HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: Project Freedom revenues will replace property taxes

This type of fiscal arrangement is known as a PILOT

By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
   Project Freedom, which plans to build a 70-unit facility for residents with disabilities on Denow Road near the Hopewell Crossing Shopping Center in central Hopewell Township, will pay the township 5 percent of its revenues instead of paying property taxes.
   An ordinance under which that may be done was adopted by a Township Committee vote Monday night.
   This type of fiscal arrangement is known as a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement. It is permitted under state law because the Project Freedom units will be applied toward the township’s satisfaction of its affordable housing obligation, set by the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing (COAH).
   Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom and Administrator-Engineer Paul Pogorzelski estimate that, under the PILOT program, Project Freedom will pay the township about $18,000 annually. All that money will go to the township’s general revenues.
   Hopewell Gardens, an apartment building for seniors on Denow Road, pays about $60,000 annually under a PILOT program, township officials said.