by Meghan Huryk
If you drive around Neptune City, you may notice quite a few empty storefronts. Whether this is due to businesses closing or moving out of town, it’s still an issue we think could use some creative solutions. Towns around New Jersey are beginning to institute Shop Local programs and seeing real success. We think that Neptune City should be taking advantage of these successes and progressing with the areas that surround us.
So what is a Shop Local program? Shop Local programs are designed to drive patronage to local businesses, while benefiting homeowners for doing so. When a local business agrees to take part in the Shop Local program, that business agrees to contribute a small percentage of sales to the program and homeowners recoup that portion of sales as credits toward property taxes. Imagine swiping your membership card at participating local businesses, and cashing in those percentage points toward your 3rd quarter property tax bill. Incentives for shopping local are a win/win for businesses and homeowners.
A Shop Local program was instituted by Mayor Ducey in Brick Township in 2014. The Patch recently reported that the “Buy in Brick” program resulted in over $100,000 in property tax rebates in 2017. The program also generated more than $1.3M dollars in sales, nearly doubling the sales in town from 2016. Towns like Marlboro and Union Township have also seen favorable results with their own Shop Local programs.
Neptune City is an attractive place to shop and conduct business. With a Shop Local program in place, we could incentivize new businesses to seek out and open in Neptune City, and offer current businesses the opportunity to increase sales.