Secaucus Will Use $2M In COVID Relief To Offset Lost Hotel Taxes

SECAUCUS, NJ — Secaucus is slated to receive an unexpected $2 million in federal cash under the $1.9 trillion second COVID relief bill, signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday.

The massive federal spending bill provides a windfall of cash for towns across America, and Secaucus is no different. Town administrator Gary Jeffas said Secaucus already anticipates using the $2 million to offset lost revenues from the hotel industry, plus lost parking tax revenues.

There are a total of 15 hotels in Secaucus, but the industry was decimated in 2020. The town, therefore, lost tax money.

"It will likely be used for budget shortfalls," said Jeffas. "The pandemic has resulted in a significant decrease in hotel and parking tax revenues. I have not seen much yet on the parameters on use of the funds, however, I understand this will help municipalities with their revenue shortfalls."

In this January NJ.com article, Jeffas said the town usually gets about $2.2 million from the three percent hotel tax. In 2020, it fell 60 percent, down to $970,000. He warned the town would either have to make cuts or raise property taxes.

Hudson County separately is getting $130.4 million. Some counties in New Jersey are saying this money should be used to reduce property tax bills.

Rep. Bill Pascrell, the Democratic congressman who represents Secaucus, said he enthusiastically voted yes for the bill.

"The American Rescue Plan will lift millions of Americans from poverty and gives us the tools to vanquish this virus, energize our economy and clear our communities to reopen," said Pascrell. "The American people entrusted the Democratic Party with total control of the federal government to end the pandemic and bring America back. Today we are delivering."

However, New Jersey Republicans strongly disagreed.

"There was a need (for COVID relief)," said Monmouth County state Senator Declan O'Scanlon, (R-NJ13). "But a fraction of this, under half of what was passed (in the act). In many areas, New Jersey is booming. Our tax revenues are almost fully recovered. This prediction of doom and gloom that Gov. Murphy is trying to portray is not reality. It's just an outrageous and not-needed sum of money."

Pascrell faulted Republicans for being "stubborn" and "sitting on their hands."

No Republican in Congress voted for the second COVID relief act. Republicans said they are concerned about inflation and also a ballooning national deficit.

The money is supposed to be used for COVID recovery, but the U.S. Treasury Department has yet to issue guidelines on how the money can be spent.

Federal funding like this is usually spent on one-time capital projects, such as road repairs (fixing pot holes), large-scale park and playground improvements, building or maintenance of government buildings, such as building a new town hall, police station or fire house, or to make improvements to playing fields and recreation areas.

As the bill read, "funds are available until December 31, 2024 to respond to the pandemic or its negative economic impacts, including assistance to households and small businesses; hazard pay for essential workers; water, sewer or broadband infrastructure investments; or the replacement of revenue lost compared to the most recent full fiscal year prior to the pandemic.”

Advocates for the restaurant industry cheered this week, saying the money will help them recover from a devastating year. Not only were people scared to live life as normal due to the virus, but the government also forced lockdowns and business restrictions, such as limits on restaurant capacity.

O'Scanlon called it an "astronomical" amount of cash.

"We'll take the money. If we don't take it, it will go to some other town that will spend it," he said. "But this is like a wildly irresponsible Christmas gift. Democrats in Washington dancing around like they're giving us a gift is really outrageous, because in reality they are taking from our children's and grandchildren's bank accounts and making us think they are doing us a favor."

"Nobody is talking about fiscal responsibility and the public doesn't want to hear it."

See how much every town in New Jersey will get here: https://patch.com/new-jersey/m...

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