A3043

A3043 Green/Summer

Hospital Repurposing and Revitalization Tax Credit Act

This Assembly bill has passed the house and it or a companion bill is in the Senate for action.

Although the sponsor is Plainfield’s Assemblyman I doubt that there is anything in this bill that will “revitalize’ or reestablish acute primary health care in the Muhlenberg Campus. Au contraire, I believe that it will facilitate JFK’s disposing at a profit the property.

“repurposing (an interesting and significant term) of a qualified health care facility(one that has had its certificate of need withdrawn) is its renovation and redevelopment as a health care and health support services center, The health c are and health support components of the repurpose facility shall compromise no less than 50% of the net leasable space***,provided however that the 50% requirement may be waived  by the authority if the requirement is not economically feasible, or if the inclusion of further non-health care and non-health care support services elements would improve the utilization  and development of the health care and health support services components.

The bill goes on to note that the  tax credits to the developer depends on the developer showing that the facility will be a benefit to the community but it will not be economically feasible without the credits.

It notes that the developer has to put $10,000,000 capital investment into the facility. He will be eligible for a tax credit equal to his investment to be taken over a ten year period in equal (1/10^th) annual amounts.

Initially there must be a total of 100 full time employees overall in the facility; and if the number falls below 80 the tax credits will be proportionally reduced.

Although on the surface it seems that this would be a positive for the city to have the structure occupied, and better than the proposed apartments; what it does is at least three fold: (1) remove any even remote possibility of a commercial operation reestablish an acute care facility in the Muhlenberg buildings. (2) Make it a no risk situation for a developer to take the property off JFK’s hands. (3) The taxpayers including us are going to finance any deal.

Consider what "health care and health support services" can mean; It could be an "urgent care office" instead of the present emergency facility.It could be physicians and other practitioner's offices. The support could be a blood drawing station, or a PT office. It would certainly  taken any moral responsibility for JFK to maintain the ER after their original requirement expires.

I consider this to be a self-serving bit of legislation that despite its flowery language is designed to help JFK (Solaris) and not Plainfield. Perhaps it will never get out of the Senate.