Gibbons Law Alert
A bill that would add the Port District of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to the definition of “wind energy zones” in the newly adopted Offshore Wind Economic Development Act, was reported out of the Senate Budge and Appropriations Committee on September 13, 2010. The amendment would allow tax credits for qualified wind energy facilities in the Port District.
With energy costs high and the focus on combating global warming, there is an impetus toward encouraging the development of Green Buildings. Buildings account for 39% of the total energy usage in the U.S., two thirds of the electricity consumption and 1/8 of the water usage. Building codes, setting minimum standards for construction, now include standards for energy efficiency. Green Codes are creeping in.
On September 8, 2010, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a new law that will require owners of multiple dwellings to provide the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) with their names, business and residential addresses and telephone numbers on an annual basis. The law also requires all shareholders who hold at least 25% of a corporation, partnership or limited liability company to comply with the disclosure requirements as well. Finally, the law mandates that a U.S. postal service mail box can not be used as a valid address.
On September 2, 2010, Americans for Prosperity staged a rally in front of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority windmills to protest against offshore wind turbines as a waste of taxpayer money. Ironically, according to the ACUA, its five wind turbines save it $600,000 a year in electricity bills. The protest comes less than one month after Governor Christie signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act into law. The Offshore Wind Economic Development Act establishes an offshore wind renewable energy certificate program that will require a percentage of electricity sold in NJ to come from offshore wind energy. New Jersey hopes that the new law will spur economic development and job growth in the state.
The New Jersey State Comptroller released a report Wednesday entitled “A Programmatic Examination of Municipal Tax Abatements.” The Comptroller’s report is critical of both five year abatements and long term abatements granted by municipalities and was being widely reported in the press yesterday. Referring to five year abatements (NJSA 40A-21-1 et seq.) and long term abatements (NJSA 40A-20-1 et seq.), the Comptroller’s report finds “numerous weaknesses in the regulation, implementation and oversight of these programs” including: PILOTs paid to municipalities are at the expense of counties, school districts and other taxpayers; there is lack of transparency and centralization of information about abatement agreements; criteria and processes for evaluating potential abatement agreements are weak; directly affected stakeholders are not adequately involved in the decision making process; municipal follow up on abatement terms and benefits is lacking; redevelopment areas in which abatements are granted are not periodically reviewed to account for neighborhood changes or improvement; municipalities often fail to use abatements to bring in the type of redevelopment that would address community needs or bring appropriate improvement; and the State does not closely monitor the use of abatements or offer significant guidance to municipalities on how to interpret relevant statutes or implement abatement programs.
Senate Bill S-1, which revises and reforms many of the statutes relating to affordable housing in New Jersey, was voted out of the Senate Economic Growth Committee on June 3rd with amendments. S-1 would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and would allow municipalities to administer their own affordable housing obligations. S-1 would eliminate State imposed calculations of affordable housing need and would permit local governments to take charge of planning for affordable housing.