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NorthJersey.com
POMPTON LAKES — Borough officials are pushing forward with more downtown redevelopment efforts, recently approving a 30-year payment instead of taxes agreement for a four-story, 23-unit apartment complex at 60 Wanaque Ave.
Local officials reviewed the project's financial and municipal impacts in March, including the PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes deal their experts tell them should bring in about $2.5 million in municipal revenue over the next 30 years.
The project by Pequannock-based Soojian Brothers Construction is slated for the former gas station site across the street from the Pompton Lakes Town Square retail complex and adjacent to Tatiana’s Tailor & Dry Cleaners, local records show.
Estimated at a cost of $6.3 million, the development was one of a handful in recent years identified by borough officials as ideal for a PILOT agreement that would provide the borough with annual revenue based on the larger of either a percentage of gross revenue or the amount of conventional property taxes.
Bryan Morris, a borough consultant from Phoenix Advisors, said during a borough council meeting in March that the agreement would generate an estimated average of $83,000 in net revenue over 30 years. With a 20-year agreement followed by typical tax revenue distribution for 10 years, the town might net about $1.75 million, he said.
Additionally, the agreement allows the borough to collect a 2% annual administrative fee, of which 5% would go to the county, during the term of the agreement, he said. Land taxes would continue to be distributed to the county and school district, Morris added.
Steve Mlenak, an attorney with Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis representing the project developer, said that without a PILOT, the project would not happen and the site would remain as it is — responsible for about $5,600 in annual property taxes, according to county records.
The plan for 60 Wanaque Ave. is one of many in a multi-year effort to revitalize downtown Pompton Lakes and establish new tax revenue sources. Once a regional shopping destination, the downtown has struggled in recent decades in comparison to its heyday in the 20th century, according to borough officials.
After being granted a redevelopment plan amendment by council members, the project is expected to have commercial office space on the first floor rather than retail storefronts, a key component of other projects involved in the revitalization program. The new retail space — as well as new residential units — included in downtown redevelopment projects have caused some concern among residents in recent years regarding parking, traffic and the potential displacement of existing businesses.
While the PILOT agreement was approved unanimously by the borough council, Councilwoman Jennifer Polidori said there were some questions that went unanswered on taxpayer impact and council members only received pertinent information on the deal the day of the vote. She called the dissemination of information before the vote "an absolute disgrace."
Mayor Michael Serra said the details were generally left up to the town's consultants, who gave a presentation on the PILOT agreement on March 12, ahead of the vote. The town's consultants are experts in PILOT agreements and negotiated the deal, he said.
"They recommended everything," he said during the council's March 26 meeting. "It didn't come from this council."
Serra said the agreement, one of dozens inked in the region in recent years, is set to bring the town about 95% of the site's property taxes for its duration. The town's 2024 cut was about 25% of total property tax, state records show. The remainder went to the county government and school district.