New Jersey continues to see record rates of foreclosed properties. To help address the resulting neighborhood blight, municipalities now have a new tool to address abandoned properties. Assembly Bill No. 347, which took effect on July 14, 2014, authorizes municipalities to impose penalties on creditors that fail to timely remedy
The New Jersey Tax Court recently considered whether the New Jersey Turnpike Authority should be considered an alter ego of the State for the purposes of N.J.S.A. 54:4-23.8, which provides an exemption for roll-back taxes if lands are acquired by, among others, a local government unit for “recreation and conservation
New Jersey municipalities should be aware of a key privacy decision issued by the U.S. Supreme Court late last month. The Court held that police officers must obtain a search warrant prior to reviewing a suspect’s cell phone, even if the search is incident to an arrest. In the digital
A New Jersey federal judge recently ruled that the borough of Paramus’s zoning board improperly denied Sprint Spectrum L.P. and T-Mobile USA Inc.’s application to build a wireless tower. U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty specifically held that the municipality could not deny the application for a monopole wireless tower based
The New York Red Bulls soccer team, owned by Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, recently lost their case before New Jersey Superior Court. The team’s stadium is located in Harrison, New Jersey. The appeals court recently upheld the lower-court’s decision that the Red Bulls owe at least $2.8 million in 2010
Aristotle said that man is a political animal. Benjamin Barber, on the other hand, says man is an urban animal. With over 78% of the western world living in cities, Barber suggests that since there are scores of international, inter-city, and cross-border city based institutions that are working together to
On May 5, 2014, the Supreme Court upheld Christian prayers at the beginning of local town meetings in the case Town of Greece v. Galloway. The Court declared the prayer in line with long-standing, national traditions, even though the nation has grown more religiously diverse. The Court was narrowly divided
Former Mayor John Bencivengo’s conviction has been upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The court ruled that a town official can be convicted for taking bribes to guide school board contracts. This is true even if the official cannot make good on his promises –
