What Is A Tax Abatement?

What is a Municipal Tax Abatement?

"Each year in New Jersey, municipal governments forego hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue through reductions of or exemptions from taxes in the name of economic and community development. Referred to as tax abatements, these exemptions are granted typically to businesses and developers to encourage them to make improvements to property or to locate a project in a distressed or blighted area. The impact of such abatements is significant and far reaching and the financial stakes are high, involving billions of dollars in New Jersey property value. Despite these high stakes, in New Jersey little is done to monitor the use of such abatements, to ensure that they are appropriately awarded, or to determine whether they achieve their purposes.

Tax abatements result in significant foregone revenue and introduce tax inequities that deserve closer scrutiny. The recommendations in this report are geared toward broad based changes that will help to ensure more open and fair investment of taxpayer dollars and better decisions and outcomes in the future..."  A. Matthew Boxer, State Comptroller.

A few days ago, I commented on 2 stories in northjersey.com and my comments were deleted in less than an hour. The articles highlighted the fact that our City Council is planning to borrow millions in order to pay tax rebates to big developers that are slowly devouring our City. Deleted were the questions that are burning in the minds of many residents, especially homeowners. What is in it for the homeowner when the big developers build their multi unit dwellings and get tax abatement deals that save them millions of dollars? What is in it for the regular home owner Joe or Josephine when big developers cover all of the free space with concrete and walk away to their spacious and suburban properties leaving us with a giant complex that may not live up to the promises they made when brokering the deal? What is in it for us? Who is paying for the tax abatement due the developers not named in the northjersey.com articles? Who suffers the most in the wake of tax abatements?

Perhaps they did not appreciate the questions posed. Who knows why? It does not matter. The questions must be asked. It became totally clear during the Master Plan Public Hearing at Community Baptist Church that all roads lead to developing every inch of open space left in Englewood. It has always been a puzzle as to why tax abatements are so attractive. We are not so urbanized that the City cannot survive without this.

The burning question is this. What do the big developments and developers do for the average homeowner? Not one politician, friend or not has been able to give me a satisfactory answer. Who do you think is going to end up paying for all this borrowed money? Come on, you know. We are. The little guys.

Now let us discuss these above reproach volunteers that run our Municipality. What do they get? What is the reward for the Mayor, City Council and others to make tax abatement deals with the big developer? Does all of this connect to SEEK, the present board of Education and the Hill Folk?  Probably not directly, but it does raise questions that should be answered.

Closer to the point: What do the other Wards gain by appointing the 4th Ward Council Person of their choice? Why is it so important for them to control the 4th Ward? The answer is an easy one. We have the most undeveloped space. We have spaces that may be driven into blight so that area then reflects exactly the definition of the areas for which tax abatements are given.

Code Red North

Lift Us Up And Let Us Stand Grand

Regina Belle, home for a performance
with Morris Day and The Time
at Bergen Performing Arts Center

I made a special effort to get out of the house today. A priority packet was mailed off to the state department. Afterwards, I sat down in Wendy's to chat with 2 high school classmates. One of these classmates is a Hall of Fame basketball coach that was let go by the new school district administration and board of education. The end of last school year they fired him from his coaching duties. A couple of weeks ago he was fired from his job. Why? Who knows? He had seniority over persons kept on salary, but our school board and city leaders seem to have lost all compassion along with their minds. We chatted and I watched my male childhood friends check out the various ladies as they walked pass the window. I had often wondered what the draw was to sit in Wendy's. I had doubts about whether it was the fast food. Now I know. While chatting in this neighborhood restaurant, I saw a lot of people that I have not seen in years. I felt really dim in the mind when I did not recognize someone from my 1969 DMHS graduation class. I am not so hard on myself in retrospect. It was the first time that I had seen Fred Belton in 42 years. 

After about an hour, we noticed a good deal of activity on Palisade Avenue in front of the restaurant.

Gerald was the first to notice that there was a television crew outside. He also recognized the woman with the poof, as he called the singer's hairstyle. It was Regina Belle.  and her brother Bernard. Talk about a photo opportunity. She is appearing at Bergen Performing Arts Center today as the special guest of Morris Day and the Time.

Regina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She was born and raised in Englewood's 4th Ward. She graduated from Dwight Morrow High School.  The R&B turned Gospel singer was very comfortable with her former neighbor and friend Gerald Akridge as they embraced and chatted outside Wendy's. She was even more comfortable as she held onto someone she credited with inspiring her to sing in the first place. She took time to visit with the people on the street and announced that she would visit her Alma Mater before leaving town.  

