Part I Of "Where’s The Beef??"

Another Public Hearing To Be Held On Tuesday, February 25th Wednesday, February 26th: This Time On $248,109 Special Improvement District Budget

SID Budget Is Long On Vague Promises, Long On Funding For “Executive” Positions And “Marketing” Staff, But Very Short On Any Real Substance

Back In November, Township Committee Voted To Set Up Improvement District With Its 10% Downtown Tax Increase, Even After The Vast Majority Of Those Attending The Original Public Hearing Said They Didn’t Want It Because It Wouldn’t Work

Dover Township - Proponents of the Special Improvement District tax increase said the Toms River Downtown area should be “set up like Red Bank” where a long term rehabilitation program has, they say, made a big difference.

Apparently based on representations by several local business owners and developers, the Township Committee adopted an ordinance last November, increasing property taxes by 10% on Downtown taxpayers (3% for parts of Route 37), setting up a “Special Improvement District”, authorizing the establishment of a “District Management” Corporation “to receive funds collected by the special assessments”, and throwing in another $50,000 compliments of the general township revenue fund.

Budget Is $248,109, But Some Items Represent Only 50% Of Actual Expense

The proposed first year SID budget, with a bottom line of $248,109, was  available to the township for months, but the committee did not make the budget available to the public until formal introduction three weeks ago.

$40,000 for “Marketing, Business and Customer Attraction”

The budget contains $40,000 for “Marketing, Business and Customer Attraction”, of which $30,000 is earmarked as one-half of an allocation for “Staff and fringe benefits.” The other $10,000 will buy “Materials, printing, joint advertising, logo, media” ($7500) and “special events” for the remaining $2500.

$25,000 For “Appearance, Public Spaces”

A $25,000 appropriation for “Appearance, Public Spaces” includes $10,000 to “Establish a landscaping and directional signage plan”, another $10,000 to “Begin implementing the plan”, and the remaining $5000 for “Beautification and maintenance, including plantings, regular watering, cleanup.”

$30,000 section for “Appearance, Private Buildings”

A $30,000 section for “Appearance, Private Buildings” includes “Establish design guidelines, following successful experiences in other communities” for $10,000, and “Financial incentives to improve facades and signage, matching grant/loan program” for the other $20,000.

“Downtown Physical Plan” will cost $28,333

A “Downtown Physical Plan” will cost $28,333 for “Work with Parking Authority to improve visitor understanding of parking resources” and “Work with Dover Township,  •  •  •  to capitalize on the waterfront’s development potential.”

$30,000 For “Traffic, Parking, Pedestrians”  Plus
Another $50,000 For “Executives” And “Contingency”

A $30,000 section of the budget entitled “Traffic, Parking, Pedestrians” is to “Participate in the work of planning committees, including OCPL Board, DTPL Board and DTPA.”

A “Management, Administration” section includes $30,000 to pay “1/2 salary and fringe benefits” of an “Executive Director”, $20,000 to pay “1/2 salary and fringe benefits” of an “Executive Assistant”, and $28,000 for “Expenses (rent, office equipment, supplies.” A $16,776 appropriation for “Contingency/Other - Insurance, Audit, etc” is the last budget item.

Actual Total Budget Is $328,109, Not $248,109

The budget does not say where the other 50% of the salaries of the marketing and executive personnel is to come from, but that additional amount is $80,000, making the total expense budget $328,109 if it is fully funded.

The only actual substance in the budget, whether or not it should be an allocated expense, appears to be about $5000 worth of “beautification and maintenance” and an unspecific “financial incentive” to “improve facades and signage.”

Where Have The Parking Authority And The
Chamber Of Commerce Been For The Last Twenty Years??

The rest of the budget appears to buy about $300,000 of hot air from administrators, executives and  other “professionals”.

Some questions arise regarding the SID budget such as: “If we need to improve ‘visitor understanding’ of parking resources, why the hell hasn’t the Parking Authority, which is supposedly set up to deal with parking issues, attended to this particular parking issue a long time ago?”

“Why would it cost an extra $30,000 (over and above the “executive” salaries) to help the local and county Planning Boards and the Parking Authority transact their business? Where the hell has the Chamber of Commerce been for the last 20 years?”

“Red Bank is different from Toms River”

“Red Bank is different from Toms River: it has a Main Street business district a mile long, and plenty of room for parking on both sides. Toms River has a couple of blocks, Main Street doubles as a state highway with gridlocked traffic and parking on only one side of the street”.

Where Is The New Traffic Bypass And The Second Bridge??

“Until you get the new traffic bypass and the second Toms River bridge promised by the freeholders and the state since the 1970's, this whole thing is going nowhere, particularly if most of the budget is wasted on more bureaucrats” said one local business owner who did not want to be identified for “obvious reasons.”

"This looks to me like one big political payoff", he added.  (For 2/19/03)

Click Here For “The Great Pre-Thanksgiving Special Interests Banquet” Article previously on OCPolitics•Com.

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