Vinny Martin Voted to Raise Your Municipal Taxes 15.64% As He Continues to Receive a Very Special Tax Break Reserved for Lodi Politicians…

Tax records show that Vinny Martin purchased his home in 2006 for $500,000 yet George Reggo gave him a very special low assessment of $321,000. The assessment never changed over the years after many improvements were done to the property.

Zillow currently estimates the value at $674,000:

When Lodi’s Revaluation numbers come out, Vinny Martin’s taxes should increase at a higher amount than other Lodi homeowners.  If not, the process was corrupted like last time when family and friends of Lodi politicians had significant tax reductions without tax appeals being filed.

Instead of Vinny Martin explaining his extremely low assessment, he had an attorney send me a letter a few years ago demanding the information come down.

Vinny Martin should not be voting for 15.64% municipal taxes and lying about it when he has been saving thousands of dollars each year at your expense. 

Post Date: October 12, 2025

A Revaluation Should Be a Public Discussion. Why Was the Subject Hidden in Closed Session Minutes of the Lodi Mayor and Council? (Post Date: January 16, 2023)

 

Revaluations are discussed at public meetings throughout Bergen County.  They appear on Mayor’s pages.  They appear in news articles.

 

The Lodi Mayor and Council apparently received an Order for Revaluation at least a year ago, yet it was never disclosed to the public.  Lodi’s last revaluation was in 2004.  Around 2007 and many years to follow, there was an economic downturn and declining home values.  Many tax appeals were being filed.  Other Bergen County towns conducted reassessments (not Ordered Revaluations) to address the downturn and create a level of fairness.  Lodi chose not to conduct any of its own reassessments during that time period.  Instead, Tony Luna, George, Reggo, and others were lowering the taxes for all of their family and friends without formal tax appeals being filed.  They did favors for some and passed the cost on to others.

 

The following OPRA request was just submitted because the Lodi mayor and council cannot continue to hide public information in closed session, closed door meetings:

 

1) A copy of the Revaluation Order received by Lodi and discussed in the 2022 closed session meetings

 

3)  A copy of any correspondence between the Borough of Lodi and Bergen County or the State of New Jersey regarding the Revaluation Order (which would include requests for delays)

"Open Response to the Threatening Letter I Just Received from Lodi Deputy Mayor Vincent Martin and His Attorney Thomas Brogan"…

Response:

1.  I just blacked out Vinny Martin’s street address on the post showing how his big house with a lot of improvements (that he purchased for $500,000 in 2006) is only assessed at $321,300.  My question for Thomas Brogan:  what do you have to say about Vinny Martin asking people to sign his petition to run for Lodi council with his street address listed?  Please explain.

2.  Please send me specific blog posts dating back to 2016 that you deem “false statements” or “misrepresentations”.  If you can explain with factual basis why they are false, I will gladly remove them.

3.  Vinny Martin is listed as an owner of a business that was busted twice within a year for cocaine and prostitution.  Public notices and his own statements on northjersey.com state that he is an owner.  If he is not an owner and the public notices and his own statements are untrue, please notify me in writing with factual basis and I will gladly remove all posts pertaining to that subject.

4.  You state: “As you are fully aware, Mr. Martin is an upstanding citizen of the Borough of Lodi…’

I completely disagree.  And that statement shows just a little too much pride.

5.  Vinny Martin has corrupted the Lodi police department with his involvement in making Donald Scorzetti Chief (voting with conflicts), funding Donald Scorzetti’s political campaigns, allowing Donald Scorzetti to take Borough Vehicles to his shore house while telling insurance providers and the Department of Community Affairs that Borough vehicles are prohibited for personal use, etc.  Vinny Martin has his daughter working under Donald Scorzetti and working with all of Donald Scorzetti’s daughters in Police Records while Vinny Martin is voting on 4% raises for Donald Scorzetti.

Furthermore, what Vinny Martin and his administration did to Captain Grillo is disgusting.  That is corruption of the police department.

6.  Dirty Politician- Vinny Martin is nasty and he is a bully.  He has been like that his whole life.  Before I ever posted anything about him, he sent me nasty emails, insulted me at Board of Education meeting with the most petty, stupid things, and made many libelous statements against me.  Vinny Martin is not a victim. 

7.  The ethics complaint against me by Debra Kwapniewski- The NJEA spent over $100,000 filing frivolous complaints against me.  I successfully defended myself “pro se” for three years.  I was the only board member not to use a taxpayer funded attorney to defend myself.  I saved the Lodi taxpayers at least $15,000 by refusing to use a taxpayer funded attorney in which I was entitled.  The day of the administrative hearing with Elissa Mizzone Testa in Newark, there was snow on the ground, I was busy at work and decided at the last minute that I had better things to do than drive to Newark to talk about a blog post: “If you can read, thank a teacher.  If you can’t, thank a teachers union.”  I already successfully defended myself against the same complaint over and over again.  I told Elissa Mizzone Testa to refer to the evidence I already submitted.  She said that she would not read anything that I submitted and then she had the NJEA Attorney, Gail Oxfeld, write her decision for her.

