ASBURY PARK PRESS APP.COM $1.00

FRIDAY 04.24.15

VOLUME 136

NUMBER 98

SINCE 1879

ADVICE JERSEY ALIVE

CLASSIFIED 4D

COMICS JERSEY ALIVE

LOCAL 3A

MOVIES JERSEY ALIVE

OBITUARIES 11A

OPINION 14A

SPORTS 1C

WEATHER 6C

YOUR MONEY 10A

PRESIDENT OBAMA LAMENTS DEADLY DRONE ACCIDENT PAGE 1B

Tax rate

Tax levy

Budget

Assessed values

Surplus

Line items

Vacation, sicktime liability

So much for New Jersey shaking its reputa-

tion as one of the most-taxed states in the nation:

Property taxes are on the rise again this year. $

A number of Jersey Shore governments, among

the handful that have already introduced their

budgets, are nudging their tax rates up by any-

where from less than 1 percent to as much as 5

percent. $ In some cases, however, property

taxpayers could pay more, or the government

will see fatter budgets, even where tax rates re-

main flat. $ Tax rates in Howell and Union

Beach, for example, will drop. Because proper-

ty values went up, however, some taxpayers will

end up paying more. $ Toms River’s spending is

up about half a percent, but costs associated

with severe winter storms are pushing its tax

rate up by 3 cents on $100 in property value, a 5

percent increase. $ After five years of keeping

the tax levy flat, Monmouth County will in-

CONSUMER’S GUIDE TO

PROPERTYTAXES

TAX WATCH

7 things you needto know now toavoid a tax shockSUSANNE CERVENKA @SCERVENKA

$4.5MMonmouth County willincrease in overall tax levyafter five years of keepingthe tax levy flat.

$14MOcean County will increasein overall tax levy after fiveyears of keeping the tax levyflat.

2%Statewide property tax cap,designed to limit municipalproperty tax increases, withlimited exemptions.

1%-5%Proposed property tax rateincreases in Monmouth andOcean counties.

See GUIDE, Page 5A

What’s being sold as synthetic marijuana has sentabout 30 people to emergency rooms around New Jer-sey, including one person in Monmouth County, healthauthorities said.

The New Jersey Poison Information and EducationSystem has issued an alert to warn people about thedangerous, man-made drug and anything going by thestreet names “spice” or “K2.”

Dr. Steven Marcus, the executive director and med-ical director of the poison information system, said thereactions have puzzled medical professionals becausethey have included both extreme agitation and the ex-treme opposite — coma.

“The bottom line is it’s very, very dangerous. It’sdangerous stuff that could kill,” Marcus said. “This isnot just a strong version of marijuana.”

ASBURY PARK PRESS FILE PHOTO

New Jersey has outlawed the manufacture, distribution, saleand possession of all possible variants of synthetic marijuana.

Syntheticmarijuanahospitalizesdozens in N.J.

See POT, Page 6A

KEN SERRANO @KENSERRANOAPP

MIDDLETOWN — Thursday evening, residents scruti-nized a planned $60 million change to the roadway atExit 109 of the Garden State Parkway, near NewmanSprings Road.

The spiderweb will become more complicated inhopes of improving traffic flow.

One of the biggest issues in the area, according toproject engineer Maynard Abuan, is that the off-rampfrom the northbound Garden State Parkway ends at afour-way intersection with Newman Springs Road andHalf Mile Road. Traffic backs up on the off-ramp dur-ing high-volume morning hours.

“To have a stopped line of traffic on a high speedroadway is not desirable anywhere, really,” Abuan said.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority will fix that bybifurcating the off-ramp — cars turning left onto New-

$60 million planfor GSP’s Exit 109gets mixed reviews

See EXIT, Page 6A

ANDREW FORD @ANDREWFORDNEWS

All about that bass

Feast or famine for stripers in 2015. Hook, Line & Sinker, 1E

Officials rule

on cause of

Rumson fire

STORY, 3A

Eat up. Sound off.Win an Apple Watch.

We’re spotlighting our N.J. millennials

project with a road trip next week. 8A