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Article IndexSen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a prime sponsor of the legislation disagrees.
"In the face of daunting national economic challenges, New Jersey has been at the front of the pack in developing new thinking and approaches to staunch the hemorrhaging of jobs and economic activity out of our State," he said. "The initiatives contained in this bill will establish even stronger job growth and business retention policies that ultimately will help create thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity around the state.''
Lesniak said for cities like Newark, the stimulus bill will create tangible development and new tax revenue which will help the state achieve economic progress. He said the smart growth legislation will be the catalyst for an increase in jobs, construction projects and investment opportunities that will not only benefit Newark but all of New Jersey.
Corzine administration officials describe the bill this way.
The Economic Redevelopment and Growth grant program will be established in the state Economic Development Authority. The program will provide incentive grants to developers that will reimburse a portion of taxes generated through the project. This will help fill in financing gaps which represent a part of the total redevelopment project cost for which the developer cannot find other financing.
The bill expands eligibility, clarifies qualifications, and limits certain provisions under the "Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Act." This includes lowering the capital investment threshold from $75 million to $50 million for an owner of a qualified business facility and from $50 million to $17.5 million for a tenant that occupies a leased area of the qualified business.
It also expands the "urban transit hub" definition focusing private investment in transit hubs as a way to complement the infusion of federal stimulus money in vital transportation projects.
In addition, revisions to the Technology Business Tax Certificate Program will increase the transferability and amounts of the new or expanding emerging technology and biotechnology companies' research and development tax credits and net operating losses. These changes include an increase in the maximum lifetime benefit per business from $10 million to $15 million.
The legislation also exempts certain property from the 2.5 percent development fee imposed by the "Statewide Non-Residential Fee Act" and appropriates $15 million to the "New Jersey Affordable Housing Trust Fund. " As a result, the state Department of Community Affairs will have the ability to grant awards or loans to municipalities based on their anticipated use of municipal development fee funds.
To improve financing opportunities of higher education facilities in New Jersey, the bill allows state and county colleges to enter into public-private partnerships for on-campus construction projects. The state Economic Development Authority will be responsible for reviewing and approving all projects, which must be submitted within the next 19 months.
The legislation also provides authorization for certain municipalities to impose special taxes and surcharges to fund redevelopment activities and certain programs.
Certain large, energy-efficient audited manufacturing facilities producing products from post consumer materials will also find relief through a seven year exemption from the sales and use tax on their purchase and use of energy and utility service and from the transitional energy facility assessment unit rate surcharge.
