ASSEMBLY TRANSPORTATION AND INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 5070

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  FEBRUARY 14, 2019

 

      The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 5070.

      As reported, this bill would allow certain municipalities to impose a parking tax of three and a half percent to fund projects that improve pedestrian access to mass transit stations.  The bill would also allow certain of these municipalities to establish discounts for municipal residents of up to eight percent against existing parking taxes.

      Under the bill, any municipality with a population of 100,000 or greater according to the most recent American Community Survey five-year estimate by the United States Census Bureau would be authorized to impose the mass transit pedestrian access parking tax.  Presently, this includes Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Edison, and Woodbridge.  This mass transit pedestrian access parking tax may be imposed in addition to parking taxes already authorized by current law in some of those municipalities, except that the mass transit pedestrian access parking tax may not be imposed whenever a special event parking tax surcharge is charged.

      The parking tax discounts authorized by the bill would apply to parking taxes that are already authorized by section 6 of P.L.1970, c.326 (C.40:48C-6) for certain municipalities.  The municipalities that can impose these parking taxes and that would be newly able to provide discounts are: those with a population over 200,000; those with a population between 100,000 and 125,000, and which are contiguous with a municipality already imposing the general parking tax; and those with a population density greater than 10,000 persons per square mile and which are located within a county of the first class.