Bill Text: NJ A4806 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits municipalities to authorize programs encouraging local shopping through property tax rewards; validates certain related municipal actions.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-12 - Approved P.L.2021, c.99. [A4806 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4806-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman NICHOLAS CHIARAVALLOTI
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Permits municipalities to authorize property tax reward programs; validates actions of municipalities that have created them.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act permitting and validating municipal property tax reward programs, supplementing Title 40 of the Revised Statutes, and amending R.S.54:4-65.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. As used in this section:
"Annual rebate" means the annual reimbursement of all rewards earned by a participating customer in a property tax reward program between May 1 and April 30.
"Operator" means a private entity designated by a municipality to operate a property tax reward program.
"Participating business" means a business, located within a municipality that has established a property tax reward program, which business has agreed to provide rewards to participating customers based on purchases of goods or services by those participating customers.
"Participating customer" means a municipal resident, a municipal employee, a person who is employed in the municipality, or a resident of another municipality, who has registered with the operator of a property tax reward program to earn rewards under the program through the purchase of goods or services from participating businesses.
"Reward" means the percentage of a total purchase price earned by a participating customer when that customer makes a purchase at a participating business.
b. The governing body of a municipality, by resolution, may authorize the creation, and the operation in the municipality, of a property tax reward program to provide annual rebates to participating customers who purchase goods or services from participating businesses located in the municipality. The municipality shall designate a private entity to serve as operator of the property tax reward program. The operator shall solicit participation in the program from businesses located in the municipality. Participation in the property tax reward program by businesses located in the municipality shall be voluntary. Each participating business shall determine, and shall inform the program operator of, the amount of the reward to be provided to participating customers.
c. The operator shall offer a reward card to municipal residents, municipal employees, persons who are employed in the municipality, and, upon request, to residents of other municipalities. A property tax reward program created pursuant to this section shall not charge a fee for participation in the program to any participating customer. The recipient of a reward card may become a participating customer by registering with the program operator to participate in the program. A participating customer shall present a reward card at a participating business when making a purchase of goods or services in order to earn a reward for that purchase from that participating business. The program operator shall, in writing, notify participating customers of the businesses participating in the program, and the percentage of the reward to be provided by each participating business. The operator shall also maintain this information on a website.
d. A participating business shall pay the amount of the rewards earned by participating customers to the operator, plus a separate administrative fee per transaction to the operator. The amount of the annual rebate earned by a participating customer shall equal the total amount of all rewards earned by that participating customer between May 1st and April 30th of the following year.
e. No later than June 1st annually, the operator shall provide the municipal tax collector with a list of program participants who are property owners and the dollar amount of the annual rebate earned by each property owner between May 1st and April 30th; and shall also transfer to the municipal tax collector the total dollar value of all annual rebates earned by those property owners between May 1st and April 30th. The tax collector shall note on the property tax bill of each participating customer the amount of the annual rebate earned and paid to the tax collector, and shall subtract that amount from the total amount of property taxes due and payable on the property for the tax year.
No later than June 1st annually, the operator shall issue to each participating customer who is not a property owner within the municipality a rebate check for the amount of the annual rebate earned by the participating customer between May 1st and April 30th.
f. All actions taken by the governing body of a municipality prior to the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to authorize the creation and operation of a property tax reward program in the municipality, are hereby ratified and affirmed as valid acts of the municipality.
2. R.S.54:4-65 is amended to read as follows:
54:4-65. a. The Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall approve the form and content of property tax bills.
b. (1) Each tax bill shall have printed thereon a brief tabulation showing the distribution of the amount raised by taxation in the taxing district, in such form as to disclose the rate per $100.00 of assessed valuation or the number of cents in each dollar paid by the taxpayer which is to be used for the payment of State school taxes, other State taxes, county taxes, local school expenditures, free public library taxes, and other local expenditures. The last named item may be further subdivided so as to show the amount for each of the several departments of the municipal government. In lieu of printing such information on the tax bill, any municipality may furnish the tabulation required hereunder and any other pertinent information in a statement accompanying the mailing or delivery of the tax bill.
(2) When a parcel receives a homestead property tax credit pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.18A:7F-37 et al.), the amount of the credit shall be included with the tax calculation as a reduction in the total tax calculation for the year. One-half of the amount of the credit shall be deducted from taxes otherwise due for the third installment and the remaining one-half shall be deducted from taxes otherwise due for the fourth installment.
(3) There shall be included on or with the tax bill the delinquent interest rate or rates to be charged and any end of year penalty that is authorized and any other such information that the director may require from time to time.
