PTRP is a Township economic development program which provides tax credits as an incentive for residents to shop in town. It matches participating residents with participating merchants. Here is how it goes:
The Township distributes a property tax card (like a reward card) to its residents. When shopping at a local store that participates in the program, the shopper presents the property tax card to the merchant along with the normal payment (cash or card) for the goods or services being purchased, the merchant swipes the property tax card in a dedicated processing machine, and that will result in a credit to the shopper's property tax card account which is maintained by the program manager. At the end of the year, the resident's credits are than calculated, and the credit (less the 25% administration fee) is then applied to the resident's property tax bill. The credit is paid by the merchant (collected monthly) and ultimately applied to the resident's property taxes.
Example: SpongeBob goes to Krabby Doors to purchase a garage door. Sponge sees the door of his dreams for $1000 and presents his credit card and his property tax card to Patrick (Krabby Doors Manager) to buy the door. Krabby Doors (owned by the brother of Eugene H. Krabs) participates in the program and offers cardholders a 10% property tax credit for purchases. Patrick runs the property tax card through the special machine provided from the program, and the credit card in the credit card machine. Transaction complete. SpongeBob just got a brand new door, but he also just banked a $75 credit ($100 - $25 admin fee) towards his property taxes, and Krabby Doors got a sale it may not have had. SpongeBob dances out of the store proud of how smart he is. Mrs. Puff, watching the transaction take place before her eyes, excitedly drives immediately to the Municipal Building to sign up for the program. The end.
A representative from PTRP is scheduled to make a short presentation and answer questions at the next council meeting on December 17, 2019 (my 30th anniversary to my lovely wife) at 6:30 pm. All are welcome to attend....merchants and residents!
IMPORTANT: This is NOT a done deal. The Township has not made any commitment to this program. We are doing our due diligence and engaging the community in this process. Also, if anything that I have written is inconsistent with the program as described by its representative, the representative is right!
FAQs:
1. What is the cost to the resident? $0.00
2. What is the cost to the Township? A fee for the cost of making the credit cards, and the time and effort of an employee to assist in making the program successful.
3. What is the cost to the merchant? There is a $10 monthly participating fee, and a one-time cost of between $160 (dial up) and $230 for (IP) for the machine used to process the transaction. The merchant determines the percentage of credit it will offer to participants at the time of registration into the program. There are no set amounts.
4. What does the company Property Tax Card get paid? 25% of the total credit earned. For this fee, it manages the program.
5. How can the resident monitor the credits earned? On the program's website, the resident will have his/her own account to log into to see the amounts awarded.
6. How can I learn more about this program? Go to https://propertytaxcard.com/aboutus and attend the council meeting.
1 comment:
This sounds like a cool idea.Since it isn't a "done deal," then the answers to my questions may not yet be known.
Your explanation seems to suggest that credits in year X are applied to the tax bill of year X+1 (sorry--too much mathematics in college). Is that correct or did I miss something?
Is the "year" the tax year, or the calendar year?
Are the credits applied to one quarter bill or spread out over all four quarters?
What is the amount of property tax reported to the IRS: the amount before or after the credits are applied?
If a resident moves out of town or dies before the end of the year then what happens to the credits?
Thanks,
Fred Brehm
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