One of my close neighbors on Palisade Avenue spoke of how she and her band members practiced for hours in the garage of the house next door to her when she was in high school. 

Regina Belle & Gerald Akridge

She remenised about singing in Mount Calvary Baptist Church with a an older woman that she called aunt. She praised her for inspiring her to "sang" not sing. She said "they sang the good old stuff" and that she helped her develop into the singer she is today.

 "It was at Englewood's Mount Calvary Baptist Church, and then Paterson's Friendship Baptist Church (presided over by Belle's uncle, the Reverend Fred Belle), that Regina Belle began attracting attention with her vocal abilities. She sang her first solo in church at age 8; and by age 17, she was the church's star singer. Belle attended Dwight Morrow High School where she studied trombone, tuba and steel drums. After graduation, she studied opera at the Manhattan School of Music. At Rutgers University, she became the first female vocalist with the school's jazz ensemble. Belle's musical influences include Phyllis Hyman, Billie Holiday, Donny Hathaway, and Nancy Wilson.

She was introduced to the Manhattans by New York radio DJ Vaughn Harper and began working as their opening act. She recorded the duet "Where Did We Go Wrong" with the group which helped to attract the attention of Columbia Records. They event ually signed her to a record deal." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regina_Belle

Regina Belle & Gerald Akridge

Although Regina now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and 5 children, it was clear that the singer has not forgotten her roots. Now, I am not saying that she was not also doing the smart thing that public figures must do in order to procure the green. I am saying that it was absolutely clear that Regina Belle still thinks of Englewood as home. She was comfortable on the street and among the people without security guards..  She did not shy away from any of the bystanders on the street and took a photo with whomever wished. I guess I missed my chance. Dang!

Where do you think Regina grew up? Not on the East hill, that is for sure. Regina Belle grew up in the 4th Ward. She and her band practiced at a house in the 4th Ward. The next door neighbor still lives in  the same house and remembers how she used to think about moving over to the suburbs only to find herself next door to a bunch of kids who wanted to be musicians. The great thing about that story is that it is a success story about one of Englewood's own. I posted a photo on Englewood's facebook group page and someone commented, "welcome home." 

She was accompanied by her 'little brother' Bernard Belle, who is also a musician, composer and producer.   His guitar is probably what the neighbor heard during  the practices from next door. He started his career as an R&B guitarist. Bernard Belle became known as a songwriter for Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston and a gospel music producer. He is also credited with writing Remember the Time, along with Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley. I am listening to Judy Had a Boyfriend and other work by this brother and sister as I write this article. 

Going back and Googling them both has made my day. This was a very uplifting project. It is great to write a happy story. I went home in a better mood, because of this chance encounter. Thanks guys, I needed that. Mental note to listen to music more often.

It is obvious that she enjoyed being home. It made me feel better to see the love. There were others out on this beautiful day who observed the same. When most Englewood residents think of the City they love they think of people like Regina Belle, Clarke Peters, The Isleys, John Travolta, Richard Lewis and scores of other artists and notable Americans that once called Englewood home. They not only call it home. They have fond memories of life here. 

Bernard Belle looks on as his sister converses with
someone she credits with inspiring her to sing.

The folks of Englewood still have fond memories of the singer. The tickets are all sold out as Englewood welcomes home Regina Belle.  I count myself lucky to have met her on the street. watched her rekindle old acquaintances and acknowledge her roots.

Link to photo album on facebook for fb members.  You must be signed in to facebook in order to view album.

 Pride of Place. Good luck!

All Politics Are Local: Stop Tearing Down Schools And Building Prisons!

At last night's City Council Meeting, representatives from other wards gave us the person they want to represent us. It kind of takes you back to the days when we had no choice, doesn't it? We do not want any more open sewers left to stew in the hot sun until one of our children falls in. We do not want to be Master Planned right out of the City. We do not want the special interest groups in the 3rd Ward and SEEK running the school district into the ground. We do not want more prisons and fewer school buildings across this state because state and local land barons have sold the free public education that was promised in the constitution.

In the brook by the 3rd Street bridge
or where the 3rd st. bridge used to be.

