April 14, 2016

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

MAINTENANCE FEES ON TAIL-PIPE EMISSIONS INSPECTION EQUIPMENT
SUPPLIERS CHANGING PRICES MULTIPLE TIMES IN 24 HOURS
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ENFORCEMENT IN CONVENIENCE STORES
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE TAX RATE FOR EMPLOYERS TO BE REDUCED
WEST ORANGE TRYING TO RAISE TOBACCO PURCHASE AGE
AND CHARGE E-CIG/VAPE RETAILERS $1,200 FEE

First up this week is a question regarding the tail-pipe emission inspection equipment which will soon become obsolete under the new emission inspection program. Many members have asked if and when they will be able to stop paying maintenance fees on this equipment each month, since it will soon be phased-out. The short answer is "soon." The longer answer is as follows: As you know, older vehicles will still be required to get tail-pipe testing through May 1, 2016. However, the equipment will not become obsolete right away, on May 2nd... There are two scenarios in which the tail-pipe equipment will still be necessary:

1. A vehicle owner is delinquent in getting his required inspection before May 1 as mandated and brings the vehicle into the shop in subsequent months, or
2. The vehicle fails the initial inspection and a repair still has to be conducted. Then, the vehicle must return for a subsequent tail-pipe inspection.

We are waiting for an official reply from MVC about how they plan to handle this issue moving forward. Just know that you WILL eventually be able to stop paying those maintenance fees, we just have not received official word on what the timeline for the transition will be. Rest assured that as soon as we know something, you will know it! I will also ask MVC to get the word out over the VID to speed up the information process.

The next question that I've been getting a lot recently has to do with gasoline and diesel suppliers changing their prices more than once a day. You all know that it is illegal for YOU to change your price more than once in 24 hours, but your distributors do not face the same restrictions that you do. This creates a very tricky scenario. We have argued many times that retailers should be able to change their price more than once in a 24 hour period if the price of their product changes, but so far we have been unsuccessful in this effort. The only other way to address this concern would be to impose the same restrictions on suppliers that retailers face... Prohibit suppliers from changing their prices more than once in 24 hours. But then when prices are going up at the rack, how are suppliers supposed to react if they can't start charging their customers (you, the retailer) the new market prices at the rack? One option would be for the supplier to refuse to pick up or deliver any loads of gas until the next day when the 24 hour limit has been reached and then the supplier can adjust their price to reflect the new market conditions. If we imposed a restriction on the refiners at the rack, they would simply stop releasing product to the distributors until they too could adjust their prices to reflect changing market conditions.

Obviously, none of this is very realistic, and our best option, like I said before, is to allow prices to be changed more than once in 24 hours when the price of delivered product increases more than once in a 24 hour period. Has anyone ever thought what might happen if you had a load come in and the cost had suddenly jumped to $1.80 per gallon, but the posted price on the street was $1.79? Would you be breaking the below cost selling laws? If you raised your price in order to avoid selling below cost, you'd be breaking the law that says you can't changes prices more than once per 24 hours. You can see how tricky this gets! I'm including this section simply to raise your awareness and to let you know that right now, there seems to be no good fix or solution for this problem! We have also been unable to garner support in the legislature to make the necessary changes. I am still working on it!

Last week, I addressed some Weights and Measures issues with you (co-mingling and sub-octane), but this week I have some other Weights and Measures issues that have also been popping up often, which I must address. For those of you with convenience stores, there are some fundamental rules you must follow:

1. All of your packaged items must be marked with the correct weight of the product that's inside the package. This includes any products that you may make and put in a warming tray, such as breakfast sandwiches, and other items like buttered rolls and bagels. After you wrap them, you must put the correct weight of the product on the package that you wrapped. If you buy a product from a manufacturer like cupcakes or microwaveable breakfast sandwiches that are already inside of sealed packaging, then the vendor that sold you these items should already have a weight on the package. If a weight is not on the package, don't put the item on your shelf. Contact the vendor and tell them that you are no longer going to purchase their products unless they put the proper weight on the label. The penalty for each item displayed for sale that is improperly labeled will range from $150-$300 per item.

2. Each product for sale in your store must be properly labeled with the price. You can either put a price sticker on every item, or you can display a price tag on the shelf underneath the items. However, it is critical to make sure that when you scan one of these items, the price that posts on the cash register is identical to the price that is displayed on the shelf.

I am getting too many reports that things are getting sloppy inside of convenience stores. Sometimes these are instances where a mistake was made, and I will always try to intervene on your behalf. However, when it is a repeat offense, then continued displays of sloppiness make it very difficult for me to plead for leniency.

For those of you with good memories, back in 2011 I explained why the unemployment tax rate paid by employers would be increasing due to a deficiency in the unemployment trust fund. The good news is that the same rules that made the tax increase take effect, also allow the tax rate to be lowered when the fund has been replenished. Presently, it appears as if the fund has now built up about a $1 billion surplus, and we expect the employer portion of the unemployment tax rate to be lowered enough that about $200 million less in unemployment taxes will be collected from NJ employers in the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

Finally, Eric and I will be in West Orange on Tuesday night to attend the Mayor and Council meeting, as they plan to discuss an ordinance that will raise the age to purchase tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, from 19 to 21 years old. They have also proposed a new $1,200 fee to be imposed on any convenience store that sells any electronic cigarettes. Apparently, they plan to use this money to pay for enforcement of the new 21 age limit (that is, to pay underage high school and college kids to go into convenience stores to set you up by trying to buy tobacco illegally).

