Bergen County briefs
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

BOGOTA - Municipal taxes will remain stable under the 2005 borough
budget.

The $6.4 million spending plan approved by the Borough Council is up
about $63,000 from last year.

The municipal tax rate, however, remains 0.918 cents per $100 of
assessed value.

The owner of a home assessed at $190,000, the borough average, will
continue to pay $1,744 in municipal taxes.

Mayor Steve Lonegan credited tight budgeting practices and vigilance
in seeking grants and finding ways to cut costs as reasons why
there's no municipal tax increase this year.

"The town is in terrific shape financially," Lonegan said. "Our debt
is down to a very low level and we have a good budget."

- Brian Aberback

 

A Leonia native took home the jury prize for best director of a
documentary feature at the Trenton Film Festival.

Kristian Fraga won top honors for "Anytown USA." The film chronicles
the 2003 Bogota mayoral race and provides an in-depth, at times
comical, look at the workings of local politics in small-town
America. The festival was held this month.

"Anytown USA," produced by borough resident Juan Dominguez, last
month won the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival's
Emerging Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary.

The film also played at the Newport Beach, Calif., Film Festival and
is on the roster for the Atlanta Film Festival next month.

- Brian Aberback

 

CLIFFSIDE PARK - For the second year in a row, borough police will
take part in a nationwide effort to get motorists to buckle up.

Beginning May 23, officers will be at checkpoints over two weeks
ticketing drivers who don't use their seat belts

The effort is part of the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration's "Click It or Ticket" campaign, said Lt. Richard D.
Gaito, the department's traffic commander.

Last year the department issued 442 summonses for a range of
violations. But the main goal is to increase New Jersey's
safety-belt usage from 82 percent to 84 percent this year, Gaito
said.

The department received a $4,000 grant for the mobilization.

- Peter J. Sampson