Bill A-3451

This new bill is one whose focus is to improve the quality of service within an urban enterprise zone (“UEZ”), within the State of New Jersey. I am currently working with the administration of the city of Plainfield and other programs across the state in order to successfully implement this bill. Our goal is for this bill to engage these zones in the perpetuation of excelling as a vendor, as well as increasing wealth, revenue, and worth.

This bill makes several changes to the law governing the urban enterprise zone (“UEZ”) program to do the following: 1) eliminate, for new firms in an existing UEZ or UEZ-impacted district employing under five full-time employees that seek eligibility as a “qualified business,” requirements that the firm’s employees meet certain residency or low-income criteria, or recently have been unemployed or received public assistance benefits; 2) require, on a quarterly basis, the distribution of interest income from the UEZ Assistance Fund to be applied to UEZs in municipalities receiving financial assistance under the “Special Municipal Aid Act,” P.L.1987, c.75 (C.52:27D-118.24 et seq.) for use by those UEZs for project financing or administrative purposes; 3) during any fiscal year immediately following a fiscal year of reduced rate UEZ revenues, require the State Treasurer to dedicate all revenues from reduced rate sales and use tax collections in the fund account of any UEZ that generates less than $5 million in annual sales and use tax revenue; 4) reduce the frequency with which firms must certify eligibility, as a “qualified business,” for UEZ benefits from annually to every three years after initial certification, and provide that if a qualified business is determined to be out of compliance, the business shall have six months to take necessary action to be in compliance before any reduced rate sales and use tax or other UEZ benefits are discontinued; 5) require the UEZ authority to undertake a program performance study which compares the UEZ program’s performance prior to and after the implementation of P.L.2006, c.34 and the impact of the changes to the program upon the implementation of the provisions of this bill, and to update the latter portion of the study within 30 days after the end of the third State fiscal year following the effective date of the bill; and 6) remove a requirement that a municipality exclude the cost of “eligible municipal services,” as defined under the act, from the 35 percent municipal service cap in order for such costs to be deemed an eligible municipal service.