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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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I notice that the DIMWIT who kept saying that abated properties have always paid MORE than they would have WITHOUT abtements has long ago shut his mouth. I guess lies start to taste funny after a while.

Does the name JCLAW ring a bell? Or was he/she the Deputy Mayor currently in prison?

Posted on: 2010/9/9 20:57
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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Corrupt (IMO) Jersey City officials should not be allowed to give abatements on funds due the County or Board of Education. Let's see if Christie attacks this? Let's see wno's more corrupt!

Posted on: 2010/9/8 16:06
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... le_governs_citys_aba.html

Tight circle governs city's abatements -- and they only listen to themselves: Morgan

Naomi Bressler, a policy analyst with the think tank New Jersey Policy Perspectives, may have thought that the purpose of an invitation to address the Jersey City council at a caucus meeting last year on Sept. 21 was to discuss the findings and recommendations of her agency on the matter of awarding tax abatements.

Instead, she was bushwhacked by city officials who went into attack mode almost as soon as she opened her mouth.

Then-Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly, Assistant Corporation Counsel Joanne Monahan and several council members pounced on Bressler. They afforded her little opportunity to discuss NJPP's findings -- the thrust of which is the city is handing out abatements in areas that are far from blighted and in the process is losing millions of potential tax dollars for schools and county government.

City government holds on to 95 percent of the "payment in lieu of taxes" charged developers when they are given abatements.

But despite the council's brusque treatment of Bressler, another report on abatements issued last month by the state not only bolsters NJPP's conclusions but claims Jersey City is losing out on collecting nearly $120 million in property taxes from abated properties. That certainly should be food for thought in a city faced with a reputed $80 million budget deficit.

While Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop indicated his desire to discuss the policy implications of the NJPP report, some of his colleagues hammered Bressler on its recommendations and critiques.

Even after Bressler left, Deputy Mayor Rosemary McFadden continued the assault, branding NJPP a gaggle of right-wingers opposed to all government subsidies and promising to issue a PowerPoint refutation of the think tank's report. The consensus among city officials seemed to be that Bressler's organization doesn't have a clue.

Perhaps most alarmingly to city officials, the NJPP report included a recommendation that developers who receive abatements be prohibited from contributing to the campaigns of elected officials.

While Jersey City isn't the only municipality awarding tax abatements, it hands them out quite liberally and its elected officials have, over the years, received millions in campaign donations from developers, especially the ones building on the city's so-called "Gold Coast."

What I've seen over the years is a small group of players tend to dominate the terrain.

In what could be interpreted as a move to inject an element of transparency in the procedure for awarding abatements, former Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham pushed through an ordinance requiring lobbyists for developers to be listed with the City Clerk's Office.

A perusal of the list reveals the law firm of triple threat priest/lawyer/developer Francis Schiller, a longtime player in local politics, represents nearly all but a handful of the developers operating in the city.

Before Schiller, the politically connected attorney Brian Doherty, now deceased, who was also husband of the aforementioned Rosemary McFadden, was the go-to lawyer for the developers.

The NJPP report further recommended limiting abatements to a maximum of 10 years. Currently in Jersey City, abatements can stretch for 20, 30, even 40 years.

About the $120 million in uncollected property taxes and several other matters mentioned in that state comptroller's report -- to be continued.

Posted on: 2010/9/8 13:11
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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onejerseycity.org

State Comptroller Issues Report on Tax Abatements

The NJ Comptroller recently issued a report raising familiar concerns about abuses and uses of municipal tax abatements.

The report talks about the distortion of municipal finances and tax stability, lack of review and compliance, subsidizing market rate residential housing whose residents use city, county and school services without fully contributing to the cost of providing these services and most important ? the overall failure to generate the type of development needed; commercial and industrial that provide long term employment opportunities, living wage jobs and a stable tax base.

For full coverage of the report, please see the Jersey City Independent?s article,
http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... batements-in-jersey-city/

The report can be read here ? http://onejerseycity.org/files/tax_abatement_report.pdf

The report follows on the heels of ?All That Glitters Isn?t Gold: Property Tax Abatements in Jersey City? published last summer by New Jersey Policy Perspectives - http://njpp.org/rpt_glitters.html

Posted on: 2010/9/8 13:07
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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And MY building pays about $400,000 a year "in lieu of taxes" for 325 luxury apartments. Now THAT'S want you call an abatement.

And the schools can can be supported by dumb schmucks in the other parts of the city who don't know how to fight the issue in court. They should learn.

But as long as big developers keep payoffs coming to the City Council, Mayor, and Deputy mayors, they will continue to be allowed NOT to pay their fair share of running the schools, the city and the county. (Gotta love the concept of the SINGLE time the FBI came round with bags of money for the pols, they filled their nets with almost every target they picked....GIMME GIMME!)

They should try again: "Hi, I'm XYZ Chen, Developers of housing...would like to invest 500 Billion in a housing project replacing your Greeniville. Vote me huge tax abatement and I will give you $100,000."
And out will go the REST of City Government.

Abated payments are not taxes, they are payments INSTEAD of taxes. It helps if people get their terms correct.

Posted on: 2010/8/20 16:27
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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Yes.
And you now understand the subject more fully than our City Council.

