Tax Appeals, More on Monday's Agenda

Nearly 200 property owners have won tax reductions totaling $327,405, meaning the city will receive that much less future revenue while facing a payout of $682,600 in 2016 for partial settlement of the Halsey false imprisonment case.

Monday's agenda-fixing session includes a resolution authorizing the adjustments due to 199 appeals to the Union County Board of Taxation.

A taxpayer may seek a reduction by such means as presenting "credible evidence" that an assessment is too high compared to that of surrounding properties. The process is described in a state booklet,"A Guide to Tax Appeal Hearings."

Among other items on the agenda:

- The governing body will discuss possible creation of a City Council newsletter. This matter came up in June when council members challenged the administration of Mayor Adrian O. Mapp on several issues, including National Night Out. While that event took place amicably with the executive and legislative branches collaborating on Aug. 4, it appears that the council may still want its own newsletter. Mapp publishes an online newsletter that is sent to residents by email on Fridays.

-A resolution supporting the Plainfield Local Organizing Committee's participation in the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March, which will take place on Oct. 10.

- Final passage of several ordinances, including one for $2 million in capital improvements, two establishing four-way stops at intersections on Hillside Avenue, new parking limits on Cleveland Avenue and lower insurance requirements for taxi companies.

- A transfer of the Dudley House lease from Sunrise House Foundation, Inc. to American Addiction Centers, Inc. Sunrise House has had the lease since 2010, when it took over the formerly city-operated program for male recovering substance abusers from Union and Middlesex counties. See a commentary on the Dudley House lease here.

The agenda-fixing session Monday (Aug. 10) is 7:30 p.m. in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.

--Bernice