Before you hold Cedar Grove up as a model of fiscal discipline, consider this: The town has just won the right boost its taxes above the state’s 4% cap. Cedar Grove joins Montclair, Roseland and Irvington in the ranks of Essex County towns that will be over the cap. According to a spokesperson at the New Jersey Division of Local Government Services, no other Essex County waiver applications are pending at this time, but she noted that some towns are still finalizing their budgets. Cedar Grove sought the waiver to pay for its property reassessment and to hire back three police officers the town laid off in May.
