Utility giant New Jersey American Water said it is pledging $950,000 toward a pair of community revitalization projects across Central and South Jersey.
A first tranche of funding will go Interfaith Neighbors in Asbury Park and the second to Cooper Health system in Camden.
Both are financed by the state’s Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit program, which is provided to businesses who must in turn commit those finances toward revitalization in low and moderate-income neighborhoods.
At least 60 percent of the funds have to go toward housing and economic development, according to the Department of Community Affairs, which oversees the $12 million-per-year program.
Businesses can get up to $985,000 a year, and NJ American Water says it’s used the tax credit to finance $8.2 million of grants since 2010.
Norton
“For the past decade, New Jersey American Water has seized the opportunity to use the state’s generous NRTC program to provide funding to transformational projects in the communities we serve,” NJAW President Cheryl Norton said Monday in a statement. “The positive impact that these programs can have on the residents of these communities exemplifies our commitment to giving back to the communities in which we serve.”
The funding for Interfaith Neighbors will benefit its “West Side Asbury Park, Project IX” program, which according to NJ American Water focuses “providing home ownership opportunities for Asbury Park’s Westside residents,” and assisting other neighborhood residents with “employment training and job placement; programming and youth services.”
“On the West Side of Asbury Park, dreams of homeownership for low-to-moderate income families are coming true, seniors are getting the care they need, and young adults can glimpse a brighter future,” said Interfaith Neighbors Executive Director Paul McEvily.
The Cooper Health System grant will benefit the Cooper Plaza Housing and Community Improvements project, meant to rehabilitate existing and often-times substandard housing stock in Camden, increasing neighborhood improvement and park projects, and reducing the amount of vacant lots.
Both Cooper Health and American Water became embroiled last year in a tax break scandal over how the companies were awarded multimillion-dollar corporate incentives for moving to, or staying within, Camden, often-times considered one of the poorest cities in the nation.
In its quest for a $164 million tax break for moving its headquarters to the Camden waterfront, American Water was represented by Optimus Partners, a lobbying firm owned by Philip Norcross, brother of Cooper Health Board Chair George Norcross, according to various media reports and a task force convened by Gov. Phil Murphy to investigate tax break recipients. Kevin Sheehan, an attorney at the law firm Parker McKay, where Philip is a partner, inserted provisions into the tax break legislation to benefit American Water, according to the task force.
Cooper Health, meanwhile, was awarded nearly $40 million in Grow New Jersey tax breaks for staying in Camden, but according to the task force may have qualified for as little as $7 million. Norcross and Cooper Health officials attempted to persuade the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which oversees Grow NJ, that they were going to leave the state despite no actual plans to do so, according to the task force.
“With New Jersey American Water’s generous support, we are continuing to make remarkable strides towards the revitalization of Camden,” George Norcross said in a Monday statement. “This is a perfect example of all that can come from innovative partnerships, strategic vision and a shared commitment to enacting positive change.”
