New Jersey Supreme Court declines to review tax incentives awarded to energy company Holtec • New Jersey Monitor

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a lower court ruling that found the state’s Economic Development Authority improperly sought to rescind tax incentives granted to energy company Holtec International.

The high court action will uphold a November 2023 appeal ruling that upheld a lower court ruling ordering the authority to issue controversial tax incentives it had put on hold over alleged wrongdoing in the requests for tax incentives of the energy company.

The authority awarded Holtec $260 million in tax incentives to move its offices from Marlton to Camden in 2014 under the Christie administration. The company dismantles nuclear power plants.

Under Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration, the agency sought to halt those incentives, which were to be paid over 10 years, alleging the company failed to disclose in applications a 10-day disqualification that received at Tennessee in 2010 and had misrepresented an offer. of free land in South Carolina.

Holtec sued the authority in March 2020, alleging breach of contract and torts related to the stalled incentives.

Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy ruled in favor of the company, finding that the authority knew a tax incentive application question about disqualification was vague.

It was unclear, he wrote, whether the question required applicants to disclose only current disqualifications, and it was implausible that Holtec was trying to hide the Tennessee exclusion because information about it was available online.

It found that land costs were not a material factor in the Economic Development Authority’s handling of Holtec’s application for tax incentives.

Scrutiny of Holtec’s $260 million tax incentive award began after a Murphy-convened task force accused the company and others with ties to Democratic incumbent George Norcross of threatening falsely with leaving the state to obtain New Jersey’s voluminous tax incentives. Norcross was a longtime Holtec board member until last year.

Holtec in January agreed to pay the state a $5 million penalty and install a monitor to oversee the use of state funds to avoid criminal charges over an unrelated $1 million tax incentive. The settlement agreement did not include an admission of guilt.

Spokesmen for the company and the Economic Development Authority did not immediately return requests for comment.