Do I regret not going to the hearing in Newark?  Absolutely not.  The decision against me is being used at Board training sessions throughout New Jersey because it is so absurd and laughable.  Board members as far as Ocean County have reached out to me after their attorneys discussed my decision with them to tell me that everyone was laughing at my posts and that they enjoyed reading my blog.

Elissa Mizzone Testa humiliated herself with her decision.  It was blatantly dishonest.  District payroll and other public records show that she is dishonest. Three years later, she has to be more embarrassed by the decision than me.  You and Vinny Martin can talk about this decision all you like.  It doesn’t bother me. Compare and contrast this decision with the ethics decisions against the Lodi politicians associated with Vinny Martin (Dominic Miller, Tony Luna, George Reggo, etc.)  Compare blog posts about the NJEA with the misappropriation of public funds.  Compare blog posts about the NJEA with the illegal awarding of contracts to family members.  Compare blog posts about the NJEA with using your public position to lower your own property taxes.

In 2018, Tony Luna, Charles Cuccia, and George Reggo Were All Found Guilty of Ethics Violations and Fined by the State. Only George Reggo's Decision and Fine Was Covered by Katie Sobko? Why? Can Anyone Explain?

Tony Luna Fined $1000

Charles Cuccia Fined $1200

George Reggo Fined $1000

Another Reggo Inequity: Vinny Martin's Lodi home is clearly under assessed by a lot. (Post Date: April 19, 2019)

Councilman Vincent Martin’s house/property is assessed at only $321,300.  This is a low assessment for that property by any measurable indicator.

The councilman paid $500,00 for the house in 2006.  As George Reggo was updating the tax card in 2006, it didn't cross his mind that the assessment should be some what in line with the market value?  Market values are dictated by sale prices.

Zillow currently lists an estimated value for the property at $401,653. 

Reggo’s assessment is $178,700 (36%) less than the purchase price.  Reggo’s assessment is $80,353 (20%) less than zillow’s estimate.

Lodi’s tax rate in 2018 was 3.246.  The property taxes for the councilman are listed at $10,429.40.

If the property was assessed at the actual purchase price of $500,000, the taxes would be $16,230.  The councilman is paying $5,800.60 less than that.

If the property was assessed at zillow’s estimate of $401,653, the taxes would be $13,037.66.  The councilman is paying $2,608.26 less than that.

Too often in Lodi, politicians (family & friends) are assessed differently than their neighbors.  And that is why the Lodi PRIDE loves George Reggo.

https://lodioverhaul.blogspot.com/2019/01/george-reggo-found-guilty-of-ethics.html

Like Tony Luna and Charles Cuccia, Lodi's Former Tax Assessor George Reggo Was Also Fined for Ethics Violations in 2018. I Posted About the Specific Violation at the Time it Was Occuring.

 

Link to some more of the Reggo public records that I saw for the first time today:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16tMfOHpA7geFgX2g72LxSB9U5fu4xurZ/view?usp=sharing

 

Lauren Eastwood of Englewood Cliffs should be commended for her work on this issue. Her work shed light on one of George Reggo’s many abuses.

 

I posted about this specific violation committed by George Reggo years before he was fined.  I had informed the Lodi mayor and council about George Reggo’s unethical actions which spanned many municipalities.  They did nothing because George Reggo was lowering the taxes for their family and friends without tax appeals being filed.

The NJEA spent over $100,000 trying to discredit this blog.  History shows this blog has been very credible in exposing government corruption, waste, and abuse.

 

 

George Reggo was used to get the Paramus Mayor a special tax reduction in Woodcliff Lake...

Link to article: 

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/woodcliff-lake/2019/08/21/woodcliff-lake-nj-adopts-new-policy-after-tax-assessment-controversy/2066118001


From the article:

"Even though the appraisal company does the work to determine the assessment, a tax assessor needed to sign off on it. Schettino said the appraisal company consulted with George Reggo, a tax assessor who works for several municipalities, for this purpose.

“It’s common when this happens that the assessors from the other municipalities as a courtesy perform the service just as our assessor does the same for those municipalities,” Schettino said.  

Reggo was fined by a state agency earlier this year for reducing the assessed value of property he owned in Englewood Cliffs."

George Reggo quietly retired from Lodi…

Past posts on George Reggo:

https://lodioverhaul.blogspot.com/search?q=george+reggo&max-results=20&by-date=true

Lodi Tax Assessor George Reggo in another Record article about Englewood Cliffs…

Link to article on northjersey.com:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/englewood-cliffs/2019/06/19/englewood-cliffs-nj-pay-nearly-3-million-tax-appeal-settlement/1495518001/

From the article:

“Kranjac opposes any tax appeal settlement where the "value of the property seems to have been made artificially low" and one that does not provide "requested representations and warranties" that the "underlying sale was a bona fide arms-length transaction,” reads a statement he released on Tuesday.”