Millville Insider

The attorney Team Santiago brought into the city of Millville pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to  federal income tax evasion.   Long concealed more than $800,000 in personal income and evaded payment of more than $250,000 in taxes owed to the IRS, including $368,000 in income and $120,000.  Many of Long’s personal expenses, including school tuition for his children, utilities and service fees for his personal residences, student loan payments for Long and his spouse, and other expenses, repeatedly were paid out of the law firm’s bank accounts. Long directed the bookkeeper to falsely classify these payments as law firm business expenses to avoid his tax obligations. This is same bookkeeper that took the fall for Mr. Long and Mr. Marmero when they were accused of using trust funds to pay their law firm expenses.  See link:  https://casetext.com/case/in-re-long-129 Mr. Long and his law firm presently receive several lucrative law contracts with the...

Hopefully everyone is staying safe during the corona virus epidemic. If this virus has taught us anything it is the need to plan ahead and be financial prepared. How many small businesses, families and cities will be able to weather this shutdown which is causing decreased income which affects us all in ways that are hard to fathom. It is budget time and hopefully Team Santiago is watching and learning and realizing that their carefree spending at the beginning of their term is now going to cost the citizens that are barely hanging on. Yes there will be another tax increase this year from Team Santiago. The budget is hidden away online for anyone that wants to search for it. It is in the agenda for this weeks meeting but only in the packet prompt. So much for transparency. When Team Santiago took office, they were given close to a $9 million dollar surplus. In this year’s budget that number is now close to $1 million dollars. The surplus is like a savings account for t...

It is budget time in the city of Millville. Step one for the tax and spend group now in City Hall is to find a way around the state mandate that taxes can only be raised by 2.5%. Of course there is always a loophole and the commissioners snuck through it and voted to exceed the “cap” and raise taxes by 3.5%, which is around $973,000. The commission voted for this stating it was recommended by the employees and the auditor. It seems that Team Santiago has forgotten that they are the elected officials and not the employees and consultants that do not live in Millville. They can hear recommendations but the decisions are theirs and should be based on what is best for Millville’s taxpayers. Step two is to add this 3.5% to the money that was banked in the past. When combined Team Santiago now has in a position to increase the budget by 1.5 million dollars. The commissioners and the chief financial officer have admitted that the budget is in trouble this year. To balance ...

Thank you to everyone who turned out for the Planning Board meeting on February 10 th . Whether you spoke or not your support by coming to the meeting helped. Thank you also to the planning board for allowing people to express their opinions and ask question. There was no time limit imposed upon those that spoke. Citizens were even allowed to speak more than once. It was a refreshing change from the city commission meetings where the citizens are ignored or criticized by Team Santiago. The planning board respected the comments of each and everyone that spoke and that in turn earned the planning board respect. Every comment was listened to and every question was answered. The result was the planning board is recommending that the new zoning ordinance be tabled by Team Santiago so it can be worked on further taking into consideration the comments made at the meeting by the public. That is transparency. That is the process working. That is the citizens being heard. ...

On Monday, February 10, 2020 the Planning Board will be discussing the new Zoning ordinance for the city of Millville. This should be a concern for every citizen in Millville as it will determine what type of houses and businesses will be allowed in the city and where. The original purpose to change the ordinance was to simplify the rules and regulations that govern the city. By simplifying the process and making everything more straight forward, it would attract more businesses to the city. This ordinance does the opposite.   The new ordinance is convoluted and restrictive and for some reason it is modeled after Lawrence Township’s regulations. Why? Here are just a few examples of what is in the new ordinance: 1.      Single family homes will no longer be allowed in the Union Lake Wawa Tract area however townhouses and apartments will be. 2.      Drug rehabilitation centers will be allowed in the Union Lake area a...

The Wheaton property has been in disrepair for years, an eyesore sitting at the entrance to the City. The City owns the property as a result of Team Santiago’s ill advised settlement with GGI. In that settlement, Team Santiago forgave hundred of thousands of dollars of unpaid taxes. For reasons never explained the City looked the other way when taxes were not paid during Parent’s previous stint as Director of Revenue and Finance. So the obvious questions are: What has Team Santiago done to clean up the property, and what is the “Team’s” plan for the future of this eyesore at Second and G streets? Same answer for both questions: Nothing. Ms. Udalovas has stated over and over again that all redevelopment must go through the city’s redevelopment attorney. So who is that? None other than Doug Long’s law firm. The firm that has had and presently has ethics charges brought against them. Out of town attorneys and the Cumberland County Improvement Authority along with Don Ayr...