Brigid D'Souza

Property Tax Appeal Math: Are You Over-Assessed? A Tax Math Explainer

February 12, 2021February 17, 2021Brigid D'SouzaProperty Revaluation, Property Taxes

This post is meant to help a taxpayer get a jump-start on determining: is my property over-assessed? This post is not intended to cover all nuance that may arise for a particular taxpayer. Nuance abounds, which is why I’ve provided links to the state rules and public data. If you are a homeowner than...

JCPS: How does the schools budget process work?

February 5, 2021February 5, 2021Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public budgets, Public Schools

Update, Feb 5, 2021: I’m re-upping this post from 2020 to share with anyone who’s interested in the upcoming schools budgeting process in 2021. The annual public schools budgeting process is fairly regimented due in part to milestone dates that live in state law. A timeline of key dates from last year’s budgeting process...

Jersey City Schools Parent Advocacy Update: Connect with Jersey City Together

January 29, 2021January 30, 2021Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis

COVID19 remote learning is extremely challenging. It's important to note that some challenges are exacerbated by chronic underfunding of Jersey City Public Schools. For instance, our schools lack: social workers crisis intervention teachers psychologists math & literacy coaches Teachers, paras, and remaining staff are left to absorb much of this work in addition to...

NJ Abatements: We need better abatement disclosures in NJ to show impact on public schools

December 11, 2020December 16, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public budgets, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

This is post included in both my abatement series and a series about the User Friendly Budget in NJ. We need better disclosures in NJ to understand the impact of tax abatements on the local fiscal landscape, particularly as it relates to public schools. The user friendly budget – mandated by the state starting...

The “User Friendly Budget”, part 5 – Abatements (with a Jersey City Focus)

December 3, 2020December 3, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic budgets, Tax Abatements

Note: the visualizations below are best viewed on a computer or tablet (vs a phone). Jersey City recently announced it was terminating an abatement on four buildings within the Beacon complex. The reason: “ownership defaulted on an obligation to retain and present employee records, city officials announced.” This is a good reminder that abatements...

NJ Property Revaluation Dashboard, Part 1

December 2, 2020February 11, 2021Brigid D'SouzaProperty Revaluation

This part of a CivicParent NJ Revaluation series. Please see PropertyRevaluation.org for additional posts and analysis. Tax fairness, at its core, depends on assessed values equaling market values. When these values grow disconnected – which can happen when real estate market values fluctuate away from static assessed values on record in the tax office...

CivicParent NJ Property Tax Viewer – 2019 Levies

November 2, 2020November 2, 2020Brigid D'SouzaProperty Taxes

Last month (October 2020) the state published the 2019 property tax tables. This is a “look back” at the local property tax landscape in New Jersey. It’s a wonderful treasure trove of public data from municipal, county, and local public school governments including: Tax base data Tax levy data Tax rate data Property appeals...

Open Letter/Comments to Mayor Fulop & City Council: What is being done to pressure-test the need for another citywide revaluation?

October 7, 2020November 8, 2020Brigid D'SouzaProperty Revaluation

Sharing an open letter and thoughts that I read into the record at the City Council meeting on Oct 7, 2020. I’m publishing it on CivicParent as part of a new area of content related to Jersey City’s increasingly outdated assessed values and the growing need for another revaluation. The last revaluation was in...

Thoughts on Jersey City’s 2020 Board of Education (BOE) Election

September 28, 2020September 28, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis

I’ve been getting asked about my thoughts re: the Board of Education election. I wanted to offer two insights that matter to me from a funding and advocacy perspective. Take it or leave it; every vote is sacrosanct and reflects myriad personal considerations. These are two factors that matter most to me and I'm...

Safely Reopening Our Schools in NJ: Understanding the Constraints of Fragmentation in the Garden State

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic Schools

I have been trying to learn about the practical implications of reopening our schools in the fall. The stakes are profoundly important and the landscape is fraught with complexity and uncertainty, making this both a bumpy but extremely important learning curve. Much of what I've learned has been from Jersey City Together: from and...

The “User Friendly Budget”, Part 4b: Public Health & Public Safety (with Focus on Police) Spending in the Garden State

July 1, 2020July 3, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic budgets

This is a post in a series about NJ's User Friendly Budget. My intent is to share basic analysis and insights with community as a way to encourage taxpayers to engage with this document and learn more about local public finance. Read the other posts in this series here including how to access your town's UFB and...

