John H. Skarbnik

Rob Parisi | John H. Skarbnik | Cindy Nacco
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John Skarbnik was elected to the West Orange Township Council in May 1996.In the early 1980s, following his marriage, John and his wife, Jane, purchased their first home in West Orange.They have three children who attend West Orange High School, Edison Middle School, and Redwood School.

John has resided in West Orange most of his life, having attended the public schools of West Orange from kindergarten through high school.Following graduation from Mountain High School in 1972, John attended Rutgers College, New Brunswick, where he majored in Economics and graduated with honors in 1976.John then attended law school and graduated from Rutgers School of Law, Newark in 1979.John was a member of the successful Rutgers Law School tax moot court team.He continued his education at New York University studying in its law school's masters in taxation program and earned an LL.M. in taxation in 1984.

Professionally, John is both a certified public accountant and a tax attorney.For the past 16 years, he has served as tax counsel to the Roseland, New Jersey firm of Walder, Sondak, and Brogan where he specializes in tax related matters, including estate planning, estate administration, representing individuals and entities before the Internal Revenue Service, and structuring transactions.

John is also a tenured Professor of Taxation in Fairleigh Dickinson University's Masters in Science in Taxation.He has taught more than 14 different tax classes.John writes extensively for professional tax journals and has more than 20 published articles on a wide variety of topics.He also has co-authored a book on corporate reorganizations and liquidations which is part of Matthew Bender & Company's treatise, Rankin and Johnson's Current Legal Forms and Tax Analysis.

Currently, John is completing his second year as the Council's representative to the Planning Board.He also is the Council's representative to The Joint Meeting of Essex and Union County, a group of 11 municipalities that share a sewage treatment facility.Additionally, he serves as Council representative to The Council's Revenue and Expenditure Committee, and the Zoning Ordinance Revision Committee.

Prior to his election to the Township Council, John was active in many community-based activities, including the Mountain Top League, where he has coached soccer for the last 10 years, and West Orange Theater Under the Stars, where he was a founding trustee.He also served on the West Orange Alternative Means Committee and authored a report on the restructuring of the West Orange legal department.

Among his more significant legislative accomplishments are the following:

Founder of West Orange 2000; Tax Abatement Program for residential and commercial property; and Elimination of medical benefits for elected municipal officials.

During his tenure on the Township Council, there has been a significant change in people's perception about West Orange.There is a renewed sense of pride within the community.
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If you want to actively contribute to our community or offer any suggestions, John would like to hear from you at either his mailing address, West Orange Municipal Building, 66 Main Street, West Orange, New Jersey 07052, or via E-mail, ProfJHS@aol.com.

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