September 16, 2011

Dear NJGCA Member:

Here's what you'll find in this edition of the NJGCA Road Warrior, and thank you for reading:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!
•Weights & Measures, Tax Extensions, and More

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
•August unemployment rate drops in New Jersey
•National poverty rate jumps to 1 in 6 people, number of uninsured rises
•In economic competitiveness, America falls to 5th place in global community
•New school teacher evaluation program rolled out in 11 districts

APPRAISAL SERVICE
•Regency Property Appraisers: Serving all your appraisal needs in NJ, NY, and beyond!

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE
•Interested in taking a class?  Let us know of your interest!

MEET THE FOLKS AT LIBERTY GAS
•Looking for a new brand for your station? Take a look at the opportunity below!

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE
•TMP Energy Solutions: Another Way to Save On Your Energy Bills!

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE OR LEASE
•Interested in acquiring or leasing a property?  See below!

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM BELLOMO FUELS
•Serving New Jersey since 1910 -- Over 100 years of supplying gasoline retailers like YOU!

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
•Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

THE MEMBER TOOL BOX
•On the NJGCA Homepage
•Know your Territory Manager!

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

WEIGHTS & MEASURES, TAX EXTENSIONS, AND MORE

Less than three weeks ago the whole state got hit hard by Hurricane Irene.  I know many of you reading this saw your own business affected by wind damage and severe flooding.  The timing of Hurricane Irene and the lengthy cleanup afterward were a huge disruption for a lot of reasons.  One of the chief reasons is that it hit right when you were getting ready to file your quarterly payroll tax return due yesterday, September 15.  Thankfully, the Christie Administration has decided to give every business and individual a much-needed extension.   You will now have until October 31st to file your tax returns.  You can view the full announcement for all the details HERE.

I was alerted to this decision by staff of the Governor’s Office.  I have to say that since Governor Christie has taken the reigns, he has made good on his promises of being extremely supportive toward businesses.  They have been excellent about communicating with me all sorts of important information that they want passed on to you to help your business succeed in these tough times.

I’ve talked to you before about Weights & Measures, and I’m going to talk to you about it some more now because it is key to running your business successfully.  Any time a government enforcement agent comes to your business it’s stressful.  You’ve already got customers and employees to mind, and now you have to deal with someone who has the power to seriously screw things up.  Our industry necessitates a lot of government oversight.  We have to watch out for environment, labor, consumer, and tax issues.  Of all of them, by far the agency which isn’t trying to play “gotcha” is Weights & Measures.  But don’t let that be an excuse for not complying. 

Weights & Measures doesn’t write all these laws and regulations; it’s just their job to enforce them.  They’re just like the cops on the highway, they didn’t decide to make the speed limit 65, but it’s their job to enforce it as best they can.  However, as you may have experienced, the police can also let you off the hook with just a warning. Many times so too will Weights & Measures.  They will often be cooperative in helping you comply before they go ahead and SMACK you.  Is this true every time? No, just as it’s not true that every cop on the highway will give you just a warning for going a few miles over the speed limit.

My #1 goal is to protect you.  There have been many occasions where I have personally reached out to Weights & Measures to ask for understanding when a member has been cited for something.  Officials there know me and trust me, and they know that if I’m calling them it means that in this situation the station owner truly deserves a little help.  That being said, NJGCA has a zero tolerance policy for deceptive practices.  Whether you’re a member or not, I will turn you in if you are guilty of serious deceptive actions.  The way I look at it is, you’re not just hurting consumers and giving a bad name to the entire industry, you’re hurting another NJGCA member down the street.  And if he’s a member too, then I need to pick which member I’m going to support, and it sure as hell isn’t gonna be the jerk who’s breaking the law!

Fortunately, those who are guilty of serious malpractice are overwhelmingly nonmembers.  That’s because people, like you, who care enough about their business to realize the benefits of joining our association are responsible enough to (mostly) stay in compliance.  If it weren’t for Weights & Measures policing the business, think about how many people would be out there scamming the general public and stealing business from you.  It serves a purpose not just for the consumer but also for you. 

You need to remember that your demeanor when Weights & Measures shows up will play a role in how they treat you.  If you’re polite and cooperative, they almost certainly will be too.  In fact, this is good advice for any enforcement officer who comes to your location.  Again, think of the cop on the highway.  If you get pulled over for going 80 in a 65 on the Parkway, and you start cursing out the cop when he gets to your window, guess what, you’re getting the biggest damn fine he can come up with! 

Acting less than professional doesn’t accomplish anything for anybody.  Not only does it hurt the business immediately, it can have far wider consequences than you know.  Last year, one station owner was asked by a customer why he charges different prices for cash and credit.  He basically told the guy to shove it and that he’ll charge whatever he wants to.  Well, it turns out that curious customer was actually a NJ state Assemblyman who subsequently introduced one bill that would greatly restrict cash/credit pricing and another that would outright ban it!  That may sound petty and stupid, but welcome to New Jersey politics.  We have had to spend time blocking those pieces of legislation from moving forward.  Thankfully, this station owner was not a member; because I was so angry at him that I may have driven my car through his bay doors.

