The City Council navigated a minimal agenda at their meeting Wednesday night, just one month away from an election in which three of nine of the members are running for mayor. However, they did consider an amendment to a redevelopment plan for the city’s northwest area, and also voted on a measure to make more public information available when a developer gets a tax abatement deal.
Action on the city’s large individual development projects – the proposed NJ Transit development at the southern border, for one – has been slowed to a halt presumably until the election is over.
Only five of the nine council members were present at the meeting.
One City Hall source said that “hot button” issues such as possible changes to rent control regulations have been put on hold at the request of certain campaigning council members until the May 12 election has passed.
A June runoff election – if no one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote – is likely and could prolong the inactivity.
Council members Peter Cammarano, Beth Mason, and Dawn Zimmer are running for mayor, as are three independents.
Murky tax abatements get clearer
The council did attend to some business at the meeting. They approved a resolution requiring that more information be given to the public before the city enters into a tax abatement agreement, or payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement, with any developer. Such agreements exempt a developer from paying regular fluctuating property taxes, instead arranging a separate annual revenue deal. The money goes straight to the city, rather than being divided among the city, schools, and county like regular property taxes. Some residents believe they have to pay disproportionate shares of those taxes when developers do not.
Zimmer sponsored the resolution, which requires the city to complete a comparative analysis between standard taxes and the proposed PILOT agreement and release it to the public. The analysis must be made public 30 days before any action is taken by the council or the administration.
Mason asked city attorney Steven Kleinman what, if anything, is different about this request compared to the original state statute for PILOTs. The statute requires that certain analyses to be given to the council before they approve any PILOTs.
“Should we have been getting this all along?” Mason asked. Kleinman said Zimmer’s proposal requires slightly different information in a different form.
Michael Lenz, an ardent supporter of Zimmer and a former city CFO, was called up to the microphone to explain the difference. He said the resolution asks for a comparison to regular taxes instead of just a tabulation of the taxes to be collected by the PILOT and, most importantly, demands that the information be made public.
“The [state] statute was written by developers,” Lenz said in a parting shot.
Residents and taxes
Resident Dan Tumpson was at the meeting and called the resolution a “no brainer,” thanking the council for considering it.
“Sting is getting a bigger break on his taxes than Toni.” – Toni Tomarazzo
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Resident Toni Tomarazzo complained that some of the tax abated properties in town are owned by wealthy individuals, and she mentioned a rumor that pop star Sting was buying a condo in Hoboken.
“Sting is getting a bigger break on his taxes than Toni,” she said.
Not so fast
For the last few years, the city has been hammering out the kinks in several redevelopment plans for the city’s perimeter areas, including the western edge and northwest.
An ordinance to adopt the Western Edge Redevelopment Plan and send it to the Planning Board for approval has been listed on the council agenda for several meetings. But on Wednesday, it failed again to come up for a final vote.
Some council members are seeking changes to the plan, which would require them to re-introduce it, then take a final vote at a subsequent meeting.
The council did, however, vote on an ordinance to amend the existing Northwest Redevelopment Plan. Portions of that area of town are already under construction. The amendment allows the developers to add another story in height to a property called the Water Music building, where a recording studio will be relocated. The building will have condos, the studio, and some educational space considered to be a giveback to the community.
However, resident Leah Healy raised a concern to the council over the wording of the amendment. She noted that the language may allow the developer to back out of the educational space if the developer can’t afford it.
The amendment states: “[The building] which at a minimum shall include a music recording studio…and which may include a theater, educational, and related spaces such as a kitchen, gallery space, and multipurpose rooms…if the proposed educational use can not be funded prior to construction, the assigned floor area shall be removed from the project.”
The Planning Board now has 45 days to examine and approve or deny the change.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.