It is a good thing that those days are over. Yes, friends, those days are over. You and your neighbors are strong together. It is time to start gearing up, 4th ward residents. The days are over when they told us how to vote, eat, think and worship, because they controlled where we worked. This time they started their campaign by eliminating where we work. We have nothing left to lose. I have been accused of grand standing at school board meetings and even in an email. A friend reminded me that WE are not grand standing. WE ARE STANDING GRAND. And we need more residents of Englewood to stand beside us.

The former entrance to Mackay Park
at the end of Elmore Ave. The City now
dumps there. It is no longer used as a
beautiful green place for holiday picnics.

Are we willing to give over those small freedoms again? Does anyone want to see separate water fountains and movie theatres again? News flash: We already have that right here in good old Englewood and more are coming. All of the new housing complexes have their own movie theatres, swimming pools, and recreation centers. How many of you know someone who lives in the apartments on the south side of route 4? Some folks are willing to return to the days when we were subservient just because we had less money and lived in the Valley. They meet in back rooms and offices and broker deals for themselves, their families and their friends. That type of attitude is destroying our school system and our community. Is that what we want? Only we have the power to change the tide of events. It is high time we used it.

In a town where the lowest paid are fired because they have a union and benefits, it speaks volumes about the turmoil in the world. If folks have real power and real money, they go after the real benefit packages.  Try the benefit package of one Congressman. How many jobs do you think one of those packages equates to in the scheme of things?

Located at the entrance to
Elmore Ave. 

They are already controlling the educational system and our children. Do we all see bright futures for our children after being neglected in this school district and this town? How do you like the way that is going? 2 years ago I watched a video created by a 15 year old that brought tears to my eyes. He said that grownups had forgotten about the teens. He no longer felt protected and complained about being forced to play in the streets, while other towns have Recreation Centers. That young man ended up in jail. Is this town and this school system preparing all of our children for the orange jumpsuit?  They are certainly not preparing them to enter college or for a career upon graduation from high school. They are dead set on getting us all to move or die trying to survive. That is the Master Plan.

I have nothing against the selection. He is one of my neighbors. The question is this. How do we trust someone that the other wards think is best for our Ward when the representatives from those wards have already demonstrated that they do not care about anything other than the real estate in the 4th Ward? It is not such a puzzle. We don't. We use the power of our vote and let our voices be heard loud and clear. Is is a new day. The beginning is here!

Some OSHA regulated gloves would have helped to protect this
youngster while performing a civic duty. More police surveillance
in the vicinity would probably help alleviate the problem that
made it necessary for him to stand here in the first place.

Who else does not wish to imagine Englewood with no 4th Ward representation on the School Board and now on the City Council? It is time for us to have our say.
On all blocks. Turn off the TV and go outside.
Talk to your neighbors.
Make sure that the person to the left and to the right of you is registered to vote.

Dust off your votes. Make sure you know where to vote. There has been some weirdness going on with polling places in the last 2 elections. The weirdness is called voter suppression. It is happening all over the country, because folks are afraid that in the next 4 years our President will be able to do some good. Make sure the 18 year old in your home votes. Make sure that the 18 year old's friends are registered to vote.

It is no coincidence that the prisons of this country are packed to the ceiling with the children of people of color. A friend once told me that "all politics is local" and now I understand that statement. If we want fewer people of color in the prison institution and more in institutions of higher education, we must start in our own neighborhoods. Too many children of color are getting a higher education in the prison system.

There are states, such as Ohio, that have sold their prison population to private industry along with a deal to keep the prisoners coming. All parents must understand that this may be coming to a state that YOU live in very soon. Less than a 100 years ago prison labor was the way to go. Cheap labor supposedly saves taxpayers money.  Big business and private industry may just be depending on the indiscretions of our husband, sons, daughter, other relatives and friends in order to make the big bucks.  Some feel that prison labor is not a money making proposition for private industry. They maintain that there is an even darker motive. Regardless of why our children seem primed for jail by a larger society, we must work diligently when they are babies to make sure that they have options.
,

I do not see the humor in this prison jumpsuit that is sold in all sizes by Abercrombie and Fitch. It does not bode well knowing that the prison population is growing everyday. If Abercrombie and Fitch are selling it, someone is buying into the hype.

Are we tired of our children being fitted for the orange jump suit in pre-kindergarten? We recognize the Prisoners, the Warden, Parole Board, the Prison Guards and the Trustees. Which one are you?