New fees for those who rent out their Brigantine vacation home?
That idea came from the Brigantine Economic Development Committee that features Councilman Andy Simpson as one of it’s members. It was floated during the City Council meeting on Jan. 6, 2016.
As you may recall, Mr. Simpson has made it very clear that: ‘you can’t make it’ as a business here in Brigantine. That statement was made during the election debate of 2014, held at the community center. ( see video )
These fees would likely fund a much-needed marketing & tourism campaign to promote the vacation & Real Estate benefits of Brigantine Beach.
Discussion involved short-term, long-term and winter-only rentals in Brigantine.
Estimated fees collected could approach a total of $60,000 per year. According to Mayor Guenther, these potential fees would be in addition to the current rental registration fees, and could be combined with monies raised via a Brigantine Business Chamber membership. Unfortunately, The Brigantine Chamber of Commerce has not yet filed for proper non-profit status, and they still do not get audited by the City of Brigantine.
Other topics included a recommendation to consider tax abatements for those who build from scratch, or upgrade a current Brigantine business. Ordinances would have to be passed for any of this to happen.
Early feedback on these discussion points are generally positive. A few questions were immediately raised for future consideration:
Taxes & fees are sometimes levied in destination / vacation communities like Brigantine to fund tourism & marketing campaigns. NOTE: Former City Manager / Public Safety Director; Jim ‘Glitch’ Barber terminated the practice of using mercantile fees to help fund Brigantine marketing & tourism campaigns. Mr. Barber made this critical mistake approx 12 years ago.
One piece of early feedback came from a local tourism expert who wished to remain anonymous:
Why would the so-called ‘economic committee’ only target those who rent their property for short-term summer rentals? While most would be OK with chipping in $100……why wouldn’t you charge $100 to EVERYONE who runs a business in Brigantine? All business would benefit from a well run marketing campaign.
Every person or business that’s involved in some form of commerce on the Island… should gladly pay $100 towards a proper plan to boost our local economy. Landscapers, nail salons, dance studios, architects, fence & pool installers, bagel shops, fishing boats, gas stations, Real Estate agents, etc.
Every business on Brigantine island should be contributing. The BEST and easiest way to do this is through our MERCANTILE LICENSE.
One caveat though……. Brigantine will need to appoint a super honest & transparent person to monitor these funds and the projects they will be applied to.
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I have a few ideas to raise the money for tourism instead of a rental fee tax:
Employee taxes
A municipal city employee tax of $25 for all brigantine city employers with base salaries in excess of $60,000 and $50 with base salaries in excess of $100,000.
An employee where you work tax of $5 per every employee that works in brigantine.
A McMansion tax of $250 for all homes with total assessment in excess of $1M.
the problem i have with the rental tax is that the guy “joe” with the $85k condo that rents it six weeks a year will be paying the same amount (say $100) then “Connie” who rents her various $700k houses year round. that doesnt seem fair to me.
generally im a tax wealth not work kinda guy but i do think you have some good ideas especially your brigantine municipal welfare recipient employee tax.
only problem is your brigantine city employee welfare recipient (i think you meant EMPLOYEE) tax would have to be administered by brigantine city employees, as both the payee (collector) and the payer (the city would also have to withhold and remit the employee taxes) and given what we know about city books and records its highly unlikely to be administered properly. good idea thou.
your “where you work tax” is a decent idea but it would tax the youngster that waits tables in the coffee shop im assuming?
as for the mcmansion tax, now you’re on to something, only problem is i doubt that it would raise much money since it seems as thou not many homes are assessed at more than $1m bucks. maybe reduce that down to $750k.
i like a mercantile tax on businesses, maybe separate the businesses into classes in order of who benefits more from tourism or maybe base the mercantile tax as a percentage of gross receipts. again thou this may be too much for the city employees to administer since 1. their too busy with their other jobs 2. their not so good at record keeping and basic accounting.
anyone else…
SURE- Tax the 2nd Homeowners again. I am paying $24k a year in taxes already, use very little services and think the tax, tax, tax without representation is just plain MEAN. How about this- STOP over-paying employees. STOP OVER-employing this little corrupt Island? We ALL KNOW where the problems are…
Once again, they are picking on the little guy.
This must be a tactic to divert our attention from the gross misspending of our current tax dollars.
I don’t rent my property and use it very often but I know several that do to make ends meet. It would be a hardship to expect them to pay the additional $100. Especially with today’s rental market. I know quite a few that have been unable to rent their properties at all this year.
Nice idea if Brigantine was not in a real estate slump.