The “User Friendly Budget”, Part 4a: View Your Town’s Structural Spending with the “UFB-3 Appropriations Summary” Data

June 23, 2020June 29, 2020Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations, Public budgets

The “User Friendly Budget”, Part 3: the “Cover Page”, an Inventory of NJ’s 565 Municipalities, & An Overview of How UFB Data was Compiled

June 22, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations, Public budgets

This is a post in a series about NJ’s User Friendly Budget. My intent is to share basic analysis and insights with community as a way to encourage taxpayers to engage with this document and learn more about local public finance. Read the other posts in this series here including how to access your town’s...

Open Letter re: Police Reform to the Mayor, City Council, Chief of Police and Public Safety Director

June 16, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy

A Call to Action in Jersey City: Tell Mayor Fulop, the City Council, Chief Kelly, and Director Shea: We need reform NOW! The Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement (JCACM) has drafted this open letter with three concrete, initial demands for police reform in Jersey City. They are calling on all residents who are interested...

The “User Friendly Budget”, Part 2: What’s in the User Friendly Budget?

June 15, 2020June 29, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic budgets

This is part of a series about the User Friendly Budget. This is a relatively short post to lay out what’s in the User Friendly Budget. I also want to share some of how I think this file can be used by taxpayers and advocates. As I explained in the first post in this...

The “User Friendly Budget”, Part 1: Intro to the Series & How to Access the UFB

June 15, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations, Public budgets

Five years ago, New Jersey began mandating that every municipality* in New Jersey file a “User Friendly Budget (UFB)” as part of the annual budgeting process. This file is “user friendly” for a few reasons: The data is aggregated in unique ways that help us see the structural nature of how the city both...

Jersey City School Tax Expense Calculator for 2020/21 School Funding Year

May 18, 2020September 29, 2020Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Property Taxes

I am part of the education team with Jersey City Together and in May 2020 we created a school tax expense calculator to help Jersey City residents understand the personal investment for a $50 million increase to the school levy. Our aim was to the put the power of understand property taxes into taxpayers’...

Jersey City BOE Passes Mr. Walker’s Full Budget: $52.7M

May 12, 2020July 29, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis

Jersey City’s Board of Education took a huge step forward, following Superintendent Walker’s courageous lead to invest in Jersey City Public Schools. I didn’t write up a post specific to this but am sharing the NJ.com article below that explain the vote. Also providing a visual – shared from Jersey City Together – that...

It’s Now or Never to Support the 2020/21 Schools Budget for Our Kids.

May 9, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis

It's Saturday May 9th and we are within a week of the 2020/21 schools budget being passed for next year. Parents are on the 98th yard line of a fight to push Superintendent Walker's full budget across the goal line. This post is aimed to bring parents and school advocates up to speed, give...

Approve the 2020/21 #JerseyCity Schools Budget: Invest in Jersey City’s Kids

May 4, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

PS #5 PTA Campaign: Tell the Board of Education: Approve the 2020/21 Schools Budget - Invest in Jersey City's Kids The PTA Advocacy Team at Dr. Michael Conti PS #5 School created this "Call to Action" email campaign ahead of the final vote for the 2020/21 schools budget season that we can share with...

Jersey City Public Schools Enrollment Data Shows Diversity of District, Imperative to Progressively Fund

May 2, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic Schools

Here is what got cut JUST LAST YEAR (2019/20 schools budget): 160 teachers - CUT 25 teachers’ aides & assistants - CUT 20 janitorial, security, and food service staff - CUT 15 administrators & supervisors - CUT All reading recovery teachers - CUT 22 out of 25 literacy coaches - CUT 19 out of...

Thoughts on Technology and Mental Health in “Remote” Paradigm of Learning.

April 9, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic Schools

I normally use this blog to share data and analysis about taxes and public funding, but this is a more personal post. We are nearly a month into isolating at home and I wanted to share some reflections on education in this current moment. I have 2 kids in Jersey City Public Schools and I...

What Investing in Jersey City Public Schools Looks Like for 2020/21

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools

On Wednesday March 18th, Superintendent Walker proposed a budget that significantly increases local investment in our public schools. The budget includes a $64 million school levy increase, which represents a 47% increase over last year’s levy. Mayor Fulop “blasted” the increase, citing the harm to taxpayers, stating that “They’re going to destroy the taxpayers....

Jersey City Public Schools 2020/21 Budget Process: Working Timeline & FAQs

February 24, 2020February 5, 2021Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools

As we enter the budget season for Jersey City Public Schools, I wanted to share some upcoming process info – key dates & timeframes in case it’s helpful for parents and advocates. It’s never too late to get involved. BOE Budget Process – Working Timeline This timeline was updated after the budget process concluded. ...

