony Montanari with skimmer components.
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Nutley Irish pick Clyne to lead parade NUTLEY – By Kevin Canessa Jr. Observer Correspondent They’ll be marching along in the big parade this Saturday afternoon starting at 1 p.m., and when they do, several dignitaries will be among the marchers. This year, the Nutley Irish
American Association has named Mary Ellen Clyne, president and chief executive officer of Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, as the parade’s grand marshal. Her cohort and deputy grand marshal will be John Kruse, a Jersey City firefighter and Nutley resident who has deep
ties to the community. Clyne is the only woman to lead a hospital anywhere in Essex County. As president and CEO of Clara Maass Medical Center, she leads a facility of more than 2,200 employees and oversees revenue in excess of $260 million annually. Her vast educational back-
ground — she has a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in nursing, all from Seton Hall University in South Orange — have led her to what she calls a “solid understanding of clinical excellence, as well as culturally competent, compassee PARADE page
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