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A house in Clifton that sold for $922,000 tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Clifton area in the past week.

In total, 34 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past week, with an average price of $598,206, or $375 per square foot.

The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded during the week of May 12 even if the property may have been sold earlier.

10. $670K, single-family residence at 861 Passaic Ave.

The property at 861 Passaic Ave. in Clifton has new owners. The price was $670,000. The house was built in 1956 and has a living area of 1,420 square feet. The price per square foot is $472. The deal was finalized on March 24.

9. $700K, single-family home at 88 Highview Drive

A 1,248-square-foot single-family residence at 88 Highview Drive, Clifton, has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in March and the total purchase price was $700,000, $561 per square foot. The house was built in 1949. The deal was finalized on March 19.

8. $700K, single-family house at 7 Rosedale Ave.

A 2,131-square-foot single-family residence at 7 Rosedale Ave. in Clifton has been sold. The transfer of ownership was settled in March and the total purchase price was $700,000, $328 per square foot. The house was built in 1952. The deal was finalized on March 20.

7. $737K, single-family home at 18 Samuel Ave.

A sale has been finalized for the detached house at 18 Samuel Ave. in Clifton. The price was $737,000 and the new owners took over the house in April. It was built in 1927 and the living area totals 1,660 square feet. The price per square foot ended up at $444. The deal was finalized on April 4.

6. $750K, single-family residence at 143 Clifton Ave.

The sale of the single-family home at 143 Clifton Ave. in Clifton has been finalized. The price was $750,000, and the new owners took over the house in April. It was built in 1900 and has a living area of 2,304 square feet. The price per square foot was $326. The deal was finalized on April 3.

5. $760K, single-family house at 72 Trimble Ave.

The sale of the single-family home at 72 Trimble Ave., Clifton, has been finalized. The price was $760,000, and the new owners took over the house in April. The house was built in 1925 and has a living area of 1,710 square feet. The price per square foot was $444. The deal was finalized on April 3.

4. $785K, single-family house at 215 Notch Road

The property at 215 Notch Road in Clifton has new owners. The price was $785,000. The single-family home was built in 1968 and has a living area of 1,752 square feet. The price per square foot is $448. The deal was finalized on April 4.

3. $891K, single-family home at 42 Holster Road

The property at 42 Holster Road in Clifton has new owners. The price was $891,000. The single-family house was built in 1955 and has a living area of 2,037 square feet. The price per square foot is $437. The deal was finalized on March 24.

2. $910K, single-family residence at 74 Fifth Ave.

The sale of the detached house at 74 Fifth Ave., Clifton, has been finalized. The price was $910,000, and the house changed hands in March. The house was built in 1901 and has a living area of 2,046 square feet. The price per square foot was $445. The deal was finalized on March 28.

1. $922K, single-family house at 127 Ackerman Ave.

The property at 127 Ackerman Ave. in Clifton has new owners. The price was $922,000. The house was built in 1900 and has a living area of 1,886 square feet. The price per square foot is $489. The deal was finalized on April 3.

Real Estate Newswire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data.

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CLIFTON — The city's Board of Adjustment unanimously rejected an application to construct a storage facility adjacent to City Green Farm Eco-Center.

At the May 7 meeting, the board said no to Geeland LLC's modified application, which would have allowed the construction of a 110,000-square-foot storage facility on a 2.6-acre lot zoned for residential use fronting Route 46 and running along the Broad Street ram.

The plan called for the removal of a one-story building and its replacement with a storage facility.

The matter has been before the board for 15 months, and parts of the application have been discussed at 10 meetings, attracting residents who opposed the plan.

The applicant reduced the size of the building from 125,000 square feet and reduced the above-grade height from almost 39 feet to just over 25 feet, eliminating the need for a height variance.

Existing zoning restricts heights to 30 feet and use to single-family homes, houses of worship or schools.

Geeland also revised landscaping and buffer plans as per the board's request, but in the end, the board noted that despite its best efforts to tweak its plans, the applicant failed to convince the commissioners.

"I think you did the best you could," Board Chairman Mark Zecchino said just before he voted to deny the application.

Zecchino also mentioned traffic safety concerns. George Foukas said he was concerned about the impact on the neighborhood.

"For me, the quality of life is mostly what I make my decisions on," Foukas said.

Neighborhood concerns

Concerns about the removal of hundreds of trees and the impact on storm water run off and flooding, the impact it could have on City Green, and its potential affect on the area's traffic were among the concerns residents mentioned.

"We’re very happy with the board’s decision," said Jasmine Moreano, City Green's director of community engagement and advocacy. "Thanks to the steadfast dedication of the Clifton community and the thoughtful judgment by the Board of Adjustment, the use variance has not been granted."

Moreano said the farm's case was augmented by City Green's attorney and planner with "legally sound and compelling arguments that the site was not a suitable use for the storage facility."

It is not certain what's next for the property. It has been vacant since Aerodyne Engineering closed its doors.

Members of the City Council have discussed the possible purchase of the property, which would add 2.6 acres to the city-owned farmland.

Councilman Joe Kolodziej said because the city passed an open space tax, it makes funding available, while increasing the likelihood of obtaining county or state open space funding.

When asked after the board's decision if the city might entertain purchasing the property, Kolodziej said the "chances are real good as long as the council is committed to preserving open space."

CLIFTON — City taxpayers can expect a rise in the school portion of their property tax bill after the school board's vote to pass a budget that exceeds the state-imposed 2% cap on levy increases.