It is true that some seasonal rentals generate thousands per week.However,what is not taken into consideration is the cost to carry this rental.There are mortgages,taxes,water/sewer,H/O ins.,flood ins.,
gas,el.,cable,rental fees,& then the commission to the realtor or website,& cleaning costs.&maintenance
The summer season is short,& if you are not able to rent it for the winter because of the local economy,
you end up losing money,& unable to pay the bills.There are almost 550 homes for sale on this small
island..More people are leaving than coming.Don’t penalize the landlord further.The chamber of com-
merce should normally promote the town.It will benefit all the small business owners who pay taxes,&
contribute to the economy & attractiveness of the island.
almost bought a house in brigantine a few years ago. very happy i changed my mine. 2nd home owners are taking a beating. sad for senior citizens and familes on small incomes.reminds me of having a bird feeder,the fat,big,birds eat at the feeder and what crumbs fall go to the little guys. get my point?
Just got back from a weekend at Brig…allot of buzz!
Cellar 32 sold.
St George’s pub sold.
Chick fil lay denied old burger king spot.
Rod n Reel drinks only bar attached to townhouse community.
Playing Politics with the $ in raising houses.
Brig business as usual.
What is $100 per rental property really going to do? Did anyone project the revenue raised by this proposal? If funds are needed that bad, then assess the $1 million plus homes on the island closer to what their really worth. See how much tax revenue is raised by this…. ..
Or how about raising the price of a 4 wheel drive pass to $350 or $400 per year for folks that don’t own a house on the Island or in Atlantic County? (Those not paying real estate taxes)
I don’t think many residents are setting up at 7:00 am with tents, grills, etc for a 12 hour party day at the cove and south end beach. How many 4 wheel drive permits were sold last year compared to 5 years ago??? Its has to be triple.
Sorry forgot the accounting records for Beach Passes and 4 Wheel Drive Permits is inadequate and this data is not available…….Maybe some one can correct this in 2016 – Perhaps an excel spreadsheet and a reconciliation of cash/checks collected each day vs. number of 2016 permits/tags ordered? …..
The “Brigantine Economic Development Committee that features Councilman Andy Simpson as one of its members” When was this Committee assembled and who are the other “members”?
Is there anyone involved with local government and the community in Brigantine that doesn’t have multiple conflicts of interests?
Loved the story about the Police and Fire Chief bailing after two years on the job…who can blame them???? You clowns and your policies are going down …the 2nd homeowners are on the verge of revolt.,,
If you stay at a hotel NYC or at a resort in FL or CA, you would pay a luxury tax.. Boo-hoo to Landlord complaining of the upkeep of his rental property otherwise known as his”small business.”. You are running a hotel of sorts and that tax that Mr. Simpson suggests should be on a sliding scale. Not a $100 fee per unit no matter what the size. The forementioned luxury taxes are based on a percentage of the rent. I do believe Brigantine loses millions of dollars in revenue they could garnish from these McMansions that are being rented. How many times will we the taxpayers have to pay for an entire police force play their game of retiring after a few years and basically winning the Powerball of Brigantine? This is fixed and with our unscrupulous mayor and his cronies this little island is going down to where it was in the early 80’s when no one wanted to live here. Time for a Change. Good riddance, Officer Reed, and take the rest of your overpaid posse with you. RIF the city workers then pay them a fair salary -not twice what a Phila policeman makes.
We complain but what ever changes here? This is time for a revolt.
I’m all for a revolt. This is disgusting.
How could we sit back and watch this happen?
How could those corupt officials get away with this?? It has to stop.
We need a calling all second home owners. I am in. Let’s expose those crooks and get our island back.
They all need to go to jail.
Lets say for example we did revolt, how would we (anyone who sees the waste fraud and abuse full or part time resident)?
One way is to get half of those that see the waste fraud and abuse to defer their real estate tax payment. Instead of sending in your real estate tax payment send in a note that reads, Im deferring my real estate tax payment until these things happen. Then we list 4 or 5 things we need to have happen.
1. renegotiated union contracts to “market”
2. proper city accounting of books and records
3. timely submitted financials
4. etc
5. etc
Only need half to defer the payment in order to cut off the funding.
Yes no???
Great Idea Knobbs. But they will just tack on interest and put a lien on your property.
They have you over a barrel.
Need to get the pitch forks out, light up the torches and march down to City Hall for a god old Tar and Feathering!
Imagine the shiz that would stir thou!
Anyway Ill be in the half that pays the tax and you be in the half that doesn’t.
I see the Cellar was sold.. Any idea who purchased it..