January 23, 2015

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! 

MORE BAD NEWS FOR OPPONENTS OF GAS TAX INCREASE
NJGCA MEMBERSHIP FAIRNESS DOCTRINE
COMPLIANCE CALENDARS ON THE WAY
CLOSING THE LOOPHOLE IN REWARDS PROGRAM LEGISLATION
SURVEY ABOUT THE NJ LOTTERY
BILL PROPOSES STAYING AT HOME DURING STATE OF EMERGENCY
DEBIT CARD FEE LAWSUIT REJECTED BY US SUPREME COURT
GENERATOR GRANT PROGRAM APPLICATION RE-OPENED

Once again, this week starts off with an update on the gas tax issue.  In the news this week, there was a story that the NJ Department of Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox told government sources that he intends to stop the transfer of municipal aid from the Transportation Trust Fund to the individual municipalities. Essentially, in the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1, 2015, there will be NO revenues to share with municipalities. You can bet that there will soon be 565 mayors screaming and yelling at the Governor and the legislators to do something about this fiscal crisis. Again, we already know that "something" must be done, but our fear is that because of the urgency of the situation, "something" could end up meaning that the sales tax is applied to gasoline.  Please continue to stay tuned and pay attention to everything that I send you about this critical issue.

Now I am going to discuss something I haven't talked about recently... Last year, we printed the NJGCA Membership Fairness Doctrine, which you can read again by CLICKING HERE.  In order to protect NGJCA members that support our association both financially, through annual dues, and through active participation, I have taken a much harder line against those who seek our help but choose not to pay dues and become members. I want to relay to you two examples:

• Last year, a former member got into a situation and sought our help.  He visited us here at headquarters, and we explained how we could help... but we could not do so until he re-joined and paid all dues that were in arrears. He indicated that he would renew his membership, and he left our office with an application, a copy of the Membership Fairness Doctrine, and the 2014 MBP brochure. He never renewed his membership, but he did call one of the MBPs listed in the brochure, claiming that he was a member, in order to receive the special member rates. This past week, the MBP contacted us to confirm the person's membership. Since he never renewed, the special membership rates are now being denied to this business owner. The difference in the rates will eventually cost this person thousands, but I'm adamant that we will not permit him into a specially designed program that is intended for NJGCA members only.  The Membership Fairness Doctrine protects YOU!

• Also this week, we started preparing our mailing of the 2015 NJDEP Compliance Calendars, which were just delivered to us.  The calendars are mailed to MEMBER LOCATIONS ONLY. Those former members of NJGCA who previously received compliance calendars will this year instead receive a letter from me, and a copy of the Membership Fairness Doctrine, asking them to rejoin NJGCA and pay all dues that are in arrears in order to retain the same benefits that you receive.

These are two examples that demonstrate how I am determined to protect your membership!

In addition to protecting your interests in Trenton and ensuring that the benefits of membership in NJGCA are limited to MEMBERS ONLY, we also try to protect our members from dangerous industry trends, such as below cost selling, and rewards programs that force retailers to absorb a portion of the discount. Specifically, NJGCA has been fighting to close a loophole which allows oil companies to charge retailers a "transaction fee" and put some of the burden on the retailers to cover the costs of the oil company's promotion. The original rewards legislation was passed two years ago, and when oil companies started exploiting this oversight, we immediately began working to rectify the situation.  Just this week, we saw how important these efforts will be in the future, as Wawa recently announced a rewards program that allows repeat customers to use a registered Wawa Gift Card or mobile phone app to qualify for special deals. This program does NOT apply to gasoline purchases but it does prove that companies are trying to get more creative with their incentives, and if retailers continue to be forced to shoulder part of the costs of these programs, their margins will continue to suffer.

Next, for those of you with convenience stores, please look for a survey about the NJ Lottery, we sent out on Wednesday. We are happy that the Lottery Commission has asked us to actively seek your input, however, when we first sent this survey out, your response was DISMAL at best.  Please take five minutes and complete the survey.  Do It!  Don’t make me beg!

In other updates, there has been a movement in Trenton to allow workers to stay home on days when a State of Emergency has been declared, without having to dip into their time off or sick time. Employees will not be paid for those days, but they are also protected from any retribution or adverse action for not showing up to work. There are many times when a State of Emergency is preemptively declared by the Governor, or even when a certain part of the State receives no inclement weather whatsoever, this bill would allow workers to take the day off regardless of the actual weather conditions. The bill has passed out of committee in the Senate and is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly.  We will continue to keep you updated on its progress.

