THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Will Our City Mayor and Council Take Our Last Cent?
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Editor's Note: People need to speak up. Our Gloucester City Mayor and Council keep taking your money, and no one says anything. Yet those living on a fixed income in Gloucester City have to decide daily whether to pay their taxes or buy food and renew their prescriptions. And those in power locally keep taking from the poor. People coming into this country illegally get more benefits than our senior citizens who have worked and lived here all their lives. It is so wrong!
graphic source Getty Images
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (March 21, 2023)--Listing in the agenda for the Gloucester City Mayor and Council meeting held on Monday, March 20, 2023, was more than one tax increase (taxes being the actual term for fees, surcharges, fines, and more.)
Two other increases are planned, one for sewerage and one for water. Everyone pays for water and sewer, regardless of when or where the residence was built. Row homes on the west side of town, many of which are now apartments, pay per apartment, usually included in the rent. As with the cost of lead paint swiping, these increases will likely lead to higher rents.
The percentage of increase in your local sewer bill depends on your building. Homeowners pay less than a car wash. The car wash produces a different amount from hotels (who pay $90 per room at the moment.) Your price is determined by perceived usage. The percentage of the increase differs by category, but they go from a low of 14.7% to a high of 15.3%. What has our federal government said about inflation being low and transitory? I doubt we'll see these price increases reduced after the "transition" is over.
The water bill will increase also, but by a slightly higher amount. Water bills will rise in the third quarter of 2023. The low is 14.6%, and the high is 15.9%. Again, this increase is much higher than the inflation rate, no matter how inflation is calculated.
One has to wonder what, if anything, these increases have to do with the proposed 364 new apartments in the planning.
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CNBNews Editor's Note: BELOW ARE THE NEW WATER RATES AFFECTED ON APRIL 1, 2023. This ordinance, first introduced in February, mentions implementing a new Federal and State mandated regulation for combined sewer over and stormwater systems. Gloucester City and Camden City have previously been cited for allowing excess sewerage to flow into the Delaware River.
We suggest reading the complete ordinance, which can be found HERE.