I am sharing this as part of a new Civic Parent’s series, Take Your Seat at the Table: A Taxpayer’s Guide to Demystifying Your Municipal Budget. . This post is not an endorsement of any political candidate(s). This past week I co-moderated a mayoral forum with the West Side Community Alliance (WSCA). I co-moderated with...Continue reading
Last night reminded me that the best talks aren’t always the most polished — they’re the most personal. I had about ten minutes to prepare before stepping up to the microphone in Saint Peter’s University’s Sky Room, speaking to a room of two distinct audiences: CPAs and college students. It was an event I’d helped organize for months with Carl Specht, president...Continue reading
This post is part of a Civic Parent’s series, Take Your Seat at the Table: A Taxpayer’s Guide to Demystifying Your Municipal Budget. This series is a plain-language walk through New Jersey’s Municipal User Friendly Budget (UFB). Page 1 of the User Friendly Budget aims to put the Municipality in context of your entire tax bill....Continue reading
This post is part of a Civic Parent’s series, Take Your Seat at the Table: A Taxpayer’s Guide to Decoding Your City Budget. This series is a plain-language walk through New Jersey’s Municipal User Friendly Budget (UFB). I started sketching this series in late August, somewhere between the Route 440 Staples and the Dollar Store on...Continue reading
Welcome to Civic Parent’s newest series: Take Your Seat at the Table: A Taxpayer’s Guide to Demystifying Your Municipal Budget. This is a plain-language walk through New Jersey’s Municipal User Friendly Budget (UFB) , a document every town must publish, in Fall 2025 as a mayoral race unfolds in Jersey City (where I live). I’ve...Continue reading