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For immediate release | April 24th 2012 As part of its continuing commitment to transparency in government, the Village of South Orange announced that the Village’s 2012 Municipal Budget is in new, easier to use online formats.  In addition to the traditional posting of a PDF containing the lengthy official state budget document, the 2012 South Orange operating budget is now also available at southorange.org/budget in the following new formats:  1) A condensed spreadsheet PDF of the budget which compresses the 50+ pages of the state document into a manageable 7 page document. 2) An Excel spreadsheet of the condensed budget which will allow the reader to actually manipulate the appropriation lines to see the effect on the overall budget and tax levy. Village President Alex Torpey said that “Providing the budget document in an actual workable spreadsheet is another great step to making our budget and finances as transparent as possible. Residents can now actually play with budget numbers themselves, seeing what the impact of various funding levels for different departments would be and what the tax levy impact would be if those changes were made.” Many government agencies, especially at the federal level, have in recent years begun...

  Watch the above brief five minute video to learn about the basics of a special or business improvement district (SID/BID), what makes the one in South Orange unique and how you can get involved. In short, an improvement district is a defined area within a downtown or commercial corridor that assesses a fee to the properties within the district which goes towards a budget managed by business/property owners and residents to re-invest back into the downtown. Re-investments can include streetscape improvements, cleaning, security, activities and events, marketing, branding, website presences, grants, loans, and more. Improvement districts are a common tool used by municipalities, and there are approximately 84 improvement districts in New Jersey currently. However, South Orange's is slightly unique in that: - Business and property owners were extremely involved in studying the issue, to a higher degree than what is required by the state, and was studied for almost a year before action was taken (Learn more at http://southorange.org/downtown - The Village will be making a financial contribution to the SID (whereas in many the budget relies soley on assessments) - The existing structure of Main Street South Orange will be incorporated into the SID's Downtown Management Corporation (DMC),...

Click to the full blog post to view the video about Maplewood, South Orange and Montclair being affordable, diverse and exciting neighborhoods to live outside of New York City that are well worth the short commute.

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Content on page:  NJ Monthly tabulates some of New Jersey's best businesses and this year, South Orange businesses were recognized in eight categories. Check them out below, and then head downtown and check them out in person! The winners:  Women's Clothing Boutique Category: Robyn Ross Designs Pet Boutique Category: Pro Pets Kitchenware Category: Ben Salmon’s Kitchen a la Mode   Runner's up: Breads Category: Cait & Abby’s Children's Boutique Category: JC’s Closet Gourmet Shop Category: Eden Gourmet Salad Bar Category: Eden Gourmet Toy Store Category: Sparkhouse   To read the full article from South Orange Patch, click here: http://southorange.patch.com/articles/south-orange-pops-up-all-over-nj-monthly-best-of To read the full results from NJ Monthly, click here: http://njmonthly.com/articles/best-of-Jersey/2012-jersey-choice-the-best-of-nj-landing-page.html