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Paterson council's effort to exit Garden State Growth Zone stalls amid legal disagreement
Summary
A proposed ordinance to remove Paterson from the state's Garden State Growth Zone and limit long-term tax abatements failed Tuesday after a split among council members and differing legal advice about whether a city vote was needed to end participation.
Councilman Michael Jackson brought a first-reading ordinance on Feb. 10 that would have ended Paterson's participation in the state'run Garden State Growth Zone, a program that allows tax abatements for qualifying redevelopment projects. Jackson said the city's prior local authorization expired in 2023 and that failing to reaffirm the policy had allowed automatic abatements on large projects that have contributed to recent appraisal spikes and higher residential tax bills.
"If the council does not have supportive legislation that continued this program, any abatement that was authorized after the date of 2023 is null and void," Jackson said, urging colleagues to act to prevent what he described as…
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