To the Editor:
I’m still scratching my head about the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) upon which the massive Stockton Street real estate development proposal is based.
According to the Project Information provided by Town officials on December 19, 2024 as part of their Ordinance package, the project with PILOT would generate $48.6 million in total tax revenue over a 30-year term. The Project Information further states that this PILOT would deliver 61 percent of would-have-been tax revenue sans PILOT. Therefore would-have-been total tax revenue would be $79.6 million. The loss in tax revenue would therefore be $31 million, e.g., the difference between the two, so the town is giving the developer a tax break of $31 million to do this deal.
What is less clearly spelled out in the above town documents but nonetheless true, is how the taxes received would be split in PILOT versus no PILOT. In PILOT as the town states, 95 percent of the tax revenue comes to the town, and 5 percent comes to Mercer County. But under normal taxation, 20 percent comes to the town, 30 percent comes to Mercer County, and 50 percent comes to the School Board. Do the math and we discover that this gift to the developer under PILOT means a $30.3 million windfall to the Town, a $21.5 million hit to Mercer County, and a $39.8 million hit to our schools, versus no PILOT.
What is the Town going to do with the extra cash we didn’t know it needed? How will Trenton in Mercer County continue to deliver sufficient assistance programs to needy families — including affordable housing — after the huge revenue cut? And most pressingly, how will our schools continue to deliver great performance after a $39.8 million cut in funds? Note well: in all of these town documents, there is no requirement as to how much — if any — of the Town’s surplus income is given to fill the hole in education. Over time, the lack of normal tax revenue is very likely if not assured to cause all taxpayers to pay higher taxes to keep our schools running competently, even as the developer cashes in.
This project is too dense. At 238 units on 4.4 acres, the density of 54.3 units per acre would be the highest of any comparable development ever done in the Princeton municipality. The density would also be an astronomical 18.5 times higher than the surrounding historic homes.
This project does nothing beyond the legally required minimum in terms of affordable housing. Eighty percent of the units will be luxury priced and of the paltry 48 affordable units, the rent reverts to market after 30 years and there is no path to ownership. So in the end the town gets nothing.
There are other question marks related to this development, for example, traffic.
Dear town officials, please explain to the community why this makes sense and please bring us all together to discuss better alternatives. Because between us, Princeton can surely do better than this.