We have a number of members with convenience stores in West Orange and we expect them to join us. Once again, the word goes out to all because this is a dilemma that will keep popping up in different municipalities across the state.

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Tuesday, May 17, 2016 -- 6:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Class Starts 7:00 AM (donuts and coffee provided)
Pizza and soda served at 12:00 pm
MVC Test at 1:00 PM

Cost: Member = $250
Non-Member = $300

Please bring $50.00 check made payable to NJMVC to satisfy the State's licensing fee

For more information and Registration Form, click HERE

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 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!!

NJGCA MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER GILL ENERGY LOOKING TO HIRE FOR (3) DIFFERENT POSITIONS!

For more information about these positions, and to submit a resume for consideration, please contact: ravigill@gillenergy.com.

4/14/2016:
Big change coming for those who fail N.J. inspection for emissions
Under changes to the vehicle inspection system that will take effect this summer, State Motor Vehicle Commission officials said that if a vehicle fails its initial emissions test, drivers will have to take it to a private inspection station to get it re-inspected. Currently, if a driver brings their vehicle back to a state-run inspection station to be re-tested after flunking the emissions test, motorists are not charged, said Raymond Martinez, MVC chief administrator. The change will go into effect this summer, said Mairin Bellack, an MVC spokeswoman. "You get one shot. If you fail the emissions test, you have to go to a private station for re-inspection," he said. "This will ensure that customers have their car prepared before bringing it to inspection." The state is charged $20.29 by private contractors for each inspection, he said. The MVC's contract with Parsons Corp. to run inspection stations expires this year and MVC officials are looking for ways to reduce costs. In another major change, vehicles from 1995 and earlier will no longer have to be inspected, Martinez said. The exemption of older vehicles will eliminate the need for private garages and contractors to buy equipment to test tail pipe emissions, he said.

4/11/2016:
How White Castle Will Adjust to a $15 Minimum Wage in New York
Jamie Richardson is a vice president at White Castle, a burger joint which has operated in New York since 1930. If labor costs rise dramatically, White Castle will have to balance its books by raising prices or changing its business model so that it needs less labor. “Is there any room to raise prices to cover costs?” Richardson muses. “We think we’d need to increase menu prices by something like 50%. It’s not something we’ve done before. It’d be catastrophic.” Richardson says White Castle has historically seen its customers react noticeably to even slight increases in menu prices. “Some people think that we can just raise menu prices to cover the increased labor costs,” he says. “But it’s a ripple effect. We’re not the only place to eat, we compete with other restaurants. Richardson says -- and common sense dictates -- that if menu prices at fast-food chains shoot up by anywhere near 50%, many people will stop eating out as much, replacing trips to White Castle with trips to the grocery store. Customers can always vote with their feet and their dollars.

4/11/2016:
NJ employers brace for $15 minimum wage
Doomsday, to hear some New Jersey business owners tell it, may be just around the corner. The threat, as they see it, is a $15 minimum wage. New York just OK'd a phased-in new minimum, which would hit $15 in NYC in 2018. California also jumped on the economic bandwagon, adopting its own phased-in $15 floor. In NJ, proponents have set their sights on $15 as well -- never mind that Gov. Chris Christie has promised a veto. All this gives Joe Bilotti pause. “My yearly payroll is about $150,000," said Bilotti, who owns the Surfside Motel in Point Pleasant Beach. "If the minimum wage is raised to $15/hour, it will raise my employee expense to about $225,000." That $75,000 increase, he said, would be impossible to make up without raising rates, and he has no room to lay off staff. Moreover, he doesn't believe his workers merit $15 an hour, the target of a well-coordinated campaign orchestrated by labor & anti-poverty groups in communities across the country.

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 require 12 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 732-256-9646 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.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC

DEFENDING OUR MEMBERS.
PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.
ANSWER THE CALL & CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!

Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.

However, in order to truly affect the debate, we must ensure our friends in the Legislature are re-elected. It is for this reason that your Association has established the NJGCA PAC.

For too long, the weight of funding our Political Action Committee, the arm of the Association responsible for political donations, has rested upon a few. This is not only unfair to those few members who have shouldered this burden, but means we are not utilizing our full strength to affect the debate in Trenton.

To truly understand the importance of supporting our allies, consider our successes in Trenton:

We defeated BELOW COST SELLING
We made history in getting FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL signed into law!
We have built large support for RIGHT TO REPAIR and got it passed out of the Assembly
We defended your small business against the false accusations of Attorney General Anne Milgram
We gained wide support to move New Jersey to an all PIF Inspection System and close the CIF lanes
...and MUCH MORE!!

In each instance, we achieved these goals with the help of our friends in the Legislature!

If every member contributes just $100.00 we will be able to provide the help necessary to ensure victory for our allies.

PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
NJGCA PAC
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
Please make your donation payable to NJGCA PAC

I understand that times are tough for all NJGCA members, but this is just as important as any battle we have fought in the past.

We have made great progress in Trenton. I hope that you will answer the call.

*NEW*Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are for reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.