Group Protests Tax Credits For Prudential

Three-dozen people held a rally outside the Prudential headquarters in Newark yesterday, bringing with them a U-Haul truck to move the insurance giant "for free."

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At issue is the state's award of $250.8 million in tax credits to Prudential if it builds a new office tower in downtown Newark and creates 400 new jobs. Prudential is considering its options for 2,000 employees who work at the Gateway Complex when its leases expire in 2014. The current proposal calls for a $444 million, 650,000-square-foot building located across Broad Street from Military Park, four blocks from Prudential's world headquarters at 751 Broad St.

Supporters of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, which organized the event, were carrying moving boxes and chanting, "We want taxes to be fair — make Prudential pay their share."

The protest was more about Gov. Chris Christie's budget policies that "find money" for tax credits while cutting other public services, rather than Prudential's individual business decisions, said Bill Holland, executive director of the Alliance.

"It's really about Christie — he's the one who's giving billions of dollars to corporations while working families pay more and get less," Holland said.

A Prudential spokesman said the company understands the group's right to protest, and reiterated the company's requirement to hire new employees.

"Our ability to get anything at all in terms of the tax credits is predicated on creating jobs, and if we don't create the jobs, we get nothing," said spokesman Bob DeFillippo. "We are committing to hire 400 new people and then maintain those jobs for at least 10 years in order to receive the full amount of the tax credit."

DeFillippo said if Prudential goes through with a new building, that could involve an additional 2,000 construction jobs.

Sarah Portlock: (973) 392-5994 or sportlock@starledger.com