Friends of Rahway Business, LLC
Rahway Rising
http://www.rahwayrising.com/sid-tax-would-expand-beyond-downtown
Currently, the SID covers almost 140 properties in the downtown Central Business District (CBD) but under the proposed changes, some 440 commercial and industrial properties as well as apartments/cooperatives (properties classified as 4A, 4B and 4C) would fall under the SID and its taxing authority.
Managed by the Rahway Arts District board, the SID generates $130,000 annually for activities, events, promotions and other items within the downtown district. Expanding the tax to almost four times as many properties (a list is included in the ordinance) would generate vastly more revenue, in the neighborhood of $600,000 or $700,000.
Almost five years ago, City Council shifted the management of the SID – and accompanying tax revenue – from the Rahway Center Partnership, after it dissolved, to the Rahway Arts District.
RAHWAY – Raffio A. Giacobbe, a long time local real estate owner, supports the local Special Improvement District program in the downtown area.
But Giacobbe feels there were too many questions left unanswered before City Council members voted Monday to expand the SID program to nearly 400 businesses located throughout the city, from Route 1 to St. Georges Avenue.
Giaccobbe said the budget for the new expanded district was not advertised, the properties in the expanded SID appear to cover the whole city, rather than a specified area, and some business owners had not been fully informed on what inclusion in the SID would mean to them.
"There is a guy with a trucking business on Leesville Avenue. What will it (the SID) do for him," Giacobbe said.
Members of the Rahway Chamber of Commerce had sought to have the vote postponed until early next year.
http://unionnewsdaily.com/news/rahwau/16021
City Administrator Cheron Roundtre addressed the concerns speakers had.
“A SID does what a city can’t provide for in their regular budget,“ Roundtree said, explaining most recently the city held Winter Wonderland, which drew thousands of people to Rahway.
The city administrator also mentioned that the Rahway Arts District had been managing the SID, city officials recommended the name be changed to “Rahway Development Company.”
Roundtree explained that they expect the SID tax to go down from .35 to 30 cents per $100 of assessed value as a result of expanding the borders.
“What that means is the average property owner in the SID will pay $981 a year, or $75 a month,” she added, but noted the SID tax rate is not set until the 2015 budget is approved.
The city administrator also explained the expanded SID would provide improvements and benefits for everyone in Rahway, but delaying it would set things back and change the budget process for 2015.