New Jersey
The one spot in New Jersey where you can ignore the speed limit
![The one spot in New Jersey where you can ignore the speed limit](https://townsquare.media/site/564/files/2022/09/attachment-sign.jpg?w=1200&q=75&format=natural)
Generally speaking, speed limit signs are pretty straightforward, right?
I mean, if the sign says “speed limit 65,” you should stay at or under 65 MPH.
But that’s not always the case, especially in a rather rural area of our fine state.
And, no, this is not a story about how everyone ignores the speed limit on the Turnpike and Parkway.
Speed Limit 65 Road Sign on the GSP
Life in Salem County, NJ
I’ve long been amazed and intrigued by Salem County. If you’ve never done a deep dive into this part of the state, it’s kinda like you’re in Kansas or Nebraska.
Actually, scratch the word “kinda” — it is like being in the middle of the Great Plains.
In other words, take every single stereotype you have about New Jersey and get rid of it.
There are no giant cities out here like Trenton or Newark. Sure, there are thousands of people in Salem and Carney’s Point, but just a few minutes away, this is where we put the “garden” in Garden State.
Let me put it this way: if you ever want to see an area of New Jersey with no Wawas, no Walmarts, and no strip malls, this is it.
You know how your town has 18 places to get pizza? Good luck with that down here.
Route 40 in Salem County NJ – Photo: Google Maps
This is where you can literally stand in the middle of a road during rush hour and never see a vehicle.
Chris Coleman / Google Maps
Bizarre Speed Limit Sign in New Jersey
Speaking of highways, while recently exploring lower Salem County, I was on some little backcountry road and I saw this rather unusual speed limit sign…
Suggested speed limit sign in Salem County NJ
Suggested? What does that mean?
Yes, I know what the word means, but I’ve never seen a suggested speed limit sign in New Jersey before.
Is this someone’s way of wanting you to slow down because there are kids in the area? Truth be told, I was in the middle of nowhere and I never saw any humans at all, let alone kids running around.
And can you get a ticket for going over 35 MPH here? It, technically, isn’t saying you have to go 35, it’s just suggesting it. Maybe you can suggest to the police officer that pulls you over to not write you a ticket. I’m sure that’ll end well for you.
I’ve never seen a suggested speed limit sign in New Jersey before. If you have, please let me know.
Meanwhile, if you like really cool old things, this century-old bridge in Salem County is really amazing…
Cool bridge in rural Salem County; Built in 1905, closed since 1991
Gallery Credit: Chris Coleman
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New Jersey
A closer look at what's in New Jersey's proposed $56.6 billion budget, from taxes to spending
![A closer look at what's in New Jersey's proposed $56.6 billion budget, from taxes to spending](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/New_Jersey_Budget_gov-murphy-ap-2024-06-27.jpg)
What about property taxes?
New Jersey has among the nation’s highest property taxes, levied by local governments to finance services and schools. The state dedicates some income tax revenue to fund local governments, which helps keep property tax rates from growing even higher. This budget calls for increasing state K-12 funding to fully implement an aid formula ratified by the state Supreme Court, raising such aid to more than $11 billion, up nearly $1 billion from the current fiscal year. The budget also has about $2.5 billion for direct property tax relief, continuing programs introduced in 2022 and 2023 to help residents, renters and seniors. The average property tax amount in 2022, which is the most recently available information, is about $9,500, according to the state.
What else is in the budget?
Quite a bit, given it funds all aspects of state government, from the executive departments to public colleges and universities, to the Legislature itself, which this year passed a 67% pay raise for lawmakers, their first since 2002, which goes into effect in 2026. Overall, spending is up just over 4% compared with the current fiscal year budget.
It includes a number of expenditures — sometimes referred to as Christmas tree line items because they’re viewed as gifts for specific constituencies. They include funding for ending homelessness, helping people re-enter society from prison, fire departments, arts programs and one city’s effort to teach life skills through tennis.
Republican lawmakers said they barely had time to review the budget and lamented that they weren’t sure what all was in it. Even Democratic Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo said the document is too vast to read line by line, but he supports it overall.
“I could not take a test and be quizzed on every line item because it would take hours and hours and days and months,” Sarlo said. “I try to look at it in totality and that’s where I think we’re at.”