Posted on: 2010/8/19 21:40
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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I, self admittedly, don't fully understand how Jersey City taxes work, but from what I've read, tax abated properties pay taxes only to the city and don't pay for local schools or county taxes. If tax abated properties don't pay money into the budget for Jersey city schools, where does that money come from? Does it come from property taxes other people pay, or is it coming from some other source? If it is coming from property taxes , and tax abated properties are not contributing towards school funds, then the difference has to be made up somewhere. Isn't one of the largest expenditures in the Jersey City budget our schools?

Posted on: 2010/8/19 19:09
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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The tax abatements are not hurting the city people!!! I live in an abated property and my taxes are over $8000 annually for 1200 sf. My taxes would normally be $10,000.

The developers of my building took a blighted property full of trash and turned into a great place to live. My building contributes over $2,000,000 in taxes annually even with the slight tax break they call an abatement.

Posted on: 2010/8/19 19:03
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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When will our city government stop subsidizing waterfront development at the expense of the taxpayers, homeowners, and small landlords?


When another FBI sting operation puts the mayor, the entire city council, and everyone in the Redevelopment Authority and Tax departments in prison for extortion.

Posted on: 2010/8/19 16:47
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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Perhaps someone will sue the city to remove the blighted designation. Corruption and favoritism are so rampant in Jersey City. I'd gladly donate to a fund that is dedicated to fighting corruption in the People's Republic of Jersey City.

Posted on: 2010/8/19 15:05
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Re: State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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http://onejerseycity.org/?p=579 Tax Abatements ? Colgate Redevelopment Plan Extension With over $1 billion dollars of investment, Jersey City?s Hudson River waterfront area is almost fully built-out, and the Colgate Redevelopment Plan was due to expire in January 2009. Recently, our Municipal Council voted to extend the plan for an additional 20 years, with the sole purpose of being able to continue granting tax abatements on the few remaining parcels of land in the shadow of the Goldman Sachs building. The Council vote implicitly states that this area remains blighted and in need of redevelopment. When will our city government stop subsidizing waterfront development at the expense of the taxpayers, homeowners, and small landlords?

Landuse and Zoning: Colgate Redevelopment Plan Extension from One Jersey City on Vimeo.


Posted on: 2010/8/19 13:49
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State report criticizes tax abatements, cites deals in Bayonne, Hoboken, Jersey City
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Tax abatements have become a method for municipalities generate revenue and compete for development, according to a report released by the state Comptroller?s Office today.

The 30-page report, which calls for reforms of the state law allowing the tax breaks, notes ?significant use? of abatements in Bayonne, Harrison, Hoboken, Jersey City and Union City.

Abatements were meant to spur development in blighted areas, like those deals given to The LeFrak Organization who built Newport along the dilapidated Jersey City waterfront in the 1970s and 1980s, and has plans to expand the development.

But the city?s waterfront, now flush with high rise buildings, is still designated as ?in need of redevelopment,? allowing for the continued use of abatements.

According to the report, ?standards concerning these designations seem to be loosely applied and rarely reviewed.?

The report also notes that short-term abatements have been granted to development that are already completed.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy defended the city?s use of abatements saying it has helped the city become ?the economic engine of the state.?

?As we continue to compete with places like New York City and Brooklyn to attract high profile companies to our city, we will continue to judiciously use tax abatements to foster growth and jobs in our city,? Healy said in a statement.

But state Comptroller A. Matthew Boxer said abatements take tax dollars away from school districts and counties, displacing the tax burden.

For example, Bayonne granted an abatement to a power station in November that would give the city 95 percent of $45 million in payments in lieu of taxes over 30 years. The municipality would have collected $27 million in traditional taxes during that period. The county will get 5 percent of the abatement and the school district gets nothing.

?When the entity in charge of deciding who receives a tax break knows it will profit from its decision regardless of its merits, that?s a recipe for poor decision-making,? Boxer said in a statement. ?Abatements should be granted only when the public at large will come out the winner.?

In a letter to Boxer?s office, Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith argues that the project is a win for taxpayers because it will generate revenue for the Municipal Utilities Authority and it would not impact the school district or county services.

?I believe that your analysis of abatements may miss the mark if you focus on the benefits to a public body with or without the abatement,? he wrote.

According to the report, Jersey City exempts about $2 billion of property value and as a result doesn?t collect about $120 million in taxes on those properties.

According to county tax records, in 2009 Hudson County received about 25 percent of the taxes collected in Jersey City. While the county still receives 5 percent of the funds collected under abatements, the does not amount to the $30 million it would collect in taxes, the report states.

The report notes that abatements can make school districts rely more on state aid.

For example, Hoboken received $8.73 million in state aid and is slated to get $6.9 million in 2010-11, a decrease of $1.74 million, according to the report.

But if not for abatements on properties valued at $298 million, the district would get $3.51 million in taxes, more than double its cut in aid, the report states.
Recommendations

Sen. Michael Doherty, R-23rd of Warren County, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee has asked the state Office of Legislative Services to draft legislation that would address Boxer?s concerns.

The report recommends the restructuring of payments under abatements. Under the law, municipalities receive 95 percent of the payment in lieu of taxes, counties 5 percent and school district receive nothing.

The report calls for county government to be more involved in granting abatements better manage tax impacts and prevent one municipality from ?poaching? a developer from another.

The report also calls for school districts and tax-payers to be move involved in the process and for greater transparency and review of abatements.

It also says abatement terms should be no longer than necessary to attract development and ?should be strictly limited to areas that are truly in need of rehabilitation or redevelopment.?

The report recommends the state should have an increased role in monitoring tax abatement practices.

http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ss ... erfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Posted on: 2010/8/18 22:22
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