City Council approved a Special Improvement District (SID) budget of $325,000 for 2021 that ultimately aims to ramp up programming and capital improvements.

Become a Patron of RahwayRising.com

The governing body adopted a resolution (AR-101) for the SID’s operating budget during its March 8 regular meeting, held via Zoom. The SID is managed by the Rahway Arts & Business Partnership (RABP).

The proposed tax levy of $325,000 would fund an operating budget for the SID, with the largest increase over 2019 being in programming and improvements:

• Salaries and wages, $127,000 ($86,000)
• Programming/improvements, $110,000 ($8,300)
• Debt service, $42,000 ($0)
• Fringe benefits, $26,000 ($22,800)
• Administrative/operating, $20,000 ($22,800)

“What we were hoping to get back to is more traditional SID activities, start doing some capital work that needs to be done,” City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Robert Landolfi said during a telephone interview last week. “I think what we’re going to have to do is wait a little longer and see how COVID plays out,” he said.

Last year, City Council approved a $130,000 budget for the SID, which was in line with what it’s been historically, when the SID encompassed only about 140 businesses in the downtown area.

Since it was created in the early 1990s, the SID levied an additional roughly 7 percent property tax on about 138 properties downtown. City Council in 2014 aimed to expand the SID to more than 400 properties citywide but several business owners filed suit, sparking a five-year legal fight that ended in 2019. In the face of the pandemic a year ago, the assessment was expanded to properties citywide but reduced dramatically, which Landolfi said will be continued this year.

In 2019, the SID assessment was $0.266 per $100 of assessed value on $49,049,500, which generated $130,472, according to the Union County Abstract of Ratables. The assessment was lowered to $0.100 per $100 in 2020 but across a larger number of properties — $251,458,950 in assessments —  which generated $251,459.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider supporting RahwayRising.com by becoming a Patron.