7/23/2019 Asbury Park Press front page, Sunday, August 16, 2015

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EXCLUSIVE

If youre a homeowner, youve felt theshock of the new property tax bill youopened this month. But where exactly doyour tax dollars go? And how does yourtown compare to others?

Visit our exclusive interactive chartto see how much your town raises forschooling, local government and county

operations. Statewide, its a heftyamount. Property taxes last year pulled$27.1 billion from homeowners, for astatewide average of $8,161 per house-hold. Most of the money headed to schooldistricts. But the schools slice of the taxpie varies widely from town to town.

Compare your town to others in thecounty or the state by visitingon.APP.com/taxchart.

Where your tax dollars really goPAUL DAMBROSIO @PAUL_DAMBROSIO

IN COUPONSAVINGS

$774INSIDE: UP TO

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Ocean County has spent some $1 million on a consultantsstudy so shrouded in secrecy that at least one member ofthe Board of Freeholders was unaware of its existence andmost were unaware of its ballooning cost.

Yet the biggest surprise may be for county taxpayers:Key freeholders readily acknowledge that there is littlesupport for funding the massive public works project at

the heart of the study as much as $100 million for what some say is apie-in-the-sky plan to refurbish and expand county offices and otherfacilities.

How taxpayers got stuck with a consultants bill now authorized toreach $1.3 million for a project in serious doubt, if not dead in thewater raises questions about board oversight. It also raises ques-

tions about how the five elected members of the all-Republican boardshare information with each other and the public. In this case, there

THE MYSTERYPROJECT

Key Ocean County politicians in the dark about building study that has

taxpayers already on the hook for $1 million an amount thats growing

ERIK LARSEN @ERIK_LARSEN

The LouisBergerGroup is

appointedby Gov. Chris Chris-tie in late 2012 tomanage superstormSandy recovery.

In March2013, OceanCounty

awards thegroup a $964,799 con-tract to undertake Pro-

gram/Construction Man-agement and HurricaneRecovery ConsultingServices.

A year later, freehold-ers approve an addi-tional $330,435.

In the spring of 2015,the project approachesthe $1million mark.

In June,FreeholderJack Kelly

acknowl-edges in an interviewfor the first time thatthe project included alook at the countys

building and facilityneeds over the next 20years.

Also inJune, afterthe Asbury

Park Pressraises questions aboutthe cost and scope ofthe project, Louis Berg-er is instructed towrap up its work.

EXCLUSIVE WATCHING YOUR TAX DOLLARS

ASBURY PARK PRESS FILE PHOTO

Sitting, Ocean County Freeholders John Bartlett (from left), Joseph H. Vicariand James Lacey and, standing, Freeholder Director Gerry Little (left) andFreeholder Jack Kelly, at the 2012 organization meeting.

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

SeePROJECT, Page 6A

08.16.15

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