Clark Heeds Lockwood Call For Pilot Payment to Schools

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – Under pressure from Republican Township Committee candidate Dan Lockwood, Middle Township Mayor Mike Clark has reversed his original position opposing paying a portion of the Conifer affordable housing PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) to the Middle Township School Board.
Mayor Clark and Committeeman Jeff Devico opposed keeping a verbal commitment made by Mayor Tim Donohue to share the PILOT payment with both the school board and the fire districts in which the two Conifer apartment complexes are located. Instead, Clark and Devico used the funds to help balance the Township budget and secure the Mayor his zero tax increase for 2016.
Clark and Devico said that the schools and fire companies never asked for the funds, so were not entitled to payment. Both the school board and the Rio Grande Fire Co. responded with letters to the Township demanding payment.
Both Republican candidate Lockwood and Committeeman Donohue publicly called for Clark and Devico to honor the commitment made by the committee. Under pressure from Lockwood (and with the threat of litigation now on the horizon), Clark finally admitted his poor judgment and instructed Township officials to draw up contracts stipulating a five-year agreement with both the school board and the fire companies. The agreements were passed by Township Committee in late September.
“I’m gratified that the Mayor and Deputy Mayor finally came around to see that a fair compromise was in order here,” Lockwood said. “Their original decision to short-change our schools and fire companies for the sake of a one-year budget fix was both unfair and ill-advised. They put political expediency and a short-term quick fix ahead of good government and sound fiscal management. I only hope that no lasting damage was done to the great trust and working relationship we have developed with the school board in the last few years.”
Conifer, the company that owns and operates the developments, is obligated under federal provisions to make an annual Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) to the Township. The payment is based on a formula related to the total rents paid by the tenants of this housing. By law, the Township is obligated to share five percent of the PILOT with the county. The Township is not required to share this revenue with the school board or fire districts. On average, just over 50 percent of a property taxpayer’s levy goes to the Board of Education. The Fire Districts average between five and six percent based on the budgets approved by voters in their districts. The agreements, as originally proposed by Lockwood and Donohue, will share the PILOT based on these historical percentages.
PAID FOR BY LOCKWOOD FOR COMMITTEE 2016 – 9 N. Boyd St., CMCH, NJ 08210