“The day has come, win or lose. We are going to take the fight on. The state is giving away the farm,” said Mayor Michael Gonnelli at Tuesday’s council meeting Jan. 10, which resurrected the town’s fight against what is viewed as an unfair annual contribution into the Meadowlands tax sharing program.
Through the program, which started in 1973, the towns in the Meadowlands region that are allowed to permit development must pay into a tax pool so that other towns that can’t develop for environmental reasons can share the monetary rewards. Secaucus has paid in excess of $72 million to the tax sharing program since its inception.
Last year, several towns, including Secaucus, protested by withholding their payments to the state.
Long-standing issue
“Every mayor that has sat up here has taken on this fight,” Gonnelli said. “We actually thought that we had made some very significant progress and were promised that the formula was going to change from a 60 percent retention to a 70 percent retention…from a three-year averaging to a five- year averaging. Those two changes would have saved us a million a year,” said Gonnelli. “We had a commitment from Meadowlands Executive Director Marcia Karrow [and] a commitment from the DCA chairman. The governor was prepared to sign off on it. Again smoke and mirrors – it never happened.”
“It is such an unfair thing to do to this community for us to subsidize other communities.” –Mayor Michael Gonnelli
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“We get a little over a $1.3 million in state aid and we are paying over $2.6 million in tax shares,” Gonnelli said. “It is such an unfair thing to do to this community for us to subsidize other communities.”
Supporting neighboring battle against the Giants
On Tuesday, the town unanimously passed a resolution supporting the claims of East Rutherford officials who last year sued the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) and the Giants for not paying property taxes since 2009 on the Timex practice center. East Rutherford claims it is owed $2.5 million plus interest in taxes.
Mayor Michael Gonnelli used the example of the neighboring town’s fight to collect on property taxes as justification for why Secaucus shouldn’t have to pay as much as it does into the Meadowlands tax sharing program.
The NJSEA and Giants filed complaints arguing that the municipality has been compensated through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for $5.8 million in 2010, according to The Record. East Rutherford is awaiting a court decision later this year.
Deputy mayor, and legal contracts
In other news on Tuesday, the mayor and council unanimously passed a resolution appointing Councilman John Bueckner as Deputy Mayor.
The town unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the appointments of various professional contracts including the following: Chasan, Leyner, and Lamparello for $200,000 as town attorney; Florio and Kenny for $50,000 for special attorney litigation, Karen R. Boylan, Esq. for $300 per session up to $55,000 as municipal prosecutor; and the Law Offices of Thomas J. Koehl, Esq for $275 a session up to $30,000 for public defender. Several awards were given out and appointments were made to local boards, which will be covered in further detail in next week’s edition.
Museum items, photo sought
Also at the meeting, council members reported that:
-The town collected $1,597,102 in construction fees last year.
-Hartz Mountain Industries has given the town access to use a warehouse located at 50 Enterprise Ave. for recreational sports teams to practice.
-The construction project by PSE&G to put new cables under the Hackensack River by Trolley Park has been postponed by two weeks.
-The Board of Health will conduct quarterly instead of annual grease trap checks at commercial restaurants and businesses. The increase comes as a result of “a lot of grease going through the sewer system” according to Councilwoman Susan Pirro.
-Residents can contribute old town memorabilia for a new museum dedicated to Secaucus history. Residents should bring their items to Town Hall.
-The town is looking for a photo of the old Vietnam Veterans sign that stood in the center of town in order to make a replica of it.
Public question on flooding
Resident Sam Maffei asked the mayor and council to put in writing what they have done since Hurricane Irene to address flooding. Gonnelli replied that because Secaucus is surrounded by water the town cannot build a damn or dike. He said the town has done a comprehensive flood study and plans to replace storm lines and rebuild pump stations.
For previous stories on Secaucus’ efforts to deal with flooding, use the search engine at hudsonreporter.com.
Adriana Rambay Fernández may be reached at afernandez@hudsonreporter.com.