(4) In municipalities wherein a property tax reward program is operational, there shall be included on or with the tax bill the amount of the property tax reward as a credit against property taxes due and payable by a property owner who participates in the program. The property tax reward program shall be identified on the tax bill as the source of the property tax credit.
c. The tax bill shall also include a statement about the availability, on the Internet website of the Department of Community Affairs, of the amounts of State aid and assistance received by the municipality, school districts, special districts, free public libraries, county governments that offset property taxes that are otherwise due on each parcel, along with a statement about the availability, on the Internet website of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, of a listing of, and eligibility requirements for, the various State property tax relief programs. The tax bill shall also include the links to the Internet websites of the Department of Community Affairs and the Division of Taxation containing this information. The director shall cause the amounts of said State aid and assistance that shall serve as the basis for the calculation for each parcel to be displayed on the Internet website of the Department of Community Affairs. The director shall set standards for the display of the statement on the tax bill.
d. The tax bill or form mailed with the tax bill shall include thereon the date upon which each installment is due.
e. If a property tax bill includes in its calculation a homestead property tax credit, the bill shall, in addition to the calculation showing taxes due, either display a notice concerning the credit on the face of the property tax bill or with a separate notice, with the content and wording as the director provides.
f. (1) At the sole discretion of the municipality, the tax bill may also include a statement listing the number and type of shared services entered into by the municipality, the dollar value of the savings to the municipality from each of those shared services, and a total amount of municipal savings resulting from those shared services. The statement shall be in a format promulgated by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(2) On or before the first day of the third month next following the enactment of P.L.2019, c.393, the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall promulgate the format for the shared services statement permitted to be placed on the tax bill by a municipality pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.393, s.1)
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall serve as a retroactive validation of all property tax reward programs approved by municipalities prior to the effective date of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would permit municipalities to authorize, by resolution, the creation, and the operation in the municipality, of a property tax reward program. The program would be structured as a local merchant loyalty program and marketed as an economic development tool to encourage people who live in and around the municipality to shop at businesses located in the municipality.
A property tax reward program created under the bill would provide cash rewards to municipal residents, municipal employees, people who are employed in the municipality, and residents of other municipalities who choose to participate in the program ("participating customers" in the bill), when they purchase goods or services from businesses located in the municipality that agree to provide cash rewards under the property tax reward program. The program would be operated by a private entity designated by the municipality.
The property tax reward program would operate through the use of a reward card. After receiving a reward card, an individual would register his or her participation with the program operator, and then "go shopping," using their reward card when making purchases at participating businesses in order to earn rewards, which are calculated as a percentage of the total sale by a participating customer at a participating business. The operator of the program would advise program participants of the identities of the businesses participating in the program, and the amount of the reward to be provided on each business transaction between the business and the program participant. A property tax reward program created pursuant to the bill could not charge a fee for participation in the program to any cardholder. Essentially, the program costs are paid by participating merchants.
Participation in the property tax reward program by businesses located in the municipality would be voluntary. Each business offering rewards under a program would determine, and would inform the program operator of, the amount of the rebate to be provided by the business after each business transaction to participants in the program. A participating business would pay the amount of the rewards earned by customers participating in the program to the program operator, plus a separate administrative fee for the services of the operator.
The amount of the annual rebate earned by a participating customer would equal the total amount of all rewards earned by that participating customer between May 1st and April 30th.
No later than June 1 annually, the operator would provide the municipal tax collector with a list of program participants who are property owners and the dollar amount of the annual rebate earned by each property owner between May 1st and April 30th; and would transfer to the municipal tax collector the total dollar value of all annual rebates earned by those property owners between May 1st and April 30th. The tax collector would note on the property tax bill of each participating customer the amount of the annual rebate earned, and would subtract that amount from the total amount of property taxes due and payable on the property for the tax year.
No later than June 1st annually, the operator would issue to each participating customer who is not a property owner within the municipality a rebate check for the amount of the annual rebate earned by the participating customer between May 1st and April 30th.
Essentially, the bill codifies current practice. Many municipalities have created, or will soon create, property tax reward programs during the next year, but only one municipality, Marlboro Township in Monmouth County, has actually provided "rebates" under its program, which began operation on September 12, 2012. Between that date and April 30, 2013 (it should be noted that the program was disrupted for three weeks due to Superstorm Sandy), program participants in the "Shop Marlboro" program earned property tax "rebates" that totaled $20,000 on sales of $360,000 from Marlboro businesses. In any municipal program, the amount of each program participant's annual reward will depend on how many times goods or services are purchased from local businesses and the reward percentage offered by those businesses.
The program authorized by this bill will allow property tax payers to lower their out-of-pocket property tax payments by supporting local businesses and receiving monetary rewards from those businesses for that support, and non-property taxpayers (such as renters or people who work in a municipality offering the program but who live elsewhere) can use the program to earn a cash rebate that will help them pay their property taxes in their own municipalities. Local businesses will benefit from increased business generated from program participants who shop in their stores or at their businesses in order to earn reward dollars.
