APP.COM $1.

00

Asbury Park Press

USA TODAY

$4 TRILLION OBAMA BUDGET CALLS FOR MORE SPENDING PAGE 3B

TUESDAY 02.03.15

Sudden icing, afternoon snow squall

precede near-zero wind chill in region

CAREFUL!
TAX INCREASES BY THE NUMBERS

Property tax increase statewide

2.2%
Average property tax bill

$8,161
Property tax hike in
Ocean County

Property tax hike

in Monmouth

4.6%

1.7%

Property tax
hike largest
in 3 years
MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_
TRENTON New Jersey property taxes increased
at their fastest rate in three years in 2014.
New Jerseys average residential property tax bill,
already the highest in the nation, jumped by 2.2 percent, to $8,161, according to annual property tax data
compiled and released by the state Department of
Community Affairs. The average tab had grown 1.3
percent in 2013, 1.6 percent in 2012 and 2.4 percent in
2011.
Factor in the impact of a delay in property tax credits, which werent paid in 2014, and the increase averaged 8.6 percent, or $646.
Some of the sharpest tax increases occurred in
Shore towns devastated by superstorm Sandy, including 20 percent in Mantoloking, 14 percent in Toms River and 12 percent in Sea Bright. The in-

See TAXES, Page A8

See how your town and

those around it in
Monmouth and Ocean counties have
fared with local property taxes by
checking out this story on

www.app.com

THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Red Bank crossing guard Skip Smith mans his post during a driving snow at Bergen Place and Broad Street in the borough
Monday. Conditions were complicated by a mix of snow, sleet and rain that made roads and walkways dangerously slick.

TODD B. BATES
AND ANDREW FORD
@TODDBBATESAPP AND @ANDREWFORDNEWS

Be extremely careful on roads,

parking lots and sidewalks today.
Mondays rain and snow and
plummeting temperatures may
lead to icy spots on untreated
roads, according to a climate expert.
The National Weather Service
issued an advisory in effect until 9
a.m. today, warning that plunging
temperatures will keep untreated
standing water and leftover slush
on roads, parking lots and sidewalks frozen for the morning commute. Low temperatures will reduce the effectiveness of salt, the
advisory added, and wind chills
were expected to be near zero by
morning.
Weve got a really tricky situa-

tion unfolding, said David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist. A lot of water is standing
around, and its going to get brutally
cold through today.
It could be rough on the roads
this morning, he said. Its the kind
of ... thing where you get these slick
spots just kind of coming out of nowhere.
The sudden snow showers hit
Monmouth and Ocean counties
Monday afternoon, but the riskier
issue was the rapidly falling temperatures that led to icy roads,
bridges, parking lots, walkways,
traffic nightmares and accidents.
The sudden icing, and the afternoon snow squall, snarled traffic
across the region Monday, with numerous reports of accidents and
dangerous roads. Conditions were

Visit us online to see a

photo gallery from the
icy storm and its slippery
aftermath at

www.app.com

See WEATHER, Page A10

Christie jumps into fishbowl with vaccination comments

MICHAEL SYMONS @MICHAELSYMONS_
TRENTON Although far from U.S. shores, Gov.
Chris Christie has managed to make news at home,
wading into the controversy over whether parents
should vaccinate their children while a measles outbreak rages in California.
All I can say is that we vaccinated ours. Thats the
best expression I can give you of my opinion, said
Christie, speaking after a tour of a flu-vaccine maker in
the United Kingdom, part of a three-day trade mission.
He continued: Its much more important, I think,
what you think as a parent than what you think as a pub-

lic official. And thats what we do. But I also understand

that parents need to have some measure of choice in
things as well, so thats the balance that the government
has to decide.
The remarks touched off a reaction from Democrats, who asserted that the likely 2016 candidate for
president was at once courting political support from
people opposed to vaccinations, and from medical professionals, who say vaccines are safe and preserve public health so long as nearly everyone participates.
Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr., D-Burlington, a

Sound off! Join the

conversation about
Gov. Christie and the controversy over
child vaccination mandates at
www.facebook.com/AsburyParkPress

See CHRISTIE, Page A10

COLD COMFORT FOR SEAHAWKS?

Columnist Stephen Edelson discusses six huge NFL coaching gaffes that rival
Seattle coach Pete Carrolls Super Bowl-losing bad play call. SPORTS, C1

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
MOVIES

D9
D10
D8
A3
D7

OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
TECH TUESDAY
WEATHER

A6
A9
C1
A5
C8

VOLUME 136
NUMBER 29

"6<;<3
 

"6<;<3


"TCVSZ
1BSL
1SFTT
EBJMZ

SINCE 1879

0DFBO
$PVOUZ
0CTFSWFS
4VOEBZ