Voss Talks Taxes, County Budget, Services [VIDEO]

Bergen County Freeholder Joan Voss of Fort Lee discussed taxes, elections, the county budget and other issues Wednesday at the , where she was invited by the United Homeowners of the Borough of Fort Lee to speak with residents about county services.

“People want to have a hands-on approach to government,” Voss said. “They want to know where their tax dollar is being spent.”

She said about 30 percent of people’s taxes go toward running the municipal government, about 60 percent go to the school system and roughly 10 percent go to the county.

She also said elections—whether school board, primary or general elections—are “very, very expensive,” costing the borough about $40,000 each.

Voss described recent Freeholder meetings as “contentious” because “everybody wants to slice things out of the budget.”

“Twenty-five percent was cut across the board for several of the health services,” she said.

Voss’s talk was followed by a question and answer session with the audience at the library, during which she touched on the Bergen County Jail, hospitals and the importance of grant writing, among other topics.

The program can be seen in its entirety Thursday, May 3, and Saturday, May 5, at 8 p.m. on cable access.

This video features excerpts of what will air on Time Warner Cable channel 81 and FiOS channel 34.