The Jaffe Briefing - February 7, 2019

TRENTON - It's unclear how many Garden State parents rely on religious exemptions to keep their kids from getting mandatory inoculations against measles and other contagious diseases. But let's assume plenty are motivated by less-than-religious reasons. There's personal philosophy, mistrust and resentment about being told what's best for the kids. That's why Democratic Assemblyman Herb Conaway wants to scrap the exemption, replacing it with a strictly medical opt-out. This is sure to infuriate just about everyone involved. But Conaway - who's a doctor himself - thinks it's worth a shot.  Read about it in today's NJ Spotlight. 

 

MOORESTOWN - It is safe to assume the owner of 262 East Main Street in Moorestown is not a Jaffe Briefing reader. That's because this individual is probably very busy at the moment, doing something terrifically important in the world of finance, to cover an annual property tax bill of $444,547.82. NJ.com reports this home, nicknamed "Villa Collina," has the distinction of possessing the highest property taxes in all of New Jersey, which is certainly saying something. The 45,854-square-foot mansion sits on 44 acres and is larger than Moorestown town hall, the police station and the library combined. NJParcel.com reports the estate is owned by a prominent banker and registered Republican, who Fortune called a "flamboyant, tradition-stomping American billionaire" and "the P.T. Barnum of banking." The property owner bought this crazy, massive estate for $2.1 million in 1999; it is now assessed at $33.5 million. (We'd blare out his name, but, hey, he's a private citizen.)

 

 

STATEWIDE - First-time job applicants expect a lot, like generous paid vacations, health benefits, sick days and other goodies. But now, with so many fresh-faced college graduates drowning in debt across New Jersey, there's a new perk on the bargaining table: Cold, hard cash to reduce the monthly debt payments, Bloomberg reports. College debt is a mess in the Garden State, where more than 60 percent of recent college graduates are carrying an estimated $31,000. They join 44.2 million former college students nationally struggling with $1.5 trillion in payments. So, that's why companies are dangling $1,000 or so a year to employees to help with these interest-churning loans, often in exchange for sacrificing paid vacation days. Other companies are willing to do a match for graduates who responsibly address what they owe. Seems pretty attractive for the young ones, rather than living in mom's basement until they are debt-free in, say, 2039.