The Jersey City Independent "

Millions of dollars in potential one-time revenue for Jersey City failed to materialize at last Monday’s City Council caucus meeting when it was revealed that a fee often assessed to the transfer of tax abatements was not included in the initial agreement concerning two soon-to-be sold office buildings looking to transfer their abatements.

Share/Save UPDATE, January 6 at 7:40 am: The union now says it does not support the administration’s “pay lag” proposal, telling the Journal that it is “extremely convoluted,” and saying the administration “need[s] to have a clearer statement of what it is, and more details.” Just a few days after Jersey City gave layoff notices [...]

Share/SaveUPDATE: Thursday, December 9 at 6:50 AM: The City Council approved this ordinance by a 7 to 1 vote last night. Ward B councilman David Donnelly voted against the measure, and Ward E councilman Steven Fulop was absent. As the owner of the Downtown Jersey City high-rise apartment complex Liberty Towers prepares to sell the [...]

Share/SaveThe New Jersey District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI-NNJ) has named the Jersey City waterfront development Crystal Point its 2010 “Project of the Year.” The high-rise condominium project, along with other winners of ULI-NNJ’s sixth annual Land Use Awards, will be honored at a December reception. The awards recognize “leadership in the responsible [...]

A new state report raises concerns about the uses and abuses of municipal tax abatements in New Jersey, echoing and validating concerns raised in Jersey City over the past several years by citizens, elected officials and policy watchdog groups.

Share/Save- Comptroller Calls for Changes to Abatements: A new report released yesterday by state comptroller Matthew Boxer calls for “broad-based changes” to the state’s law governing tax abatements, to “ensure more open and fair investment of taxpayer dollars and better decisions and outcomes in the future.” We’ll have a full report on the details of [...]

Share/SaveDeveloper K. Hovnanian’s attempt to force Jersey City to revise its tax abatement deal for the 77 Hudson condo building has been dismissed by a Superior Court judge, who found that “Hovnanian has no legal right” to the amended deal. The developer had gone to the city seeking a sweetened abatement deal after one was [...]

Wednesday’s City Council meeting was as mellow as the last, again lasting only about 70 minutes. Although an ordinance was introduced to fund a major bond issue, there was comparatively little comment on the three first reading ordinances, seven second reads and 32 resolutions considered. Only Ward B councilman David Donnelly was absent — he is out of the country on his honeymoon — and about 25 community members were present in council chambers.

Share/Save- Pay-to-Play Issues Cloud Contract’s Future: The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency could void a multimillion-dollar contract for a City Hall annex because the developer violated the city’s pay-to-play law when it donated $1,500 to Ward E councilman Steven Fulop. Fulop and a company representative both maintain that the donation did not come from the company [...]

Last week, Jack Kelly was confirmed as the new business administrator of Jersey City, taking over for Brian O’Reilly, who has held the job since 2004. We wanted to pick his brain about his approach to the new job, and find out where he stood on a few key issues, so we worked up some questions, which he answered via email on Monday.