2023 State Of Essex County: Taxes, Development, Community Leaders

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Terry Demming. Cleo Hill. Ron Rice. Peter Rodino. Houston Stevens. Louis LaSalle. Joyce Goldman. Pat Sebold. Wynona Lipman. Barry Ostrowsky. These are some of the Essex County community leaders whose names were invoked at the 2023 state of the county address.

On Thursday, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. gave his annual speech, highlighting past achievements and future plans for the region.

DiVincenzo – who was re-elected by a wide margin last year – touched on several topics, including finance, taxes, development projects and traffic improvements. Here are some of the highlights from his address.

TAXES/FINANCES

According to DiVincenzo, the annual county tax rate increase has been limited to 0.6 percent the last three years. Read More: Tax Hike Expected In 2023 Essex County Budget, Official Says

He added that “a carefully constructed debt reduction plan” will see the county’s annual debt service payment be reduced by almost half within the next three years.

Meanwhile, the Essex County Utilities Authority retired $102.8 million of debt in October, making it debt-free for the first time in its history. The annual $3.4 million in savings is being passed along to the county’s 22 municipalities, DiVincenzo said. Read More: Essex County Utilities Authority Climbs Out Of $100M Hole

DEVELOPMENT

DiVincenzo presented a list of public works and parks improvement projects that included modernizing traffic signals and culverts, updating athletic fields with synthetic grass surfaces, developing a professional outdoor stage in Brookdale Park for the county’s Summer Concert Series, opening the new Amazing Asia Exhibit with Red Pandas and Clouded Leopards at Turtle Back Zoo, and building the new West Side Park Community Center.

“Student athletes from our Donald Payne School can call the new sports complex in Vailsburg Park with baseball, softball and football fields and track facility as their home field,” DiVincenzo said. “And our West Caldwell Tech Girls Softball Team and the Cedar Grove Little League also have a new place to call home at Eagles Field.”

“Not only will our school athletic programs benefit, but local recreation programs and residents have access to these state-of-the-art facilities,” he added.

Some projects currently underway in the county include the construction of a new Wally Choice Community Center in Glenfield Park, Cherry Blossom Welcome Center in Branch Brook, Bilal Beasley Center in Irvington Park and Sheriff Armando and Mary Fontoura Community Center in Independence Park; a dog park in Vailsburg Park; improvements at Francis Byrne Golf Course and the creation of pickleball courts at existing tennis facilities in Grover Cleveland, Glenfield, Brookdale, Verona and Irvington parks.

Other projects include the renovation and historical preservation of the Parks Administration Building in Newark and the construction of the new Essex County College Satellite Campus in West Caldwell – which includes a new building, parking deck and soccer field.

Meanwhile, a groundbreaking of a new Family Courts Building that will be named after the late State Senator Wynona Lipman will be held later this year. The building will be a “new place of justice” where “children will be treated with kindness, domestic violence victims will attend hearings in safety and families will be treated with dignity” – all inspired by the legacy of Senator Lipman, DiVincenzo said.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

DiVincenzo cited the county’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as a symbol of its recent community outreach efforts.

“Needs continue to change and for us to be effective, we consistently shift to support, protect and meet community challenges,” he said. “Nothing demonstrated this more than when we came together as a team to create one of the most comprehensive COVID vaccination programs and administered 620,000 vaccines and 350,000 tests.”

“But the truth is we try to pivot and meet modern day needs all the time,” DiVincenzo added.

The county executive spoke about the new Citizen Services call center and online portal that are helping to streamline communication with clients and enhance services and response times. According to DiVincenzo, instead of having to visit offices to submit paperwork or have questions answered, clients can reach out by phone or the website.

He shared a story about a client and her wheelchair-bound son who fled their home because of domestic violence. The call center staff helped the woman complete and file her application, translated her documents, connected her with a local agency that assists domestic violence victims and purchased furniture and other household items to get her life back in order.

DiVincenzo said:

“According to their supervisor, and I quote, ‘I just want to let you know that the right people are here at the beginning of this phase of the Call Center. Not only do they care about the staff, or the system, or the program. They care intensely about the people in this county.’”

Other new initiatives in the county have included the creation of the new Essex County Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, and the Reach for Recovery Mobile Unit, which has helped over 4,400 clients link with substance abuse prevention programs.

COMMUNITY LEADERS

DiVincenzo also gave a shout out to a lineup of local residents and community members who have made their neighborhoods a better place to live, and who are making their neighbors proud.

Among them were Newark Tech seniors Mosope Aina, who was named a Disney Dream Scholar, and Ahmaya Johnson, who was accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy. These achievements come as the renovated and expanded Newark Tech school building was reopened, marking a milestone – all three of the county’s schools of technology have been completely redone in the last six years.

At Turtle Back Zoo, the new Island Giants Exhibit featuring alligators and Komodo dragons will be named after Commissioner Pat Sebold, and the modernization of the Animal Welfare Center will be named for retired RWJBarnabas Health executive Barry Ostrowsky for their support of the zoo, parks and open spaces.

DiVincenzo noted that other local residents who had facilities named in their honor this past year include: 7-year-old Terry Demming for whom the Little League Field in Glenfield Park is named; Essex County College Coach Cleo Hill for whom the ECC athletic building is named; NJ State Senator Ron Rice for whom the Vailsburg Park Athletic complex is named; Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Congressman Peter Rodino who had busts created in their image; Ivy Hill Neighborhood Association leader Houston Stevens for whom the Little League Field in Ivy Hill Park is named; Essex County Parks Foundation President Louis LaSalle for whom the Amazing Asia Exhibit at Turtle Back Zoo is named; and former Director of Constituent Services Director Joyce Goldman for whom the County Executive’s Conference Room is named.

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