5-year tax abatement ordinance passes unchanged
'People that don’t support it don’t support businesses in the city'
A city tax abatement ordinance tabled for further review after members of the public voiced opposition to it was voted into law Wednesday.
Members of the Asbury Park City Council again split their votes 3-2 on the measure. Mayor Myra Campbell and Council members John Loffredo and Susan Henderson voted yes. Council members Amy Quinn and John Moor voted no.
“People that don’t support it don’t support businesses in the city,” Councilwoman Sue Henderson told the Sun. She also pointed out larger cities like New York have ordinances that grant 10-year tax abatements.
Discussion about the state’s 5-year abatement and exemption law began in November, before the existing ordinance expired Dec. 31 of last year. The original ordinance was adopted over 10 years ago and renewed in 2008.
Under the law, cities that qualify may adopt an ordinance to provide local property tax abatement or exemptions. The law allows those municipalities to offer diverse abatement and exemption options to improvements made to residential, commercial and industrial structures — the ultimate goal being to increase the ratable base over time.
The diversity of the options act as a menu of sorts, allowing individual municipalities that qualify to create their own exemptions, redevelopment attorney Glen Scotland told member of the City Council at the Nov. 28 meeting.
Since that time, City Council members have discussed renewing the ordinance both as-is and with modifications.
Of debate was the shift in the tax burden incurred by city taxpayers within the 5-year period any project is under the abatement — as they inflate the tax rate due to the lower ratable base — and whether the 5-year abatement offer actually attracts businesses who would have otherwise not come to the city if the abatement was not offered.
“The parties who participated in the abatement were already here or would have come anyway, so it is not effective in helping grow Asbury Park’s economy,” Councilwoman Amy Quinn said in an email to the Sun. “Knowing that, why would anyone support a policy that passes the burden onto individual taxpayers? I want our economy to grow, but I will not support continuing a program that only works in theory.”
It passed a first reading as-is, with members of the council splitting their votes 3-2 in favor of but was tabled after members of the public expressed opposition to it at the public hearing before a final vote was taken.
The measure was taken off the table and voted on without modifications at last night’s council meeting.
“We’re leaving the ordinance the way it is,” said Councilman John Loffredo.
[Correction: A previous version of this article stated the abatement ordinance expired on Jan. 31 of last year, it expired on Dec. 31 of last year.]
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