BOE Taxes are Actually Going Up and Mr. Quatrone’s Merit Bonus is the BOE’s Number One Priority.

The Local School Tax Rate listed on your current property tax bill is 2.015.  The Estimated 14-15 Total School Tax Rate on the BOE website is 2.0192.

When you peel away all the “revisions” done to this current year’s budget and move beyond the rhetoric  of the politicians running this town, you will see that the budget introduced for the 2014-15 school year is actually higher than the “original” 2013-2014 one adopted one year ago.  So is the tax levy.

A Record Article from one year ago stated that the Lodi BOE adopted a 57.1 million dollar budget with a 38.8 million dollar local tax levy.  The BOE minutes from March 18, 2014 show that the Lodi BOE submitted a budget to the County showing a $57,225,592 total base budget with a $38,878,553 local tax levy.  

If anyone read the public notice submitted by the Lodi BOE to the Record on April 4th, you would probably think that your taxes would be going down next year.  If you heard Tony Luna’s speech at the last council meeting, you would think that the Lodi politicians had their greatest achievement yet.

When you look at the facts, your taxes will likely be higher one year from now than they are today.  And that is nothing to celebrate. 

This is where the Lodi politicians have taken you:

And another month’s  minutes show the Lodi BOE still working on Mr. Quatrone's  $25,108 merit bonus (for doing the most basic responsibilities of any superintendent).

Here are the minutes from the March 18, 2014 BOE meeting (Lodi is the only district that removes them within one month):  

http://www.scribd.com/doc/220374296/BOE-Minutes-March-18-2014

Eustace’s Chief of Staff Is Just like Coniglio’s

Most residents of Lodi do not know who Tim Eustace is.  He is an Assemblyman representing Lodi.  His Chief of Staff is Christopher Hillman.

The taxpayers of New Jersey pay Chris Hillman’s salary.  This was his salary in 2012.  

I find it very inappropriate that Chris Hillman was serving as Eustace’s “Campaign Treasurer” while being paid by the taxpayers of NJ to run Eustace’s legislative office.  His reports show that most campaign contributions came from firms currently doing business with the State, labor unions, and special interest groups.  He takes their money and then works on THEIR legislation.  The State contracts that these campaign contributors received speaks for itself.  The legislation that Eustace and Hillman promote speaks for itself.  The District 38 legislative office was sold to the highest bidder(s).

I also find it very unethical that Chris Hillman was using campaign funds to pay himself $1,560.00 for Verizon Wireless bills and his boss for food.  

Coniglio’s Chief of Staff, Marc Schrieks, once stated the following: “there is a complete split between Senator Coniglio’s personal, private business life and his legislative life…”  That was proven to be a lie.  

http://lodioverhaul.blogspot.com/2013/12/is-this-what-public-service-looks-like.html

There likely is no split between Hillman’s “legislative life”, “campaign treasurer life”, and personal life either.  

“District Coordinator State Senator’s Office May 2006- January 2008”

Eustace's Chief of Staff probably worked in Coniglio's office with Marc Schrieks. If you look at Chris Hillman's Linkedin page, it’s odd that he left off the Senator's name that he worked for. Coniglio was our State Senator at that time.

Coniglio was charged in February 2008.