You may also recall that we frequently discuss the lawsuit that merchants filed regarding credit card interchange fees. This week we learned that the US Supreme Court rejected a similar lawsuit filed by the retail-industry to lower debit card fees. Industry groups representing retailers, c-stores, restaurants, and supermarkets were among the parties who asked the Supreme Court to intervene and address the challenge to the Federal Reserve regulations on the fees that banks can charge merchants for processing debit transactions. This three-year federal court battle ultimately ended this week when the Supreme Court announced that it would not consider the retailers' suit.

Finally, I wanted you all to be reminded again that there are new eligibility requirements for the NJ Generator Grant Program. Anyone with more than 18,000 gallons of gasoline storage capacity, who also sells diesel, is now eligible to apply.  All information about this program, including the application, can be found online at www.njeda.com/generators. For more information or for any assistance, please contact Jacy at jacy@njgca.org or 973-376-0066.

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)

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

1/22/2015:
Bad roads and bridges cost N.J. drivers more than you might think
A report to be released this week gave the bad news that's hardly a surprise... NJ's bad roads and bridges contribute to higher numbers of fatal crashes on rural roads, cost consumers more money at stores, and are costing individual drivers almost $2,000. The report doesn't stop at the $1,951 in added costs per driver, based on 2012 numbers. It blamed bad roads and bridges for costing a total of $11.8 billion in additional costs for driver to operate their vehicles.  It found that in 2013, 35% of the state's major roads were in poor condition, 41% were rated in "mediocre" conditions, and 24% were ranked good. The report by TRIP, a non-profit transportation research group, broke down the additional costs for drivers by category - $605 in added vehicle operating costs for repairs, vehicle depreciation and added fuel consumption for rough roads. Traffic crashes and the cost of injuries and lost productivity adds $485 to the vehicle costs. Finally, sitting in backed-up traffic is the biggest cost to individual drivers, sucking $861 out of their wallets annually.
 
1/2/2015:
Fox freezes municipal aid tied to TTF dollars as negotiations intensify
Embroiled in backroom negotiations over the depleted state Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), state Department of Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox is telling government sources that he intends – for the foreseeable future and until leaders reach a deal – to shut down municipal aid dependent on TTF dollars. Fox also wants a full-scale review of 500 structures statewide. The commissioner’s recommendations come as Gov. Chris Christie, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-3) and Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-32) continue to wrangle over how to fund the TTF. Each has a different vantage point on the issue, modified in no small part by specific political strategy, according to where he stands now in relationship to his next office – or would-be office. Set to kick off his designs on the presidency, Christie wants an estate tax elimination in exchange for a revenue enhancer, possibly a sales tax to all petroleum coming into the state. A source noted to PolitickerNJ that this is a more likely option for Christie given his aversion to signing off on a gas tax hike as he heads into a Republican Primary.
 
1/20/2015:
Supreme Court Rejects Retailers' Bid to Lower Debit-Card Swipe Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday struck a blow against retail-industry efforts to lower debit-card fees, announcing it wouldn't consider a challenge to Federal Reserve regulations on the interchange or "swipe" fees banks can charge merchants for processing debit transactions, reported The Wall Street Journal. The high court's action, which came in a brief written order, removes lingering uncertainty for the banking industry by ending a three-year federal court battle over fees associated with billions of debit-card transactions each year. The Fed's rule "will unlawfully permit banks to inflate by billions of dollars each year the interchange fees they charge American merchants and, in turn, American consumers," the challengers said in their appeal to the Supreme Court. Industry groups representing retailers, restaurants, supermarkets and convenience stores were among the parties who asked the Supreme Court to intervene. Companies including Wal-Mart and Starbucks filed amicus briefs that supported the challenge, as did Sen. Richard Durbin, (D., Ill.), author of the Dodd-Frank provision limiting the fees.

1/18/2015:
Falling oil prices hit Venezuela, Iran and Russia hard
As oil prices continued to plunge last week, it was instructive to watch the disparate reactions of three governments whose whopping losses are likely to produce some of the biggest international stories of 2015. There was the panicked scrambling of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who skipped his own state of the union speech for a desperate world tour in search of loans or promises of $100?oil. He got neither, even as rumors flew back home about whether he would be allowed to stay in office on his return. There was the cool response of Vladi­mir Putin, whose ministers announced drastic cuts in government spending -- except for defense. Russia’s proxy forces in eastern Ukraine meanwhile launched a new offensive. And there was the energetic engagement by Iran’s foreign minister in negotiations on a nuclear deal that would lead to a lifting of U.N. sanctions. This followed an argument back in Tehran between the country’s president and its supreme leader about whether Iran should pursue an opening to the world or a warlike “resistance economy.”

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.