Dear Editor:
The citizens of Hoboken have been deluged with promotional material regarding the proposed Stevens Institute/Hoboken Public Schools partnership. There have been a series of meetings that were little more than choreographed sales pitches. There have been large newspaper ads and a direct mail campaign. In fact there has even been an e-mail campaign attempting to discredit the project’s detractors.
The idea of a partnership between a technological institution like Stevens and the school system is admirable. The fact that grants may be available to build a new facility is interesting. The question however remains, how are we going to pay for the school on an ongoing basis? Where will the money for faculty, administration and custodial salaries as well as maintenance, textbooks, insurance and other expenses come from? I have asked several involved parties and have not received a concrete answer.
As a taxpayer, this concerns me as it should all of us. If the adjacent commercial and residential properties on the proposed site were to be included on the tax rolls I would not be as concerned; they would be kicking into the city, county and school board coffers. Unfortunately, the current proposal is for these properties to make “PILOT” (payments in lieu of taxes) payments to the city for essential and necessary services. These payments do not guarantee anything to the county or the school system. Does this mean the money will come from the school budget? Will the budget have to increase from the current level of 43 million dollars? When the school budget goes up and rateables are not added to the tax rolls, taxes inevitably rise. It seems rather ludicrous that we would construct a new school building in a mixed use development and then not tax the surrounding properties in the development.
Is there a plan? If there is not or if there is one that is being withheld from the public we have a big problem.
John Stevens Keim