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, and funding for the school trusts will increase by 2% every year, according to the city.
Ramos said negotiations for the deal have been happening since 2020, when the city council first planned to vote on a deal to disburse money from the 7 Seventy House PILOT to the schools. At the time, there was disagreement over whether the charter schools should be included in the payout. “The key was definitely the four districts getting in a room themselves and saying let’s try and work more collaboratively,” Ramos said.
“I think when we started this process that wasn’t the case.” Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who also helped strike the deal, said that was the highlight. “To me, the best part was seeing our charter and district schools come together reducing longstanding tensions and fostering a new spirit of collaboration,” she said.
Mayor Ravi Bhalla thanked school district leaders for their help in reaching this agreement. “I look forward to the Hoboken City Council’s impending adoption, so we can put the money to good use in support of our schools,” he said..
