CAMDEN – A law giving city government state financial oversight has been revived after expiring more than a year ago.
A measure signed by Governor Phil Murphy on Monday spans five years – from January 2020 to January 2025 – over the life of the Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act (MRERA).
It also revised the original law to ban the attractiveness of ratings for projects that benefit from property tax breaks resulting from Camden’s status as a Garden State Growth Zone.
According to an assessment by the State Office of Legislative Services, the change is intended to “stabilize” the collection of payments by the city instead of taxes or PILOTs.
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According to the city’s PILOT agreements, redevelopment projects typically avoid paying full taxes on the improved value of their sites over a 20-year period. Improvements are completely exempt for the first 10 years and then taxed gradually over the next 10 years.
The new law would appeal to the estimated value of improvements only after the property tax exemption ended, according to the OLS. This should lower the city’s cost of dealing with tax disputes, she added.
This change will give the city “a constant and reliable source of income for these properties,” said Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez, a Barrington Democrat who was one of the law’s main sponsors.
The act also continues the MRERA benefits for Camden, allowing it to increase its property tax by 3 percent per year instead of 2 percent. It also positions the city for “funding priorities” for government agencies.
“By extending the MRERA schedule, the bill could provide the City of Camden with more funding from existing state aid programs,” the executive summary said.
The OLS review found that the new law “has the potential to increase government spending,” but the cost was “indefinite” over five years.
MRERA, when first implemented in 2002, placed the Camden government under the control of a federally appointed chief operating officer. Originally held by the late Randy Primas, a former mayor, this position also administered $ 175 million in state aid for the city’s economic development.
The state returned control of city government to elected officials in 2010, but continued to work closely with the community through the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
The benefits of the bill are still needed despite Camden’s advances over the past decade, Cruz-Perez said.
“We can’t confuse the base of the mountain with the summit,” she said.
“What we have seen are the first signs of economic recovery and urban development in Camden. They are not the signs of a city that has completed its transformation,” the senator said in an email.
“The whole goal of MRERA was to rebuild the tax base so Camden could pay its own bills,” said William Spearman, MP, a Camden Democrat. He was also a main sponsor, along with Rep. William Moen Jr., also from Camden.
Spearman found that the value of taxable property in the city has grown from around $ 700 million in 2002 to nearly $ 2 billion today.
“We hope to keep bringing in more companies to raise the tax base so we can stop depending on the state,” said Spearman.
He said the expansion will also allow Camden’s mayor to hold the reins in the city councils, coordinating the city’s economic recovery efforts.
Jim Walsh reports for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times, and the Daily Journal. His interests include crime, courts, and the first news. Reach him at jwalsh@gannettnj.com.
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