New Jersey
A closer look at what's in New Jersey's proposed $56.6 billion budget, from taxes to spending
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey lawmakers are poised to send a $56.6 billion fiscal year 2025 budget to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy this week, hiking taxes on high-earning businesses and funding for many state services and programs.
The annual spending plan is expected to get enough votes in the Democrat-led Legislature on Friday to reach Murphy’s desk. The state constitution requires a balanced budget to be enacted by July 1.
Here’s a closer look at what’s in the budget, which would spend 4.2% more than the plan Murphy signed last year.
ARE THERE ANY NEW TAXES?
Yes. The budget calls for increasing the state’s corporation business tax on companies that make more than $10 million a year. The current 9% rate would climb to 11.5%. Business groups say that would give New Jersey the nation’s highest tax rate and punish the state’s best corporate citizens.
WHY ARE TAXES GOING UP?
The higher rate was first proposed by Murphy as part of his budget proposal early this year to help New Jersey Transit. He’s billing the levy as a corporate transit fee to help the beleaguered agency, which has regularly had to use capital funds to help finance projects.
Critics note that the revenue won’t go to transit until next year. The current budget keeps it in the general fund, so when the money goes to transit next year, whatever is being paid for now out of the general would need to be replenished or cut, those critics say.
ARE THERE OTHER TAX CHANGES?
Yes. The budget calls for ending a sales tax holiday on school supplies that had gone into effect around the start of the academic year. That cut was first introduced in 2022 when the Democrats who control state government aimed to show voters they were making the state more affordable. Lawmakers didn’t explain this cut when they unveiled the budget Wednesday, but the additional revenue could help balance the budget.
WHAT ABOUT PROPERTY TAXES?
New Jersey has among the nation’s highest property taxes, levied by local governments to finance services and schools. The state dedicates some income tax revenue to fund local governments, which helps keep property tax rates from growing even higher. This budget calls for increasing state K-12 funding to fully implement an aid formula ratified by the state Supreme Court, raising such aid to more than $11 billion, up nearly $1 billion from the current fiscal year. The budget also has about $2.5 billion for direct property tax relief, continuing programs introduced in 2022 and 2023 to help residents, renters and seniors. The average property tax amount in 2022, which is the most recently available information, is about $9,500, according to the state.
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE BUDGET?
Quite a bit, given it funds all aspects of state government, from the executive departments to public colleges and universities, to the Legislature itself, which this year passed a 67% pay raise for lawmakers, their first since 2002, which goes into effect in 2026. Overall, spending is up just over 4% compared with the current fiscal year budget.
It includes a number of expenditures — sometimes referred to as Christmas tree line items because they’re viewed as gifts for specific constituencies. They include funding for ending homelessness, helping people re-enter society from prison, fire departments, arts programs and one city’s effort to teach life skills through tennis.
Republican lawmakers said they barely had time to review the budget and lamented that they weren’t sure what all was in it. Even Democratic Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo said the document is too vast to read line by line, but he supports it overall.
“I could not take a test and be quizzed on every line item because it would take hours and hours and days and months,” Sarlo said. “I try to look at it in totality and that’s where I think we’re at.”
New Jersey
Salem City has finalized the sale of its water supply to New Jersey American Water
![Salem City has finalized the sale of its water supply to New Jersey American Water](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-06-06-e-lee-salem-nj-water-privatization-sign.jpeg)
In fewer than six years, water companies across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware have acquired more than two dozen water and sewer systems, as officials in small cities and towns struggle to fund the cost of repairing aging infrastructure and removing toxic PFAS chemicals.
McDonough said New Jersey American Water’s top priority in Salem is to address PFAS by installing a filtration system within 18 months. In 2023, the so-called “forever chemicals” were detected above state standards in one of Salem’s wells, which has since been shut down.
However, some Salem residents fear their water bills may increase in a city where the median annual household income is $26,000. Several states allow investor-owned utilities to consider the future value of a utility, pay above that price and then pass along those costs to consumers.
McDonough said there will be a two-year freeze on rate increases in Salem, and the company offers assistance to people struggling to pay their bills.
“Because we’re a large water operator statewide, we share the costs of capital across our entire footprint, and then, of course, our commercial customers on top of that,” he said. “So, we socialize those costs so that everybody’s bills are more affordable.”
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