A BID is a special designated area where property owners and businesses pay a fee (a special assessment) to provide extra services that can improve the local business climate. Downtown Toms River’s services do not replace the Township services, they only add to them. By law, the Township cannot reduce existing services in BID areas. Property and business owners within Downtown Toms River decide which services and programs to provide.
Like most BID’S, Downtown Toms River will provide supplemental services in these areas:
- Area Maintenance and Beautification, which includes sidewalk and street sweeping, emptying litter baskets, cleaning tree pits, removing flyers and posters, cleaning graffiti from street furniture. Downtown Toms River will focus on a Master Plan that will revitalize the economic structure of the Downtown area.
- Security programs; Police sub-station in the Downtown Toms River office, security lighting and cameras.
- Marketing and Promotion to bring more customers to the area through advertising, television commercial, shopping guides and maps, sponsorship of special promotions and events. Install new signage, banners, informational kiosk.
- Holiday Decorations will cover the business district throughout the holiday season and may be added at other times of the year.
The money goes directly to fund Downtown Toms River programs and services, which are selected by BID members and benefit all. The first year approved budget for Downtown Toms River was: $195,109.00 from property assessments, $50,000.00 from Toms River Township and $3,000.00 from the Toms River Parking Authority, for a total budget of $248,109.00. This money has been allocated to the following:
- Street Cleaning and Streetscapes
- Marketing, Promotions and Special Events
- Security
- Street Holiday Decorations
- Revitalization Master Plan
- Contingency Fund
- Administration
Downtown Toms River has an office and a Executive Director. The Director is responsible for the daily activities of the BID.
Commercial property owners and businesses. After a BID is approved by the Township and signed into law, it is formally established as a tax-exempt not-for-profit corporation. A BID is managed by a District Management Association (DMA), a not-for-profit corporation, whom you elect and which oversees the administration of Downtown Toms River. Our DMA is the Toms River Business Development Corporation. The members include property owners, commercial tenants and residential tenants. The DMA is fully accountable to Downtown Toms River members: it issues annual reports, provides annual audited financial statements, and holds annual meetings to adopt the budget and other DMA proposals.
Property owners and commercial tenants within Downtown Toms River boundaries elect their representatives to serve on the DMA’s Board of Directors. By law, the majority of the DMA members must be commercial property owners, with a least one commercial and one residential tenant also elected. Downtown Toms River Board of Directors meets Quarterly and the Executive Committee meets monthly to handle da June 12, 2018
Every BID determines its own assessments, according to an assessment formula that it selects for their District. The formula for assessing district properties is based on a factor of real property, such as front frontage, square footage or assessed value, or a combination of these factors.
In developing an assessment formula, the basic idea is to match as closely as possible the level of assessment with the level of benefit received. So, generally, the larger the property, the more service it receives, the higher its assessment.
The Township collects Downtown Toms River assessments on behalf of BIDs through a separate bill sent with the real estate tax bills. The Township takes no fee for collecting the assessments; every dollar collected is returned to Downtown Toms River to pay for BID services.
All commercial property owners within the District must contribute their fair share to finance Downtown Toms River programs and services through a BID assessment. This assessment is mandatory. Like a real estate tax, all or some of the cost of the assessment may be passed along to commercial tenants, subject to the terms of the lease.
For more information
For more information please contact the Downtown Toms River office: 732-341-8738
Downtown Toms River publishes meeting minutes and the current year’s annual budget, budget presentation and annual audit when available. Extensive information regarding committees, and services and programs is also available on this website. To make a request for public documents or records, please complete an OPRA Request form and submit per instructions.