Part II Of "Where’s The Beef??"

The S.I.D. Saga; Another Big Gob Of Taxpayers Money About To Be Gobbled Up By Bureaucrats, Consultants And Paper Shufflers??

Business Owners Told Public Hearing In January There Was “No Substance And No Value For The Taxpayers” In $328,000 Special Downtown Improvement District “Budget”, But It Was Approved Anyway

Now Sandonato Hints Slush Fund Distribution Will Be Started In Earnest With Burnes Consulting, A Firm That Claims To Be A Redevelopment “Pioneer” As Robert Moses And Alexander Hamilton Turn Over Slowly In Their Graves

Dover Township: The baloney has started again on the so-called downtown “revitalization” as Victor Sandonato, “Chairman” of the $328,000 annual slush fund voted by the township committee in January along with a 10% “special” downtown tax increase, announced talks with Burnes Consulting, an “economic development” firm.

Sandonato’s announcement was in a press release given to the Ocean County Observer.

Observer Staff writer John Hazard said Byrnes Consulting “pioneered” a four point economic development “method” that approaches redevelopment from “four directions”. The “pioneering” four point approach includes “organization, design, promotion and economic structure”, according to Hazard.

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

Downtown Taxpayers Hit With 10% Tax Increase

Apparently at the request of several local developers and the local chamber of commerce leadership, the Township Committee adopted an ordinance last November, increasing property taxes by 10% on down town taxpayers (3% for parts of Route 37), authorizing a “District Management” Corporation “to receive funds collected by the special assessments”, proposed a $248,000 annual budget, and threw in another $50,000 compliments of the general township revenue fund.

Four Development “Elements” Not “Pioneered” By Burnes Consulting

One local historian who did not want to be directly quoted said it was “something of a  shock” to hear the claim that Burnes Consulting had “pioneered” the use of “organization, design, promotion and economic structure” for development projects.

“The four “elements” were certainly not “pioneered” by Burnes Consulting or anybody else in New Jersey. They are identical elements with a plan set up by Alexander Hamilton for a project in Manhattan more than 200 years ago in the 1790's. They were used by Robert Moses in New York a hundred times.

“These ‘elements’ have been present in every project for the past 200 years. Mr. Hazard and Mr. Sandonato ought to check their facts before they circulate information that is clearly propaganda”, she said.

"And, the so-called 'elements' were there whether the project was a great success or a costly disaster, as this one is trying very hard to be", she added.

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

The SID 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.

$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, apparently, the Ocean County Planning Board, Dover Township Planning Board and the local Parking Authority.”

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, including $160,000 for the salaries of the three executive and marketing employees anticipated in the budget detail.

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.”

Red Bank Is Different From Toms River

Red Bank has been used as an example by Sandonato and others as a “successful” downtown redevelopment project.

But 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”, said a local business owner who did not wish to be quoted directly.

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 thing is going nowhere, particularly if most of the budget is wasted on more bureaucrats and consultants”, he said.

Sandonato said the development corporation would “use the system” proposed by Burnes Consulting.

But the press release stopped short of mentioning untidy details such as how much this might cost, and whether any funds would be expended prior to obtaining details regarding the location of the second bridge and a commitment from the state about what they propose to do about the state highway that runs right through the center of all of this.        (4/28/03)

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

Also see part I of Where’s The Beef??

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