Some of the things which Weights & Measures must enforce are:

• Making sure your signs are displayed properly and that the price on the street sign matches the price at the pump.
• Displays on the pumps must be functioning properly.  Make those repairs, often they will point out the problem and tell you that they’ll be back to check again after you fix it.
• And the next time they come, if it isn’t fixed then don’t be surprised when you get smacked for it.
• Check that you’re nozzles and hoses are operating properly (DEP will be looking for this too)
• Ensure that there is no water in the gas fills.  Water getting in the gas is one of the chief causes of consumer complaints to Weights and Measures.
• Check the tolerance on your meters.  It is indefensible if your customers are getting cheated and the seals are broken on the calibration mechanisms.  It’s the one violation NJGCA won’t go to bat for you.
• The law says that you should be using your 5 gallon test can to check your pumps daily. Now, I was in the business for 23 years, and I know you’re not doing that, it’s too much of a pain in the ass.  But if Weights & Measures asks to see you’re can, you better have it at the ready and you better not have to pull it out of the back of a storage closet covered in dust.  If you do, that sends a bad signal to the officials at your location. 

If you cooperate with them, they’ll cooperate with you, especially on minor violations.  They will give you time to correct any problems before they hit you with a summons. 

I renew my call that if you suspect a competitor of cheating, be it a branded station comingling unbranded gas in the tanks, putting regular gas into the midgrade or premium tank, or deceiving customers with improper signs; contact me by phone at 973-376-0066 or email at sal@njgca.org.  I will walk you through everything we need to do to catch these crooks.  I am totally confident that not just 9 out of 10 bad apples-- but 99 out of 100 bad apples are nonmembers, so keep up the good work.

I have previously mentioned that we are finding results from field tests that calibration is indeed a problem.  However, because of ethanol and its corrosive nature, most of the calibration problems are not in the category of you cheating your customers…they actually fall under the category of YOU CHEATING YOURSELF!  Yes that is right.

As a result of evidence that has been brought to my attention NJGCA has quickly organized a seminar that will be held on two dates.  One in North Jersey on November 9th, and one in South Jersey on November 10th.  Registration and seminar information will be in your mailbox soon.  Plan to be at one of these valuable seminars.  To make it worth your while we are also including seminars given by USDOL to address how to avoid hefty fines and penalties with your employees and payroll, and also a refresher seminar given by NJDEP that will help keep you from receiving some of the costly fines they have levied in the past few years.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks for listening - See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

9/15/2011:
August unemployment rate drops in New Jersey
New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 9.4% in August, according to a report by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.  The decline is due, in part, to the end of the Verizon strike that affected 45,000 workers.  Though the state has added 25,000 private sector jobs since the start of the year, New Jersey’s unemployment rate still remains above the national 9.1% average. Click above to read the full article.

9/13/2011:
National poverty rate jumps to 1 in 6 people, number of uninsured rises
New census information states that 1 in 6 Americans are now living below the poverty line.  These numbers correspond with approximately 15.1% of the population or 46.2 million Americans for 2010, compared with 14.3% in 2009.  The report was released by the Census Bureau and ranked New Jersey’s poverty rate at 10.7%.  Though the Garden State is among the least impoverished in the nation, the poverty rate in New Jersey still jumped by more than 1% compared to 2010. The report also illustrates that the number of uninsured people rose slightly to a two-decade high of 49.9 million.

9/7/2011:
In economic competitiveness, America falls to 5th place in global community
The World Economic Forum, has downgraded the United States’ global standing among the worlds most competitive economies from fourth to fifth place.  The group cites high unemployment, huge deficits, and declining faith in government among the reasons for the downgrade.  The United States was ranked as first as recently as 2008.  Meanwhile, emerging global markets, such as China, Brazil, India and Russia, all made improvements in global competitiveness. 

9/2/2011:
New school teacher evaluation program rolled out in 11 districts
A pilot program aimed at revising teacher evaluations for the 2011-2012 school year is being implemented in 11 districts throughout the state.  The 11 districts have been selected from 31 districts that applied to participate in the new program.  Known as Excellent Educators for New Jersey (EE4NJ), the pilot program will use a new framework for evaluating educators based on both teacher practice and student performance. If successful, the Christie Administration hopes to pursue a statewide roll-out in 2012-2013.  The districts participating in the pilot program are Newark, Elizabeth, Alexandria, Bergenfield, Monroe (Middlesex County), Ocean City, Pemberton, Red Bank, Secaucus, West Deptford, and Woodstown-Pilesgrove.  Click above to read more about the pilot program and the revised evaluation criteria.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES IN OUR “NEWS AROUND THE STATE” ARCHIVE 

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE

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