Morristown Council Approves PILOT For Affordable Housing Project

MORRISTOWN, NJ — The Morristown Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance which grants a PILOT to a developer that will bring an 85-apartment building and 18 affordable housing units to Morristown along with an estimated $6.2 million in revenue to the town.

The project includes 14 homes for special-needs unit which council members agreed at a meeting Tuesday night was needed in Morristown. The PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, makes the project profitable enough in the earliest years of the project, officials said in the past.

While the redevelopers would pay land taxes to schools, they would be able to skip for taxes on improvements to the land for the next 25 years — beginning when the project is completed.

“Initially, everybody on the council was a little cool on the idea of another PILOT,” said Councilman Robert Iannaccone, who said Tuesday that this is the first time he has voted in favor of a PILOT. “But what we did do is we had an extensive discussion, we involved a lot of people in that discussion…we got input from a lot of people.”

The matter was previously discussed with the Morris School District and some concerns were raised that the project would take funds away from the district that would then fall on taxpayers. However, financial analysts said a previous town council meeting that the school district would not miss out on funds.

During the public hearing portion of Tuesday’s meeting, Morristown resident Sumner Parker said that the 30-year tax inclusion is more of a burden on Morristown taxpayers, particularly when taxes increase. He said while the project includes affordable housing, the incremental benefits of the units does not make up for the loss of revenue to the town.

The project is more lucrative to the developer, which Parker said the PILOT is necessary for the developer to obtain the needed rate of return on its investment. He said the town should not be responsible for the developer seeing its desired rate of return and said that the town should not subsidize the project.

However, council members said that due to the need of special needs housing, taking on the PILOT made the most sense for the town and its residents, especially those who would not receive the help they need.

Councilwoman Toshiba Foster called the project “a great opportunity for the town” and a “positive step forward.”

“This is a good step for the town,” Ianaccone said Tuesday night. “The need for special needs housing is tremendous – absolutely tremendous…this is something that is very needed in our town. Our town is gratefully unique to be able to support jobs for people that have special needs … and I think we as a council are making the right decision.”