Dear Editor:
The BOE’s position on PILOTs is confused at best. Last December, the BOE coordinated with Councilman Musella to prevent PILOTs. Now, the BOE apparently wants money from the PILOT agreements it opposes. A fair question for the BOE is – which is it? Is the BOE against PILOTs because, according to them, PILOTS take money away from the schools, or does the BOE want money from PILOTs because they know that PILOTs can be good? After all, among other things, PILOTs could provide the BOE with an opportunity to obtain increased money for Parsippany’s children. More on that below. Either way, the Mayor has taken the responsibility of hiring an auditor to review the Parsippany BOE financials so that he can determine whether the BOE is a good steward of our taxpayer dollars before forking over millions of taxpayer dollars to them.
One inexperienced policymaker, who lacks context or history, professed outrage that the Township would audit BOE finances. He made a motion to prevent the audit. The motion did not get a second. Until recently, municipal governments across New Jersey routinely hired such auditors to review BOE budgets when voted down by the voters – the theory being that municipal elected officials would be the check and balance over fiscally irresponsible boards of education. After all, school taxes account for most local property taxes NJ residents pay. In Parsippany, school taxes account for 63% of each tax dollar we pay in local property taxes. As a councilman and Mayor, we routinely hired auditors to review BOE budgets rejected by the voters, and we made substantial cuts to them. The laws have changed in this regard. Today, Parsippany’s BOE takes advantage of a law that permits it to circumvent public vote on its budgets by holding elections in November. In return, the Parsippany BOE is subject to a 2% cap on its annual tax increases.
Mayor Barberio inherited a fiscal mess when he returned to office. He is successfully addressing Parsippany’s challenges by making fiscally responsible decisions on Parsippany’s budget and, by working with the business community, turning vacant commercial buildings into revenue-producing properties, thereby transferring the tax burden from residential taxpayers to Parsippany’s increasing commercial tax base.
Like Mayor Soriano before him, Mayor Barberio considered Long Term Tax Exemptions, otherwise known as PILOTS, on a case-by-case basis to repurpose vacant office buildings and transform them into revenue-producing properties. Moreover, PILOTs can help plan quality mini-communities within Parsippany to assist Parsippany in meeting its prodigious affordable housing requirements. Repurposing vacant office buildings is necessary because many of them have been vacant for some time, and, to steal a verse from the Boss hit “My Hometown,”- “ these office jobs are going boz, and they ain’t coming back.” Twenty-two municipalities in Morris County have PILOT programs, and they don’t have a fraction of Parsippany’s vacant commercial space. Why are PILOTs good for them but not for Parsippany? Politics!
This past December, the Parsippany BOE, led by Board President Andy Choffo, launched a campaign of lies to prevent PILOTs. Specifically, the BOE lied by asserting that PILOTs would deprive the BOE, and thus Parsippany’s children, of money for programming. Evidence of this lie is still posted on the BOE website in its 12/18/23 statement of PILOTs, wherein the BOE states, “the Board has determined to preserve monies in an attempt to maintain the programs and education that our students have come to expect for as long as possible.” Folks, this statement is false. The BOE receives every dime of money in its annually approved budget, whether there are PILOTs or not! Contrary to the BOE’s statement and consistent misinformation, PILOTs do NOT adversely affect money for programs or education. That is the law of this state.
PILOTs can help provide additional funds for Parsippany’s children. That is because the Township and the BOE could enter into a Shared Services Agreement, providing financial benefits to the BOE outside the 2% cap referenced above. Yes, PILOTs offer a mechanism to provide more money for Parsippany’s children than current law permits the BOE to provide through its taxing powers – unless it submits its budget for a public referendum. It is bizarre – or, as some may say – irrational, that the BOE would oppose a program that could provide more funding for Parsippany’s students.
The BOE should stay in its lane and govern the schools. However, this is difficult for them because the BOE President and a few other BOE members have injected themselves into the Mayoral campaign by spewing lies and creating chaos. The BOE should stop lying to Parsippany’s parents and admit that PILOTs do NOT impact school funding. Lastly, the BOE should recognize that PILOTs can allow it to partner with the Township to enhance the quality of education for Parsippany’s residents. However, the BOE needs to be a trustworthy partner to do that. This type of partnership exists in many other communities across NJ where I work. It would be nice to see that happen in Parsippany. But that will require the BOE members to ask themselves a serious question – which do you care more about – Parsippany’s children or expanding political power by lying to your students and parents? I hope that reason will prevail and that the BOE will stop its campaign of misinformation and smears, open a productive line of communication with the Mayor, and prove themselves trustworthy partners. The future of Parsippany’s taxpayers and children depends on it!
John P. Inglesino
