After years of negotiations, Hoboken public schools are slated to get their first ever funding from developments with tax abatements, an annual sum beginning at $500,000 that would be divided among the city school district and charter schools. The deal has been considered since 2016 and took years of conversations with the school districts to reach. Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreements for new developments typically include developers making a direct payment to the municipal government, in exchange for not paying conventional county, school and property taxes for a predetermined number of years.
This agreement marks the first time Hoboken schools will directly benefit from a PILOT. “This is definitely landmark new territory, so maybe future city councils down the road can try and include more (PILOT) money (for schools),” said Councilman Ruben Ramos, who recalled advocating for this more than 15 years ago. The PILOT agreements included in this deal are with the 7 Seventy House, a 14-story luxury rental building on Jackson Street, and the residential building in Hoboken Connect, a redevelopment of multiple sites in and around the Hoboken Terminal that broke ground this year.
The funding would be dispersed through four separate trusts for the public school district, Hoboken Charter School, Elysian Charter School and Hoboken Dual Language Charter School. The formula to divide up the money will be based on school district population. Each of the PILOTs are for 30 years.