The Board of Education has approved a budget that exceeds the cap by an additional 1%, which will mean the school tax bill for a home assessed at the city's average of $178,000 will increase by $150.

The budget means the school district will largely maintain its status quo, with no job or program cuts, officials said, and total expenditures at more than $302 million to educate 11,300 students.

“I’m grateful to the Board of Education for passing a budget that not only protects the staffing levels that are essential to our students’ success, but also preserves the progress we’ve made in recent years," Schools Superintendent Danny Robertozzi said.

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration identified 281 of the state's 590 operating school districts that were not taxing their residents enough to pay for schools and were not spending enough money to educate their studentsadequately. Those districts, which include Clifton, were recently notified that they may be eligible to exceed the state-mandated 2% cap on local tax levy increases for the upcoming school year, if they have exhausted other avenues of balancing their budgets.

The district is eligible, under recently passed legislation, to increase the local school levy by almost 40%, or $54 million, officials said.

"At no point did this board or administration entertain that thought," Assistant Superintendent for Business Ahmed Shehata said Thursday.

Uncapping school taxes

The 281 school districts were notified in March that they may be eligible to exceed the state-mandated 2% cap, accompanied by an incentive in which those that increased the levy would receive additional state aid.

By choosing to increase the levy by 1%, the district raises an additional $1.4 million and gets an additional $70,000 from the state, via the tax levy incentive aid.

"This budget reflects our community’s deep commitment to quality education and ensures we continue to invest in the future of our district,” Robertozzi said.

Even so, "Agreeing to a 3 percent increase was not an easy decision," board member Judy Bassford posted on her Facebook page. "I feel it too, just like everyone else. But I could not, in good conscience, support cutting services or positions that directly impact our students."

Despite what the state officials say a district of Clifton's size needs to spend to provide a thorough and efficient education, Bassford said the city has "a long history of delivering high-quality education for far less than many other districts."

In recent years, budgeting has been especially difficult, Shehata said. The local taxpayer dollars also support more than 1,000 city students who opt to attend a charter school. The district sends $18 million from its budget to pay for the students going to charter schools, which are also considered public schools.

Additionally, the district must transfer funds to pay the tuition for several hundred city students who choose to attend Passaic County Technical Institute. That totals about $7.6 million.

The district also learned there is a possibility it will lose $11 million in federally promised pandemic relief funds, after the Trump administration in March canceled extensions that had been granted for spending the money on infrastructure.

Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statement on March 31 condemning the Trump administration decision, which he said affected $85 million for 20 New Jersey school districts.

Neither the governor’s office nor the state Education Department has provided a breakdown of how much money each of those 20 districts could lose.

On the local level, increases in health care benefits and salary increases also ramped up fiscal pressures, Shehata said.

Despite all that, the board rolled up its sleeves and delivered a budget, said board President Alan Paris.

"All of our commissioners do their homework and bring to the dais a variety of insights and challenges in a professional, deliberative manner," Paris said. "Our administration provided clear, comprehensive and understandable analysis to the board and community to help us make the best data-driven budget choices."

The district has one high school, two middle schools, with a third to open in the fall, 14 elementary schools and one early education center.

Some of the nation's most vibrant communities are showcased in Livability's annual list of the Top 100 Best Places to Live. And for 2025, one Passaic County city can brag about making that list.

Out of the more than 2,000 cities that were considered — all with populations of 75,000 to 500,000 — Clifton was named as one of the best places to live in the United States this year. This is at least the third year in a row the Passaic County city has made the list.

This rating was based on eight key categories: economy, housing and cost of living, amenities, transportation, environment, safety and education. The top 100 cities were then given a grade based on their performance in each of this eight categories, which is referred to as a LivScore.

While the report doesn't technically rank the top 100 places, stating "there's no one-size-fits-all," Clifton's LivScore of 771 was the overall 12th-highest on the list.

"Clifton's located in picturesque Passaic County and proximity to New York City make the city a haven for young families and professionals," the report said. "Charming neighborhoods, excellent schools and plenty of outdoor activities contributed to Clifton's strong sense of community."

With a score of 90 out of 100, Clifton received its overall highest individual rating in the amenities category. This score was also the overall highest out of any of the other top 100 cities.

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The report credits this to Clifton's thriving dining scene, mentioning fan favorite eateries like Rutt's Hutt, Matthew's Italian Restaurant, Spuntino Wine Bar, The Barrow House and Sharky's Wings and Raw Bar.

Other spots like Ghost Hawk Brewing Company, Silk City Distillers, Clifton Arts Center and Sculpture Park, Hamilton House Museum, the Clifton Farmers Market, Clifton Commons and Weasel Brook Park were all also said to contribute to this score.

Clifton also received a 78 out of 100 in both the education and health categories. The city also received a 77 for economy, 70 for safety, 62 for housing and cost of living, 43 for transportation and 30 for environment.

Other Northeast cities to make the list include Warwick, Rhode Island (761); Nashua, New Hampshire (730); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (727); Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (696); and Danbury, Connecticut (690).

And overall, the five cities that earned the highest LivScores in the report include Flower Mound, Texas (875); Carmel, Indiana (872); Sugar Land, Texas (854); Naperville, Illinois (841); and Roswell, Georgia (838).

Maddie McGay is the real estate reporter for NorthJersey.com and The Record, covering all things worth celebrating about living in North Jersey. Find her on Instagram @maddiemcgay, on X @maddiemcgayy, and sign up for her North Jersey Living newsletter. Do you have a tip, trend or terrific house she should know about? Email her at MMcGay@gannett.com.