>Village looks to Tax Income from Pease Library
another great job of reporting by
MICHAEL SEDON of the Ridgewood News
Ridgewood’s proposed taxation of Pease Building income draws flack
Friday, July 16, 2010
BY
The Ridgewood News
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/news/98580919_Village_s_tax_proposal_draws_flack_.html
The village is attempting to tax the income generated by the rental of office space in the Pease Building, but this attempt is being questioned by the legal counsel for David F. Bolger and the Bolger Foundation, which restored the building.
“As you are very familiar, the Bolger Foundation’s gift of over $1.3 million in renovations to the former Pease Library last year, which up until this was a dilapidated building owned by the village, was known by all as having been made to facilitate the income on the property becoming available to support the Ridgewood [Public] Library, and its good works,” wrote attorney Thomas Wells in a letter addressed to the village on June 29. “The mayor and council’s stated intention to now tax this property, strikes even me, as a less cynical observer, as completely inconsistent with the spirit of the gift and the agreement between the village and the Bolger Foundation dated September 10, 2008.”
The current net income from the Pease rentals is anticipated to generate $103,200 for the library’s coffers this year, according to information provided by Library Director Nancy Greene. The 2009 rental income equaled $58,000, she added.
In a July 7 e-mail to The Ridgewood News, Village Manager Ken Gabbert said the amount of money the village intends to gain from taxing the income of the building is as yet undetermined, and it would be left to the village tax assessor to calculate the figure.
The building itself is a “tax-exempt” property owned by the village, and any tax that may or may not be realized from its rental would be assessed solely on the revenue it generates, Gabbert said.
“There is no proposed tax for the Pease Building,” he wrote. “Any profitable use of the tax-exempt building would be opened to tax per statute.”
Wells contended in his letter that a “lack of clarity” in the village’s intent, reasoning and the amount to be raised through taxation is “contrasted” by the 2008 agreement between the philanthropic organization and the municipality.
“All income collected by the village from rent paid by tenants in the building less reasonable reserves, maintenance costs, etc. should be distributed to the Ridgewood Library,” according to the agreement.
Under the present economic conditions, Green said, the library could use all of the additional income it can get. The village’s appropriation to the library from the general tax levy dropped $39,000 this year, and its mandated expenses, such as union salaries and health insurance premiums, rose more than $81,000, she said.
Between the loss in tax dollars and the rise in expenses, that equals a $120,000 shortfall for the library, which is only partially supported by the $103,000 cushion offered by the Pease rentals. That would still leave a $17,000 revenue gap for the library this year.
Since 1997, the size of the library’s main building on North Maple Avenue has grown by 70 percent; its usage has gone up 89 percent; its book and media holdings have increased 41 percent; and it offers 139 percent more computers and computer services, according to information provided by Greene.
“So this year we cut part-time professional staff, August Sunday hours and our collection budget,” Greene wrote. “Thanks to the support of the council and gifts from the Friends [of the Ridgewood Library] and [Ridgewood Public Library] Foundation, we are among the best and most utilized libraries in Northern New Jersey.”
E-mail: sedon@northjersey.com
https://www.northjersey.com/news/98580919_Village_s_tax_proposal_draws_flack_.html
