New Jersey Division of Local Government Services Local Finance Notice 2022-04
Wielkotz & Company
February 2, 2022
Local Finance Notice 2022-04 Municipal Property Tax Reward Programs
P.L. 2021, c. 99 authorizes municipalities to establish property tax rewards programs encouraging patronage of local retail establishments.
Establishing a Property Tax Rewards Program
- The governing body of a municipality may create a property tax rewards program and authorize a contract with a private entity to administer the program. The contract with the operator is subject to public bidding even though the municipality is not paying the operator.
- The operator, the municipality, or both may solicit participation in the program from businesses located within the municipality. The program must be geared toward public-facing businesses and may not exclude wholesale establishments.
- Each participating business determines the reward to be provided to participating customers, and must commit to paying the program operator a percentage of the gross sale.
- To be eligible for a reward, a customer must use a reward card and have the ability to view past transactions and total rewards earned.
- The operator, not the tax collector, should be the point of contact for an individual to participate in a property tax rewards program. The operator must have a customer service function for participating customers to contact on matters such as technical problems or disputes concerning reward amounts.
Applying Rewards to the Property Tax Bill
- A municipality with an operational property tax reward program must credit the total amount of rewards earned by participating customers against their property tax bill. The rewards cannot be credited toward other municipal charges.
- The property tax reward program should be identified on the tax bill as the source of the property tax credit, and should not be applied towards delinquent taxes.
- The governing body may authorize an operator to enroll people who are not property owners in the municipality as participating customers. Such people will receive rewards in a form agreed upon between the governing body and the operator.
Local Finance Notice 2022-04
Please follow the link below to read more about these items and guidance on how your local unit can implement them: https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dlgs/lfns/22/2022-04.pdf
Contact Wielkotz & Company, LLC Today
For further information on Local Finance Notice 2022-04 and its implementation feel free to reach out to Steven Wielkotz at (973)-835-7900 ext. 201 or sdw@w-cpa.com.
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