Value & Empower Our Public Schools By Locally Funding Them in the 2020 Schools Budget

February 14, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Helpful Tips: Thank you to the PTA of Dr. Michael Conti PS #5 School for this information & advocacy. We are asking all concerned parents, residents, and taxpayers who care about our public schools to send an email to the Board of Education and Superintendent Walker to demand that Jersey City #FundOurSchools. The Superintendent...

Jersey City’s Proposed 2020 Budget (Tableau #DataViz)

February 13, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Data Visualizations, Property Taxes, Public budgets

In February 2020 the City Council introduced its 2020 budget (the city has typically approved the annual budget only in the summer / Quarter 3 timeframe — I don’t know the reason for the lag, only that the lag exists). Upon release of the budget, I converted the PDF into Excel and then uploaded...

Demystifying the City Budget (A Retro-Look at the 2019 Budget)

February 1, 2020June 7, 2020Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations

To help taxpayers access the annual city budget, I've visualized it the 2019/20 proposed budget in Tableau, a data visualization software. Tableau puts the power of analysis in the user's hands; my hope is that YOU will dig into this budget data and feel empowered to engage, or perhaps more fully engage, the annual...

Why the School Tax Levy is Key to Funding JCPS (and why seeking abatement funds is not a concrete solution).

January 30, 2020January 30, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

I've heard "can't we go after the abatement money to fund our schools? Rather than increase the school tax levy?" The answer is: no, at least not directly. I wrote about the intersection of abatements & school funding back in 2015; this current moment has been foreseeable for years, unfortunately our elected are only...

Infographic: Jersey City: the Municipality’s Role in School Underfunding

January 18, 2020October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis

I've created this infographic as part of the 4th post of my 4-part series about the School Tax Rate in Jersey City. The municipality's growth is a factor in the underfunding of our public schools. There is a domino effect at work; city growth is ahead in the line of dominos, and our kids...

A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 3: A Case for Increasing the School Tax Levy

November 11, 2019November 12, 2019Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

This is the third in a 4-part series about 2018 school tax rates, with a focus on Jersey City. This series will use public data that I have visualized in Tableau here. To read the first post in the series, click here and to read the second post, click here. Talking about taxes going up...

Infographic: Jersey City Tax Base, Tax Levies, and Tax Rates-Demystified

October 25, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaPublic Schools

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A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate. Part 2: Statewide Comparisons & the Role of the Tax Base

October 17, 2019October 18, 2019Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

This is the second in a 4-part series about 2018 school tax rates, with a focus on Jersey City. This series will use public data that I have visualized in Tableau here. To read the first post in the series, click here. “How does Jersey City’s school tax rate compare with the rest of...

A Closer Look at Jersey City’s School Tax Rate, Part 1: the Public Data

October 15, 2019October 17, 2019Brigid D'SouzaData Visualizations, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Property Taxes, Public Schools

This is the first in a 4-part series about 2018 school tax rates, with a focus on Jersey City. This series will use public data that I have visualized in Tableau here. I was asked recently, “how does Jersey City’s school tax rate compare with other towns and cities in NJ?” We can answer...

PS #5 PTA Fall 2019 Email Campaign: No more “efficiency cuts” – What’s the long-term plan to fund our schools?

October 12, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Why do the class sizes keep growing? Why did my child's "special" - art - get cut? Why aren't there any working fountains with potable water? Why did the BOE cut my math support teacher? Because: these are examples of "efficiency eliminations" - what the BOE needs to cut to balance its budget. "Efficiency...

Jersey City Public Schools Funding Crisis – A CivicParent Timeline

September 28, 2019October 15, 2019Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Public Schools

This is a timeline of stories published or shared on CivicParent as it relates to funding of Jersey City Public Schools: ...

PS #5 Email Campaign #6: JCPS is Not Fully Funded…City Must Help #FundOurSchools

August 3, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

The PTA Advocacy Team at Dr. Michael Conti PS #5 School created this email campaign to keep the pressure on school officials, City Council, and Mayor Fulop as they determine next year's budget in the lead-up to the Monday August 5th City Council meeting. I am sharing on CivicParent to help spread the word...

The Clock is Ticking…What’s the Plan to #FundOurSchools?

July 16, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Sharing...from the Dr. Michael Conti School PS #5 PTA Advocacy Team It's July and the Clock is Ticking...What's the Plan to #FundOurSchools? July 2019...School is less than 2 months away. Tell City Council: The Clock is Ticking...What's the Plan to #FundOurSchools? Jersey City's school funding crisis is NOT yet resolved. There...

Sharing from NJTV News: Questions over Jersey City teacher layoffs remain (July 4, 2019)

July 4, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

I spoke with reporter Briana Vannozzi in late June regarding our June 26th City Council action, when we delivered our #JCPSMailboxCampaign letters to council representatives and also stood behind students while they addressed Council. The NJTV news report is below and includes other perspectives including JCPS Teacher John Flora and BOE President Sudhan Thomas....

