I am a recovering rewards program junkie. My husband used to refer to me a “marketer’s dream” and he was right. My keychain was cluttered with those little bar code cards for everywhere from Genuardi’s to CVS to the local hardware store. I couldn’t resist the lure of a bargain.
The truth is that most of those programs didn’t pay off. I usually just ended up with a coupon or two at the register for something that I would probably never buy or that will expire before I returned to the store.
But a company founded in 2010, Fincredit, Inc., might actually have hit on a rewards program that really does pay off: both in your pocket and for your community. The company has developed a product called the Property Tax Card (PTC). The card allows homeowners to earn credits as they shop at local businesses. Those credits can be used to offset their annual property tax bills.
Marlboro Township, NJ, is thought to be the first community in the country to embrace such a program. The township, located in Monmouth County, in north central New Jersey has a population of just over 40,000. The relatively affluent population pays, on average, a bit more than the national average ($4,083 in 2011) in property taxes – and that may be going even higher.
To combat the pinch to taxpayer wallets, the local government decided to give PTC a try. There was no cost to residents to participate in the program: sign up was free. The cost to print the initial batch of 30,000 cards was covered by a local business, Investors Bank.
Here’s how the card works: when taxpayers shop at participating businesses, they swipe their PTC card. Credits accrue based on a percentage of the amount spent; the result is a corresponding reduction on their annual property tax bill. The actual percentage that each participating business agrees to contribute towards the program varies – percentages range from 1% to a whopping 32% (that would be Papa John’s) though most percentages hover around 10%.
The idea is, of course, two-fold. One, it puts money back in the pockets of taxpayers. But two, it encourages those same taxpayers to keep their dollars in their own community. In theory, that should mean better things for the township, including a stronger local economy. A stronger local economy should translate into job creation and busy storefronts – all useful tools for attracting even more dollars.
Is it working? It may be too early to tell. But Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik is pleased so far, saying, “Our residents and our business community alike have been very positive in their assessments of the program, and the initial participation has been even higher than expected.”
NJ neighbor Pequannock has expressed interest as has Manalapan (though that effort seems to have been stalled) but Marlboro clearly stands out in terms of publicity for embracing the program. Clearly, both Fincredit and Marlboro hope those efforts pay off.
How about your community? Would you embrace such an idea?
