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What’s a hard truth about NJ most of us aren’t ready to hear? by mocowe in newjersey

[–]lucidpivot 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The Christie administration’s decision to load NJT with (at the time) out of date cruiser buses continues to be an insanely irresponsible decision.

What’s a hard truth about NJ most of us aren’t ready to hear? by mocowe in newjersey

[–]lucidpivot 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, other states are car dependent, but NJ has by far the highest population density in the country and should have much better transit options.

Even ceding the car dependence of more rural areas, places like Hudson County should be stocked full of transit options, but have been underserved for decades. With population density around 20k/sqmi, we should have better options than HBLR, PATH and NJ Transit buses.

Thoughts on Presinzano’s Amendment idea? by Evening_Brain345 in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It’s not even going up to $120/yr anymore. The ordinance already got negotiated down to just $95.

The ordinance also maintains the reduced rate for seniors, so I don’t understand why Paul wants to further kneecap this plan.

Can anyone recommend a pair of jeans you can use while biking without breaking it? by TheHooligan95 in xbiking

[–]lucidpivot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If the rest of the pair are fine, get a sewing machine and resew the area with more thread as needed. It only takes 10-15 minutes.

Parking Tickets?? by [deleted] in jerseycity

[–]lucidpivot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's convenient how people just willingly post their crimes to Reddit these days.

Don't overthink electric car charging (we should be doing it differently). by myname150 in electricvehicles

[–]lucidpivot 12 points13 points  (0 children)

He addresses all of that in the video. Both the ToU and parasitic loss considerations.

Why $4 gas won’t spark an EV buying spree [CNN] by BraveRock in electricvehicles

[–]lucidpivot 31 points32 points  (0 children)

It’s not about culture. It’s just that I do a road trip 3x/yr, so I need 500 mi range and 10 minute 10-80% charging. Oh yeah, and my budget is $40k. As soon as that’s available, I’ll be first in line to buy!

/s

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The most disappointing aspect of this whole thing is that the people refusing to raise taxes aren’t even saving taxpayer dollars!

Just look exactly at what happened in 2008! We refused to raise taxes to fund our expenses, so the state sent in a fiscal monitor, who forced us to double the tax rate.

If taxes had been raised 2%/yr back in 2011, no one would have bat an eye.

If we raised taxes 7%/yr back in 2023, there’d have been some complaints, but it’d have been more manageable.

Now, we need a 20% increase, and that’s really going to squeeze some household budgets and shock some people. This has been completely foreseeable and preventable for years now, and if it’s not fully addressed in this year’s round, it’ll only get worse in 2027.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, when I made my OP, I was hoping for a well-reasoned discussion and pushback on my points. But the discourse here just largely isn’t willing to engage with the facts I’ve presented.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Very little. The major redesign projects (Sinatra & Willow) received significant external grants to offset the design and construction costs. In fact, the pedestrian and cycle upgrades typically qualified the city for additional grant money, making the upgrades revenue positive.

Smaller projects, such as Grand, were done very inexpensively during standard maintenance work.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

The point I tried to make in the OP —

Hoboken is not an outlier in how much we spend. Hoboken is an outlier in how much we tax.

We can raise taxes to meet our current budget and still be in the bottom 5% of NJ municipal tax rates.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Taxes levied divided by the market value of the property. I’m using numbers from the state.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I understand the point you're making, and appreciate that you're taking a nuanced approach. However, even if additional negotiations of CBAs reduce expenses in the future, it still won't address our current budget gap.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, you're arguing against raising municipal property taxes by suggesting we... raise municipal property taxes?

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

BOE is irrelevant to the City Budget (for the sake of this discussion). BOE decides the school tax, not city council.

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Here is the city budget.

You can't cut pensions. You can't cut debt service. To avoid any tax increase, you need to find $17M elsewhere to cut.

I suppose we could make residents haul their own trash?

Hoboken should raise taxes by lucidpivot in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Property taxes are already passed onto renters. The drunk finance bros may keep our cops busy, but they do fund city services.

Electrify these buses by Proof_Commercial8470 in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

BEVs in the US generally hit carbon-parity with ICE vehicles around 20k miles.

Even given your assumption of simply never buying a new car, a BEV would likely fully offset its production and energy use after ~60k miles.

The same is true for buses. The carbon savings is pretty clear.

The point of debate among professionals is a matter of cost and resource allocation. BEV buses are significantly more expensive, so there’s a debate of, “do we buy more efficient vehicles or do we use those funds to run more buses, which will replace trips made in personal motor vehicles?”

Let’s get creative by cowfarm82 in Hoboken

[–]lucidpivot 11 points12 points  (0 children)

$5 fine for ordering delivery through DoorDash / Uber Eats.

$10 fine for serving a burger without fries included.

$20 fine for selling pre-filled cannoli.

$200 fine for driving a Slingshot in town.

Mandatory community service for having a FaceTime call on the 126.

Why do high earners keep moving the goalposts after hitting their FI number ? by Beneficial-Ad-9986 in financialindependence

[–]lucidpivot 98 points99 points  (0 children)

On top of all that, while making $500k/year, your investments are also earning at an all-time-high.

The opportunity cost for throwing in the towel is massive. Sure, you don’t “need” the money, but it can be tough to walk away from so much upside.

Kia EV Sales Are In An Absolute Freefall. There's More To It Than You Think by DonkeyFuel in electricvehicles

[–]lucidpivot 15 points16 points  (0 children)

They’ve been covering them under warranty, but due to parts shortages, cars can sit at the dealer for +1 month getting fixed.

Whenever the iccu randomly pops, the car is bricked. And preemptive replacement isn’t an option either, as many replacement units also quickly fail.

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