HILLSBOROUGH: Shopping rewards director defends tax reduction program

To the editor:
I would like to address the letter submitted in regard to the Shop Hillsborough’s Property Tax Rewards program ("Why is Shop Hillsborough so complicated, costly for businesses?").
People familiar with the program will tell you that this is a true win-win initiative. Residents receive property tax credits with every purchase, merchants enjoy higher exposure in town. The support of the program by local merchants has been nothing short of amazing.
Shop Hillsborough launched with more than 60 merchants. Our company, FinCredit Inc., currently manages 12 townships statewide. Hillsborough is the only town that has started the program with such a high number of businesses. We were impressed.
The simplistic analysis of the authors of the letter in question is appalling. Most arguments were very poorly thought out. I would like to set the record straight by addressing every single point of the letter.
1) The program is not complicated at all. The rewards industry is close to $2 billion. All the major companies use reward cards successfully. If anything, Hillsborough Township officials are leveling the playing field. Small businesses can finally have a rewards program without the expensive start up costs (e.g., cards production and distribution; program marketing, etc.)
2) Merchants do not inflate prices. Businesses discount their products and services every day to gain market share. Coupons, Groupons, special promotions are only a few examples. Do these promotions result in price increases? No, they do not…. our program is no different.
3) The Star-Ledger article mentioned in the letter was very positive about our program. Assemblyman Ron Dancer is a big supporter. He presented a bill that will allow the tax voucher to have a specific space accommodating our program’s tax credits. Presently, tax credits are posted in a general "credit" box. This past July we successfully posted thousands of tax credits in six different towns. The DCA and other state authorities are well aware of our program. From a tax credit-posting standpoint they are leaving it up to the single township to handle it. I should add that townships do not undertake such an ambitious program unless they are thorough in their due diligence. So far, not a single complaint from any of the townships we work with.
4) The merchant pays a higher percentage to cover property and management fees. If for example the offer to the public is 5 percent, the merchant pays 6.667 percent. If the offer is 7.5 percent, the cost to the merchant is 10 percent and so on. For this, FinCredit Inc. handles all the aspects of the program. There is little or no burden on township personnel. Depending on how successful a town is, our fee ranges from $400 to $1,200 a month.
Our services include: Merchant recruiting/setup; merchants relation; producing email blasts and other social media; customer service for card users; clearing and managing transactions; township relations and reporting; providing, managing and updating SH web portal, generating and submitting payment files for posting of tax credits, etc.
5) Our privacy policy clearly states that emails and other information on the stored value card are made available to the merchants visited. The program is voluntary. Individual uncomfortable sharing their email address are invited not to register. This information is not hidden in the fine print but it is all in capitals in the second paragraph or the terms and conditions. These terms need to be accepted for a user to move on to the actual registration page.
If the authors of the letter believe that "people should naturally be inclined to shop in town," I share their dream. The reality, however, tells a quite different story. Studies show that merchants that utilize reward programs are more successful that those that do not. It is not a coincidence that all the major department stores, supermarkets and other chain stores offer reward programs.
Reading the letter you published was very stimulating to me. I always welcome other points of view as well as constructive criticisms. Then it all crumbled with that last paragraph. This was another publicity stunt and political propaganda to support candidates in November. How disappointing. Once again our program, a real win-win initiative helping merchants and residents alike, was misrepresented to favor a political agenda.
I have been there before in other towns. It always happens in the month of October. Just for the record, our program has no political colors. Politicians on both sides of the fence like the program and what it does for their town. It is a shame to give space to a Letter with a not-so-hidden political agenda. I would have respected the authors of the letter much more if they would have stayed with the facts about our program instead of dropping the usual, boring, political agenda bombshell.
Carmine de Falco 
President & CEO 
FinCredit Inc. 
Marlboro 