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Residents press council over PILOT deals and school funding; mayor and administrator respond
Summary
Residents urged the Township of Clark Council on March 17 to tighten PILOT negotiations and deliver more revenue to the school district; administrators replied that the district receives required funding and that some pilot agreements include escalating payments.
Several residents at the March 17 Township of Clark Council meeting urged elected officials to reexamine Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes (PILOT) arrangements, arguing some PILOT deals send fewer dollars to the school district than the taxes the properties would generate under a conventional tax structure.
John Grieves, a Clark resident, urged the council to avoid PILOTs for residential developments where students will increase school enrollment without corresponding tax revenue. He cited Walnut Hill Apartments as an example and urged the township to extend an existing practice (the council noted it has in the past provided funds to schools tied to a PILOT) more broadly to other pilot agreements so schools receive funds closer to what normal taxes would generate.
Business Administrator Jim Ulrich and Council President Bill Smith explained how the township approaches PILOT negotiations and the tax structure: Ulrich noted that some PILOT agreements escalate the payment rate across the 30-year term and are not a flat 10% for the entire period. He outlined typical escalation steps in one example: 10% in the first five years, increasing in later periods to higher percentages. Smith said the township historically chose to pass a portion of pilot proceeds back to the school district in at least one case to help keep the district "whole," and he said the board of education has not formally requested additional money from the township this year.
Mayor Angel Albanese told residents the district "is getting what they need to run the schools" and that the township has taken steps over multiple administrations to support school safety and facilities (examples cited: parking, bump-outs and turf field projects paid by local taxpayers). Ulrich and the mayor also pointed to the state's affordable-housing obligations as a complicating factor: the municipality must produce a housing plan by deadlines set by the state and some development decisions are shaped by state law and appeals.
No formal council action was taken on PILOT policy at the meeting; several council members asked staff to continue coordinating with the school and monitor enrollments and impacts of negotiated agreements. Residents pressing the matter said they wanted the council to take a tougher stance in negotiations to secure greater school funding where developments increase student enrollment.
