Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition President Takes Commenters to Task

Editor's note: Samuel J. Cammarato is president of the nonprofit Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition. He is responding to comments made about him in a story that appeared on April 24. Many of the comments were removed, but Mr. Cammarato would like the opportunity to respond to them.

On Wednesday April 24, accusations were written in the Berkeley Patch about me personally and the nonprofit which I am the president of, the Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition (BTTC).

I was busy preparing for the Stop FEMA Now meeting at the Berkeley Township Elementary School to respond until now. My home like so many others in Glen Cove, was severely damaged due to Superstorm Sandy. I have not lived in my home since the storm.

Even though my home has security systems, my son and neighbors oversee the premises. I certainly look forward to the day I can move back in.

My close friends that live in Staten Island invited me to stay with them until my home is repaired. This is where I have lived and continue to live these past six months

The reason I find it necessary to address what was written against me personally and the BTTC is simply this: I will not allow anyone to besmirch my personal reputation with unfounded, libelous accusations.

I, along with the BTTC board members, have worked too hard to make the BTTC a respectable, fact based nonprofit organization that has helped many Berkeley Township property owners.

These are some of the actual quotes made against me, the BTTC and my reply.

1) "The only time Sam Cammarato gets involved is when it fits his personal needs."

Reply: When I address the Berkeley Township Council, I speak of issues that concern our property owners, whether it is about taxes, restrictive FEMA codes or flood insurance premiums. These are just a few issues that will affect all property owners, not just me.

2) “Where was he the entire winter in Fla, enjoying himself.”

Reply: I am not employed by Berkeley Township, nor do they pay any of my expenses.  As a retiree who has no empoyer to answer to, I have the pleasure of choosing where, when and how long I go on vacation. The friends I am living with have a lovely condo in a retirement community in Florida. I spent seven days there this past January and again seven days in March.    

Since I am not much of a beach or pool person I spent most of those 7 days in their community club house working with my computer on future BTTC projects. I will speak more of those projects later in this letter.

3) “Now he is back and is sucking up to the politicians to get money for his house.”

Reply: My home was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy. Our town is not an insurance company or a bank that a homeowner can go to for a loan. I have flood and homeowners insurance to cover the cost of repairs to my home. The flood mitigation program that is offered by the State of New Jersey may be available to all homeowners that need to bring their home into FEMA compliance, not just me.

4) “Last year he told people in 2013 the BTTC will have another workshop to help people, but he was nowhere to be found."      

Reply: Due to the flood damage and insurance issues I and other BTTC board members had with our homes, the BTTC just did not have the time to put together a seminar for 2013.

It does take a lot of time to coordinate these seminars. E-mails must be crafted and sent, advertising in our local newspapers and the Berkeley Patch arranged, appointments with the property appraiser and tax lawyer must be set up and the location selected.

Approximately one third of our membership do not own computers. This means BTTC board members and myself must call these members and advise them the date, time and location of the tax seminar. The BTTC board members and I just did not have the time to arrange a tax seminar this year.

5) “a Lawyer from Toms River who had come to a workshop for people on the water to get Reassements and helped the attorney make plenty of money. I am sure he wasn’t charged for his reassessment.”

Reply: It is not true that I or any BTTC Board members received free representation from either the Toms River law firm or property appraiser we engaged to represent BTTC Members to appeal their property assessments, if necessary; I will take the time to post on the BTTC Website, www.bttcnj.org my cancelled checks showing exactly how much I personally paid the attorney and property appraiser to represent me in tax appeal court.

6) “What is his Tax Committee doing about Taxes NOTHING!”

Reply: The last tax appeal seminar the BTTC Sponsored, every individual that retained our Toms River law firm received a property assessment reduction. What that amounts to is lower property taxes, less dollars out of your pocket. I should also mention, the BTTC never charges members/non-members for admission to our tax seminars.

Even the refreshments we serve are free. You do pay the property appraiser and tax attorney if you retain them. The attorney charges a fee based on the amount of property taxes he saves you. No savings, no fee! That is one of the ways the BTTC save property owners tax dollars.

7) “Now he only cares about the Sandy storm because he wants money”

Reply: The storm Sandy brought with it more than just property damage. In  addition to repairing our homes, we now must contend with FEMA and their proposed government regulations that include possible exorbitant flood insurance premiums and strict building codes.

I along with the BTTC board members are learning about these new government regulations and the flood mitigation programs that may become available. This information will be passed onto property owners. A few days ago I was one of the speakers at a Stop FEMA Now meeting that was held at the Berkeley Township Elementary School. I was answering questions about these very issues.

Ask yourself, why I would do that, if my only interest was getting Sandy money for just myself? Consider this, our Town or FEMA will not be paying me to answer questions about these issues.

8) “He is only in it for himself and he sucks in good people around him, what a scam artist”

Reply: “scam artist?” What proof does the author of that written statement about me have to back up that possible libelous statement. The BTTC asks members to pay $20 a year per dues,per household. This money is deposited in a Bank and the records kept by our treasurer.

The dues that are collected pay for our website design and monthly maintenance, copy paper and ink that is used for BTTC correspondence and research, refreshments that we serve for our Tax Appeal Seminars and for the OPRA fees the Town charges us, for our research. Absolutely none of the dues collected are provided to me or the BTTC board members for our private use.

Aside from the dues mentioned, I have never asked anyone for money or to make an investment in anything, except donate their time to the BTTC so we can help others.

When individuals are invited to join the BTTC, what is asked of all members is this: please do not make negative statements about any individual, regardless if they are a private citizen or politician, unless your statement is fact-based.

If your complaint is about an issue, such as taxes, again, don’t just complain. Be prepared to offer your solution.   Anyone can poke holes in the air with their finger while complaining about any issue. But offering solutions, that takes time-consuming research and hard work.

In future letters to the editor, the BTTC will present our proposals for the following issues that face the Jersey Shore and in particular, Berkeley Township, such as:

• Is it constitutionally legal for a Federal Agency, such as FEMA, thru government regulation, to discriminate against one group of Americans just because of where they choose to live?  (This may end up as a legal case)   

• Exorbitant flood insurance premiums and other FEMA issues. 

• An alternative proposal to fund our municipal and school taxes, rather than the current method of property assessments. 

The BTTC looks forward to discussing these and other issues that face Berkeley Township. They will be presented to you through the Berkeley Patch in the coming weeks. Your opinions and suggestions are welcome, regardless of whether you agree or oppose our regulations.