November 21, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

NJGCA RAMPS UP EFFORTS TO PREVENT SALES TAX ON GASOLINE
THE MARKETPLACE
NJGCA DINER TOUR 2014

This week, NJGCA expanded its discussion of the gas tax outside of policy-makers and legislators in Trenton with the release of our report, "The Wrong Tax for New Jersey: How Not to Fund the Transportation Trust Fund."  As you all should know by now, it is almost certain that there will be an increase in the gas tax.  The main issue now is keeping the tax collection method the same as it currently is, instead of changing it to a scenario that would make YOU, the gasoline retailers, responsible for collecting and remitting the tax each month. NJGCA issued a press release about the report, available here.  I encourage you all to take a few minutes to read the entire report, by clicking here. This report is what we use when we visit legislators and policymakers as we travel around the State meeting with them.  This week, we had a good meeting in the Treasurer's Office, and meetings at both the Department of Transportation, and the Governor's senior policy staff.  I am less than satisfied with the results of those meetings, and still inconclusive about their support / understanding of our position. This issue is of the utmost importance to my members and this organization, and as the proposals come up for discussion in the NJ Legislature, it is critical that you understand the options that are out there, and the impact that each one of them could have on your business.
 
One recent proposal was introduced by Assemblyman Wisniewski, chairman of the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee. His proposal would change the Petroleum Gross Receipts Tax from 2.75% to 9%. It tasks the BPU with calculating the average retail price of regular gas in the state for a six month period and then charging a flat tax based on 9% of that number. It also sets a floor based on the average price of gas in Aug. 2014, about $3.23 a gallon. This would equate to a net tax increase of 25¢ a gallon. By changing the tax rate only twice per year, it would allow for much more reliable budgeting for retailers, the state, and consumers.  The floor of August 2014 would be protective against shortfalls, however, it does still fall victim to the other problems in a percentage based tax system, such as the tax increases consumers would face when prices go back up.
 
The best of all options to increase revenue would simply be a flat increase in the excise tax. While NJGCA cannot endorse a proposal which makes our primary product more expensive to customers, we must state that it would be significantly better public policy than any percentage based tax on fuel, especially a sales tax collected at the pump by the retailer.
 
I'll quickly address the marketplace by saying that I'm still surprised that we continue to see prices trending downward, although in relatively small increments.  The most recent reports continue to show a downward trend in consumption, despite the falling gas prices. This is likely a result of the greater efficiency of vehicles on the roads today, even compared one year ago.  I can only assume that this trend will continue.
 
Finally, we had another diner tour meeting this week in Clayton. I had a very productive morning discussing items of important with our members, and I look forward to our upcoming meetings in Medford on December 9th and Lakewood on December 10th.  For more information about these meetings, please click here. All are welcome.  Here are a few pictures from this week. 

Debbie with the lucky $50 raffle winner, Mike Passarella of Passarella Sunoco.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading.  See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!
-ALL CLASSES WILL BE HELD AT NJGCA HEADQUARTERS-
66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081 (Union County)

NJGCA is offering the Emission Repair Technician RE-CERTIFICATION class in December.

FOR REGISTRATION INFO FOR THE EMISSION REPAIR TECHNICIAN RE-CERTIFICATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 973-376-0066 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS.  THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

Do you have a business for sale?  Are you looking for a new location or opportunity?

• NJGCA regularly assists members looking to sell their business by getting the word out. Since everyone reading this message is involved in the small business gasoline retail, convenience store, and automotive repair trades, it is an ideal medium to connect with interested buyers and prospects!

NJGCA also helps members sell equipment by placing ads in the Road Warrior!

• If you'd like to list equipment for sale, or have an open position you'd like to make other industry professionals aware of, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066 and let us help you get the word out! 

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

11/20/2014:
Nation's First Tobacco Sales Ban DOA: Westminster, Mass. health board votes down controversial proposal
Defeating a proposal that would have made the town the first in the nation to ban the sale of all tobacco products, the Westminster, Mass. Board of Health voted two to one not to move forward with the proposal, according to an Associated Press report. The vote comes about a week after rowdy opposition led board members to end a public hearing early. Westminster convenience store and other business owners strongly opposed the ban. As reported in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, board members Ed Simoncini and Peter Munro voted to kill the proposal. Board chairperson Andrea Crete voted to keep it under consideration. "The town is not in favor of the proposal, and therefore I am not in favor of the proposal," Simoncini said, according to a Sentinel & Enterprise report.
 

11/19/2014:
Philadelphia Tobacco Tax 'Detrimental' to Business: $2-per-pack Hike Driving Consumers out of Philly
A little over a month into Philadelphia’s $2-per-pack tax increase, retailers in the metropolis are already suffering its effects. It's a story heard time and time again: when individual cities or counties enact a drastic tobacco tax, many consumers opt to take their business outside the taxable area. Ray Martinez, who operates Ray’s Food Market in West Philadelphia, told the Philadelphia Daily News that his sales are down nearly 80% since the tax went into effect on October 1. "Right now we're not making money at the corner stores," he said. "The stores here in West Philly, we're like three-to-five minutes away from City Line [Avenue] and Delaware County, and people are just going across the street.” Tobacco retailers in counties near Philly have already seen an increase in their business. Sales at the Havertown Sunoco have leapt 50%, some 400 packs a day. The store’s manager, Margo Wells, wasn’t positive if the boon was coming from Philadephia residents, but noted that many consumers are now buying in bulk.

 
11/17/2014:
Raising NJ Gas Tax Can Have Financial, Political Drawbacks
Even as gas prices nationwide continue to drop, hitting the lowest average tabs Americans have seen since '10 -- NJ continues to maintain its advantage. Average prices here hovered around $2.76 a gallon last week, $0.17 lower than the national average and more than $0.50 cheaper than NY’s. The biggest reason for NJ’s resilient price advantage: The motor fuels tax, which at 10.5 cents/gallon, is the nation’s second lowest. The closest nearby price competitor is Delaware, where the gas tax is more than double at $0.23. New Jersey’s other neighbors -- Pennsylvania, Connecticut and NY -- charge gas taxes that are four or five times higher. But pressure on NJ’s Transportation Trust Fund, which gets a large portion of its money from the gas tax to fund road repairs, has been growing for years. It reached a crescendo under Governor Christie, who took office to find that virtually no capital was available to fund road projects. Instead, the bulk of the money in the trust fund goes to pay debt, not fix roads. A proposal by state Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-Middlesex, wants to increase the wholesale gasoline tax rate, effectively adding 25 cents/gallon at the pump. That, he says, would cost drivers about 80 cents a day but add $1.25 billion a year in new revenue to fix roads and bridges.

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions
Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available. 

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum KW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s  service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs.  Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund. 

Contact GREG CANNON at 973-376-0066 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.