Tag Archives: taxes

City Council, taxes

City Council vote on budget Monday

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After holding a public hearing on the municipal budget last month, the City Council is expected to vote on the spending plan at its meeting on Monday at 7 p.m.

The 2011 budget, which runs through June, is $44.9 million, with approximately $31.1 million (up from $29.7 million last year) coming from property taxes. The governing body held a public hearing on the budget at its January meeting but tabled approval of the spending plan until the February meeting. The overall budget is up about 1.3 percent from last year while last year’s budget was up about 4.5 percent.

The average home, assessed at $133,000, paid roughly $2,280 in municipal taxes last year, and that total is expected to rise by about 6 percent, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier. A 6-percent increase would bump last year’s average municipal taxes paid by about $136, for a total of almost $2,416.

Municipal taxes generally make up about a quarter of the overall tax bill, with another quarter from county taxes and half from school taxes.

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In case you missed it, the Merck-Schering-Plough merger, announced almost two years ago, looks like it will mean some of Merck’s Rahway employees, as well as some in Summit and Union, will be moved to Kenilworth eventually. The firm plans to convert its Kenilworth campus into a research center focused on biologics, according to this Star-Ledger report last month. Some 580 manufacturing jobs will be lost while another 900 employees in marketing, HR and legal will move to the headquarters in Whitehouse Station.

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City Council, taxes

Hearing on 2011 municipal budget tonight

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City Council tonight will hold a public hearing on the 2011 municipal budget during its regular meeting tonight at 7 p.m.

The $44.9-million budget will raise approximately $31.1 million from property taxes. Officials tout that appropriations have increased only 1.3 percent over last year while being below the state-mandated caps, though the exact impact of the budget on the average assessed home is unclear.

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Sunday’s Star-Ledger had this story that examines Rahway’s redevelopment efforts over the years and the state of downtown. I’m not sure I would call the 50-unit St. Georges Avenue apartment complex that went up in flames this month a “symbolic achievement” as much as other downtown projects, like the 222-unit Carriage City Plaza or 159-unit Park Square (which didn’t even warrant a mention in the piece). What did everyone else think?

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City Council, taxes

State of the City 2011

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In this first State of the City address, Mayor Rick Proctor pledged to continue redevelopment focused on the arts, remove barriers to stimulate revitalization and recruit new business and redevelopment projects while beginning to actively market the city.

Continue reading State of the City 2011 →

City Council, Commercial, Downtown, Retail, taxes

Breakdown of SID taxes

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Catching up on some older items during this slow week, the City Council last month approved a 2010 budget of about $130,000 for the Special Improvement District (SID).

Continue reading Breakdown of SID taxes →

taxes

No tax abatement for The Savoy, Dornoch

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News that the Plainfield City Council last month was asked by the administration for a five-year, 40-percent tax abatement for a Dornoch project in that city has prompted questions from readers in recent weeks about whether the Hillside-based developer will seek the same for The Savoy on Main Street. (The Plainfield governing body was scheduled to entertain the measure at its meeting last night.)

City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier said Dornoch had requested abatements in negotiations this past summer, but he said he rejected it, with no plans to entertain the idea.

The only recent tax abatement awarded by the City Council was about five or six years ago when Park Square was still just on the drawing board. Landmark Developors will pay 20 percent of the assessed value of the property in the first year it’s on the tax rolls (2009), and 20 percent more each year until 100 percent is reached. Pelissier said the city tax assessor is in the process of compiling the first assessment for the property, which would mean it would be paying 100 percent property taxes by 2013. The project broke ground in 2007 after several years of land acquisition and other work for the development.

Also, this interactive map from P and F Management (a subsidiary or parent entity of some kind for Dornoch and its projects) is another indication that The Savoy may become rentals, something with which the city probably would not have a problem considering the real estate market and other projects going rental.

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taxes

Hotel tax revenue spikes

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The city realized about $22,000 more than originally budgeted for hotel tax revenues in the $42-million municipal budget that was passed last month.

The city collected $58,000 in hotel tax revenue, about 61 percent more than the $36,000 originally planned in the 2009 budget, which ends June 30. Sixth Ward Councilman Samson Steinman confirmed the increase with the city administration during last month’s public hearing on the budget. He attributed the boost in revenue from about three months of operation by Hotel Indigo at SkyView, as well as the new Best Western on Paterson Street, off Routes 1&9.

The state imposes a 5-percent hotel tax and municipalities are allowed to impose an additional levy of their own of as much as 3 percent. The hotel tax was created during the McGreevey administration in 2003 and Rahway enacted the local tax effective Nov. 1, 2003.

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Congratulations to the last two readers who subscribed by email; we now have more than 200 subscribers by email. And, after 18 months, we’re approaching our 200th post.

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Carriage City Plaza, City Council, tax appeals, taxes

Tax appeal settlement approved

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City Council approved a tax appeal settlement Monday night with Carriage City Properties. Details on the settlement can be found in this earlier post.

Property taxes would be paid whether units are occupied or not, and the developer would be responsible for taxes on any units it owns, said City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier.

During the Feb. 3 pre-meeting conference of City Council, Third Ward Councilman Jerry Scaturo raised the issue of Carriage City Properties leasing its unsold units. Sky View began marketing a lease-to-buy option, starting at $1,250 a month for one-bedroom units.

Pelissier said it’s not a concern from the standpoint of wanting to see people moving into the community. “It’s better than having…units sitting empty,” he said. If the units are occupied, the $10,000 fee owed to the Redevelopment Agency should be paid, said Pelissier, adding that the agency is seeking is a formal request from the developer to clarify the redevelopment agreement. Originally the developer, Elizabeth-based Silcon Group., was to pay the $10,000 fee upon closing of each unit.

About 57 units have closed at Sky View, according to the Parking Authority records, while the Redevelopment Agency has been paid for 46 units and 78 temporary certificates of occupancy (TCO) have been issued by the city, Pelissier said. It’s unclear how many units are rented, he said. The 16-story complex has more than 200 units in all.
By my count, about 48 units have sold (less than a quarter) at an average of almost $292,000, a high of $444,000 and a low of $216,350 (which happens to be the most recent sale I’m aware of).

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City Council, tax appeals, taxes

Settlement near on tax appeal

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Carriage City Plaza will pay almost $1 million annually in property taxes under a tax appeal settlement reached with the city.

The settlement, which is expected to gain City Council approval Monday night, calls for Carriage City to pay $350,000 in taxes for its partial assessment for 2008. In addition, it will pay $100,000 toward the approximately $350,000 that’s owed to the city as part of intersection improvements and signalization, among other things.

Starting with 2009, property taxes for the site will be about $978,000 at full assessment, City Administrator/Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier after Tuesday night’s conference council meeting. The total assessment for the property is about $59 million, with $2 million for the retail space, $6 million for the hotel and the remainder for the 220 residential units. By comparison, Pelissier said, Merck & Co.’s property is assessed at about $277 million.

The reduced assessments primarily came in the residential components of the project, Pelissier said, adding that once the retail portions are fully developed, those parts will see increased assessments. The original assessment was about $60 million, which would have generated $1.2 million in property tax revenue.

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