The
MANCHESTER Times
Vol. 26 - No. 21
In This Week’s Edition
MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
JERSEYSHOREONLINE.COM
Caregiver Volunteers Aid Seniors With Grocery Shopping
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Dear Pharmacist Page 19
Dear Joel Page 22
Inside The Law Page 23
─Photo courtesy Caregiver Volunteers Caregiver Volunteers aid seniors throughout Ocean and Monmouth counties and are seeking additional volunteers to aid them with their mission. By Bob Vosseller MANCHESTER – Olivia Kennedy brings Peggy Cobb more than just g rocer ies. She brings her happiness. Li ke ma ny people, Cobb could use some cheering up during this pandemic. Peggy Cobb, 81, of Toms River relies on
Olivia Kennedy, 26, of Manchester for her grocery shopping. “Olivia doesn’t understand the impact she has made in my life. I can count on her, she doesn’t rush out, she talks with me. I can only describe her as a Godsend.” Cobb said. Kennedy is one of the
hundreds of volunteers in Ocean County who has decided to provide this vital service to a senior in her area. “Originally, I heard of Caregivers through my church, Redeemer Lutheran Church of Manchester. From my understanding, Caregivers likes to connect
elders with volunteer members from their church if at all possible,” Kennedy said. She added that she wanted to work with Caregivers of Central Jersey “because I see the need of my town and wanted to help. Ocean County has a (Seniors - See Page 4)
Homestead, Senior Freeze To Be Funded Again
By Chris Lundy TRENTON – In his revised budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy restored funding for two key programs that help seniors and homeowners make ends meet. The Senior Freeze program locks in senior property owners at a fixed amount. For
example, let’s say the senior has to pay $1,000 in taxes. The program locks in the taxes at that rate. Then, when their taxes go up to $1,050, the senior pays $1,050 and then the state reimburses the senior that $50. The Homestead Rebate Benefit program also provides property
tax relief to eligible homeowners. For most homeowners, the benefit is distributed to their municipality in the form of a credit, which reduces their property taxes. However, the state’s proposed supplemental budget had a significant reduction in both of these programs.
The reason that the state gave for cutting these two programs was that the state lost money due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The gover nor had made this announcement on Aug. 25. At the Aug. 24 Berkeley Tow n s h i p C o u n c i l meeting, the governing body repeated their
request to the governor to reinstate the Homestead Rebate and Senior Freeze funding. They had made their first request during the summer. “We have to continue to keep pressure on the state,” Mayor Carmen Amato said. The township’s reso(Freeze - See Page 10)
September 5, 2020
Taxes Increase, Mail-In Voting Questioned
By Bob Vosseller LAKEHURST – The average homeowner will be paying about $40 more this year on the municipal portion of their tax bill. Officials held a public hearing on their municipal budget during a recent Borough Council meeting where the increase was noted. The budget presentation was made by Chief Financial Officer William Antonides who said, “the adopted budget has a tax rate of $1.80.5 which was an increase from last year. The increase from last year is .025 cents giving an average increase of $40 a year. The average assessment for a home in Lakehurst is $159,348.” One reason for the increase was an emergency roof repair project that was $25,000. He also noted some good news in that the court system would see a savings of $15,000 this year and that would increase to $17,000 in the years ahead. Antonides explained the savings the borough would receive through the court system was due to Lakehurst’s shared service agreement for court services due to not paying pensions, health benefits, and social security for a court administrator. The wording of a resolution was questioned during the meeting. The resolution on the night’s agenda concerned the “right of in-person machine voting for the Nov. 3 election” which Councilwoman Patricia Hodges said was “worded ambiguously.” Council President Steven Oglesby also opposed the resolution for the same reasons. The primarily main line system slated for this fall’s general election was outlined by Gov. Phil Murphy in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic which calls for primarily mail-in voting with some in-person polling centers and drop off points for ballots. “The mail-in option has always been there, that is true, but this is a global pandemic. This is obviously serious and the mail-in voting is something that has to be utilized for more people than ever. Instead of expressing that numerous voters have expressed concerns of voter fraud, well where did that information come from? There are concerns but I feel this is casting suspicion on the whole process,” (Taxes - See Page 11)
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