The BERKELEY Times Vol. 28 - No. 2
In This Week’s Edition
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MICROMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Relay For Life Hits Goals, But Might Be Near Finish Line
BREAKING NEWS @
jerseyshoreonline.com
Government Pages 8
─Photo courtesy Roxanne Stephens Teams walked together to give each other support
Community News
By Chris Lundy BERKELEY – Although the coronavirus and poor weather kept the latest Berkeley-Lacey Relay for Life very small, it far exceeded its fundraising goals. However, t he re a re c once r n s about whether the annual event will come
Pages 7-11
Dr. Izzy’s Sound News Page 14
Inside The Law Page 19
back next year. Eve nt L e a d Roxan ne Stephens said the weather forecast scared a lot of people off. The sky was gloomy, and at one point there was even thunder. Initially, they set a f und raising goal of (Relay - See Page 6)
OFFICIALS TRY TO STOP POP-UP PARTIES By Chris Lundy J ER SEY SHOR E – Local and regional gover n ments are t r ying to minimize the damage caused by pop-up parties. Pop-up parties are a relatively recent phenomenon. They are advertised on social media. People usual-
ly pay to get in, and t here is somet i mes profe ssion al e nt e rtainment, like a DJ. The local authorities aren’t made aware of the event unless a resident finds out about it beforehand. Sometimes, these take place in public areas like boardwalks
or pa rk s. More often, they are in rental homes. In these cases, entire residential neig hb or ho o d s b e come drowned in traffic. Partygoers spill out of the home and wander drunk or high to other properties. Several state lawmakers are looking
for solutions. “The Jersey Shore h a s a lway s b e e n a welcoming place for v i sit o r s , bu t m a ny small towns are not equipped to handle thousands of teenagers who suddenly pour off trains and f lood their streets, boardwalks, and commer-
cial districts for popup parties organized o n s o c i a l m e d i a ,” said Senator Robert Singer (R-30 th). “We saw what happened in Long Branch a few weeks ago when 5,0 0 0 teens a nd young adults suddenly showed up in Pier (Pop-Up - See Page 5)
June 25, 2022
New Bill Would Help Disabled Vets By Chris Lundy BERKELEY - If a veteran is 100% disa ble d , t hey do not have to pay property taxes by state law. But what about those who are disabled, but not 100% disabled? Senate bill 522 (accompanied by Assembly bill 888) would allow veterans who are at least 30% disabled to benefit from this policy. T hei r prop erty taxes would go down by 30% in this example. Berkeley resident Sam Cammarato spoke to the governing body at a recent Tow n s h i p C o u n c i l meeting about the bill t hat would prov ide proportional disabled tax relief. He was hoping that they would support the bill, which they did. Councilman James By r ne s , a vet e r a n , said that even if the vet is 100% disabled, and they dip into their IR A, that could put them over the threshold. They’ll face the f ull bu rden of t a xe s a n d h ave t o go through the Veterans Administration again. Accord i ng to t he s t at e me nt ex pl a i n ing the bill, it grants a p r o p e r t y t a x exemption to honorably discharged veterans having a service-connected disability in propor t ion to t hei r disability percentage rat i ng. A 50% d is-
abled veteran would pay 50% less property t axes, for example. The exemption is only granted to those with a disability percentage rating of at least 30 percent, and the exemption is capped at $10,000. If a veteran has a 100 percent disability percentage rating, nothing would change for them. They would still be allowed a 100 percent property tax exe m pt ion w it hout a cap. In addition, the bill grants those honorably discharged veterans having less than a 10 0 p e r c e nt s e rvice-connected disability, but who are unemployable, a 100 percent property tax exemption. The bill also eliminates all references to medical conditions so that any service-connected disability, as d e t e r m i n e d by t h e Un it e d St a t e s D e partment of Veterans’ Affairs, will make a veteran eligible for the property tax exemption. Reimburse Towns It’s state law that disabled veterans don’t pay proper t y taxes. However, t hat put s towns in a predicament. The towns have fewer proper ties to tax, which means the burden is then shifted to the rest of the (Vets - See Page 6)
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