Where does the PILOT money from the abatements go? Doesn't it go into some general City Hall slush fund?

Understand the mindset of the crooked Council, excluding Fulop:

They're not very bright, they don't know economics/finance beyond a rinky dink level, they know that the majority of JC citizens are apathetic/don't vote, they've flown under the radar for years with nickel and dime graft, AND they're absolutely counting on this current outrage to fizzle out.

They figure that the loud crowd will get frustrated by the slow pace of change and everything will blow over. They figure the media will latch on to something else since there's not likely to be much more coming out of this one.

They're praying every night that some other scandal comes along to take the heat off them.

What this town needs are bigtime journalists doing simple due diligence to figure out just how crooked this city council is. I mean from what I've read on these boards Vega has an upstate NY mansion, a couple pads in Brazil and an art collection. How much does he make in salary? Did he play the market like a fiddle? I doubt it and I'm certain a NYT or WSJ type journalist could probably unearth the cash trail.

The way I see it, if this thing blows over than JC has absolutely no chance of ever changing. It'll roll back over to it's pre-brownstone fever malaise and there'll be a lot of underwater brownstone and condo owners paying exorbitant property taxes.

The fact is that the public has been deeply suspicious of how these abatements are negotiated, or renegotiated. Given that the Council President sat on this closed door committee the public's instinct to be distrustful was right.

The truth is these abatements have veryh serious financial consequences. No one from the administration has yet to provide any evidence that these new refinanced abatements are affordable. They aren't providing any evidence because there isn't any.


Shelley Skinner

I had to check the calender. It is august 1. Not april 1. Obviously healy&co fail to understand the public's perception of the abetements and the lack of trust and confidence the corruption scandal is leading to.

All the more reason to protest TuesdayQuote:

First they should provide evidence that the new abatement given to Crystal Point has made any difference in sales.

Second, Healy's actions are very suspicious.

SO, who is up for a protest in front of City Hall?? Hoboken kicked our ass with all the protests to boot the Mayor. You pissed? Well make your voices heard outside of this message board! Who's in?

Healy is getting kick-backs, I'll put my balls on it.

It will not be a direct kick-back, but one to his family or friends that is in-direct. Healy will cover his tracks and a through investigation on any holdings or shares in his or family names, will see the light of day - An audit on all his bank (family and childrens) accounts and phone calls will be an eye opener.

The info below is direct from the Director's office of Jersey City Housing Economic Development and Commerce written by a Deputy Director.

-----

The Existing abatement is a 20 year tax abatement at 16% of gross revenue. They will change the agreement to 30 years at 11% for the first 5 years, 13% for the next 5 years, and then back to 16%.

The project has not lowered sale prices.

Thanks for posting T-Bird.

Yes this outrageous on so many different levels. We received the recommendation last week before the council and I will post the details in the next post on jclist. In many ways the issues of the last few weeks is part of a larger problem which is the mentality of "business as usual" - regardless of circumstance. This is at the core of what needs to change.

----------------
Councilman Fulop Slams New Abatement Recommendation from Mariano Vega?s Tax Abatement Committee

(Jersey City- Thursday, July 30, 2009): The Healy administration has forwarded a recommendation for yet another sweetheart tax abatement deal for the project at 77 Hudson. This is coming on the heels of an 11.25% citywide property tax increase, a controversial Tax abatement to bail out a developer with slow sales and the arrest of seven key members of this administration including Deputy Mayor Beldini and Council President Mariano Vega.

?This is a situation remarkably similar to Crystal Pointe (council vote 6-3) where I warned that if the Healy Administration with Councilman Vega at the helm of this committee, bails out one developer, every single developer will ask for the same.? Said Councilman Fulop. ?The Healy Team, including Councilman Vega, needs to start putting the tax payers first because these big developer giveaways are getting out of control.?

The recommendation for 77 Hudson which is near completion, has an existing tax abatement subsidy to help the developer with sales.

Fulop added, ?Nowhere in the long term tax abatement law does it permit the use of a tax abatement to bail out slow sales. The Healy Team on the council and in the Mayor?s office has clearly not learned from the mistakes that caused 44 arrests last week, and continues to bail out their deep pocketed friends at the expense of taxpayers in Jersey City.

?This abatement recommendation needs to be scrapped and new hearings need to start that include transparency and public comments. The council supported my resolution yesterday for transparency in the tax abatement process and we call on the Mayor to include this abatement in that process,? concluded Fulop.

This is wrong, 77 hudson is still at ~$700/sqf, which is significantly higher than the market price for a luxury new construction (including CP).

They dont need a bailout, they need to reduce the price. The abatement only makes sense if the developer has already reduced the price to well below market and still cannot sale, which is clearly not the case here.

There are so much anger and protest, yet nothing ever gets done about healy and his goons, even with the recent fbi arrests. They continue to rule as they please.

Absolutely pathetic if this happens. Homeowners are getting absolutely screwed by Vega and his tax abatement granting cronies.

77 Hudson is in the most prime area of JC and is also very high end. Hovanian is a big company and can take their licks, it's not like they're new to this game. They just know a crooked govt when they see one and are taking full advantage.

Councilman Fulop Slams New Abatement Recommendation from Mariano Vega?s Tax Abatement Committee

(Jersey City- Thursday, July 30, 2009): The Healy administration has forwarded a recommendation for yet another sweetheart tax abatement deal for the project at 77 Hudson. This is coming on the heels of an 11.25% citywide property tax increase, a controversial Tax abatement to bail out a developer with slow sales and the arrest of seven key members of this administration including Deputy Mayor Beldini and Council President Mariano Vega.
?This is a situation remarkably similar to Crystal Pointe (council vote 6-3) where I warned that if the Healy Administration with Councilman Vega at the helm of this committee, bails out one developer, every single developer will ask for the same.? Said Councilman Fulop. ?The Healy Team, including Councilman Vega, needs to start putting the tax payers first because these big developer giveaways are getting out of control.?
The recommendation for 77 Hudson which is near completion, has an existing tax abatement subsidy to help the developer with sales.
Fulop added, ?Nowhere in the long term tax abatement law does it permit the use of a tax abatement to bail out slow sales. The Healy Team on the council and in the Mayor?s office has clearly not learned from the mistakes that caused 44 arrests last week, and continues to bail out their deep pocketed friends at the expense of taxpayers in Jersey City.
?This abatement recommendation needs to be scrapped and new hearings need to start that include transparency and public comments. The council supported my resolution yesterday for transparency in the tax abatement process and we call on the Mayor to include this abatement in that process,? concluded Fulop.