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Resident raises school funding concerns over pilot payments; mayor, council respond
Summary
A resident challenged the township's use of pilot (payment-in-lieu) arrangements and tax abatements, arguing schools receive less than other municipal shares; the mayor and council defended the township's pilot policy and described how pilot revenues are used for municipal services and school infrastructure.
A public commenter at the May 6 Woodbridge Township Council meeting urged closer scrutiny of pilot payments and tax abatements, saying the township's contribution to school funding via pilot agreements is lower than the schools' share of property taxes.
Ken Gardner, speaking during public comment, said "for the regular taxpayer, 60% of our taxes go towards the school district" and argued that pilot deals reduce the dollars available to the school district over the life of the abatements. Gardner raised figures he said were in the budget and campaign materials and asserted that the cumulative effect over 30 years could be substantial.
Mayor McCormick responded at length on the council floor. The mayor said "You cannot compare pilots to basic taxation. Pilots are completely different," and explained the town's approach: the school board sets its budget and an 'amount to be raised by taxation' is billed and collected; the mayor said the municipality has no legal requirement to share pilot revenues with the school board but called pilots a net source of funds that can support municipal services and school infrastructure. "We collected $28,000,000. If this was basic taxes and we never did a pilot, we would have $28,000,000 less in our budget," the mayor said, adding that pilot-generated funds had been used for roads, sewers, parks and buildings.
Council members and other speakers also addressed the record. Councilman Anderson noted uses of pilot funds for school facilities and athletic fields. A school official in the audience recounted borrowing to repair condemned tracks and tennis courts and said the infrastructure work funded in part by pilots benefited students across the district.
The exchange included contested factual claims about past municipal fiscal history and bond measures; Mayor McCormick disputed a public commenter's characterization of actions from the early 1990s, saying he worked on budgets at the time and that some earlier budgets contained material weaknesses that required fiscal-year adjustments. Those historical assertions were made on the council floor and attributed to the mayor's recollection and personnel history.
No formal policy change or motion on pilot programs or tax abatements was taken at the meeting; the discussion occurred during public comment and subsequent mayoral remarks. The council did not vote on altering pilot policy at this meeting.
