The year started off with the program being deleted from the budget. TTC led a lobbying effort that was successful in getting the program reinstated at the last minute. Program responsibility was changed within NJEDA and the new team revised the application to reduce unsubstantiated plans for success as the primary scoring criteria. This elimination of the look-forward information required a significant change to the scoring methods. TTC in concert with NJEDA was able to formulate an equitable methodology that benefited the applying companies.

In July, a revision to the law governing the corporate business tax was passed by the legislature as a means to help cover the budget deficit. To say the least, it caused a furor in the business community as well as complicated the decision process as to whether or not the tax credits would be beneficial to a tax-paying corporation. The AMA Vs CBT numbers became a huge issue. We spent a great deal of time from July up until December educating potential buyers as to the benefits they would receive. It also created some very interesting situations where, for the first time, some of our clients became both sellers and buyers of the tax credits.

For the very first time, due to the professionalism and accuracy demonstrated by TTC over the prior four years of the Program, the Dept. of Taxation granted TTC alone the right to prepare and print the actual Certificates for our clients which helped substantially accelerate the closing process.