PS #5 Advocacy Campaign -Jersey City’s school funding crisis is NOT resolved. City Council — #FundOurSchools!!

June 24, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Sharing...from the Dr. Michael Conti School PS #5 PTA Advocacy Team Jersey City's school funding crisis is NOT resolved. City Council -- #FundOurSchools!! Keep the pressure on City Hall. Demand that Mayor Fulop & City Council: FUND OUR SCHOOLS!! Jersey City's school funding crisis is NOT yet resolved. There are still...

June 26th: Tell the Jersey City City Council to #FundOurSchools

June 7, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Jersey City Public Schools are $100 million underfunded and the stories we’ve heard about how this underfunding is impacting students are real. Join us as we press the City Council to put $16 million towards the schools budget. This will help prevent unnecessary layoffs, stop the sale of Central Office, and help the JC...

City Council Can Allocate Surplus Funds to the Public Schools.

June 3, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

The education team of Jersey City Together has been researching to understand, in concrete terms, the process by which City Council can allocate funds to JCPS. I’m a member of that team so wanted to share: 1) NJ law NJSA 40:48-17-1 allows the municipality to allocate surplus funds to the public schools. Sharing that...

Civic Questions for the Board of Education Upon Passing of their 2019/20 Budget

May 31, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

I wanted to share some civic questions that can be asked on the record or included in an email to the BOE. Why did five of Board of Education trustees approve a budget that included an incorrect tax base number? I wrote about this error in detail here, but to quickly recap: the Jersey...

Jersey Journal Op-Ed: No Way to Run a World Class School District

May 31, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

I am a team member with Jersey City Together and a leader on the JC Together education advocacy team. I co-wrote with this op-ed with Dr. Jyl Josephson and Rev. Dr. Alonzo Perry, Sr. about Jersey City’s school funding crisis. No Way to Run a World Class School District ...

PS #5 Advocacy Campaign: Not Good Enough – Better Leadership Needed.

May 30, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Tell Jersey City's elected: we need you to provide better leadership. Fund Our Schools. How you can help. Keep the pressure on the City and Board of Education. We elect members of our community to govern on our behalf. It is our civic responsibility to communicate our concerns & express our priorities. Please help...

PS #5 PTA School Funding Advocacy Action: Keep the pressure on the BOE & City Leadership: No Pink Slips!

May 16, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

Jersey City is not properly funding its public schools. Hundreds of JCPS employees have received layoff notices aka "pink slips" due to systemic underfunding. The time to act is NOW. How you can help. Contact your Board of Education & City representatives. We elect members of our community to govern on our behalf. It...

JC BOE Used Incorrect Tax Base Value in Its 2019/20 Budget: Explaining the Tax Math

May 15, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

The Jersey City Board of Education used an incorrect tax base value in its budget presentation. It then based its estimated per-homeowner school tax increase estimates on that error. This NJ.com report gives the initial report of the error: “The 2019-20 budget will increase the school tax levy by 10 percent to $136.5 million. The...

Accountability Checkpoint: Parent FAQs for May 13th BOE Meeting to Finalize the Budget

May 13, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis

I’ve been getting some questions in advance of the Board of Education meeting tonight, and thought I’d share via a post, so everyone has access. This is all public data, and we can endeavor to understand it in community. If you have a question, please email me at Brigid@CivicParent.org. When was the BOE given...

The Jersey City BOE’s “10% Tax Levy Hike” Isn’t Enough & Doesn’t Value Our Kids or JCPS

May 8, 2019August 16, 2019Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Property Taxes

Jersey City’s Board of Education is emphasizing a “10%” school tax levy increase as if that’s a big jump. Except 10% isn’t a big dollar-for-dollar jump, when you look at the entire picture. In actuality, 10% is way too small, given the fiscal hole we’re in as a district. A simple example can illustrate...

Jersey City: Approximately $40 Million of School Tax is Locked Up in Abatement Contracts

May 7, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Tax Abatements

This is part of a series about the 2019/20 proposed municipal and schools budgets in Jersey City. Jersey City’s proposed 2019/20 municipal budget shows that over $120 million in PILOT fees are expected to be collected in in the coming year. What is notable about PILOT fees is that they don’t contribute to the...

Tips for Public Comment at City Council Meetings

May 6, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy

I’ve been asked more than a few times: “Do you have any tips for going in front of the City Council for public comment?” So I figured I’d write up a post about it. There are actually two opportunities to speak at any City Council meeting: During 2nd reading ordinances. At the end of...