By: Thomas Prusa, Michelle Lane
Did you feel your wallet get pinched last Tuesday night? You probably knew your local tax dollars were paying police and teachers, but did you realize that the Township Committee was also using our tax dollars to enrich local landowners?
Last week, the Township Committee changed the development rules governing the Hillsborough Elementary School (HES) property. In theory, I support developing that corner.
However, the devil is in the details. Before we applaud the Township Committee, let’s look at what they really did.
The Township Committee passed a rule whose main goal is to pay-off a local landowner. Anyone looking at the ordinance can see this is the case. The economic incentives are only provided to a developer who owns land in Hillsborough. The township explicitly limits the development incentives to local landowners. A Princeton or Bridgewater developer is not eligible for the extra development incentives.
Donald Trump can’t be a viable bidder for the HES site, he does not own land in Hillsborough. Who in their right mind thought limiting competition was a good idea? Competition drives up the value of the land.
At this point it is hard to say how much the provision will cost Hillsborough taxpayers but the figure is easily in the millions of dollars. Yes, that’s right. Mayor Frank DelCore is willing to fire teachers and layoff cops but then has the gall to design rules that guarantee our town’s most valuable real estate will sell at a fraction of its true value. That stinks.
Furthermore, the mayor designed the new rule so that the local landowner/developer dictates the density of the development. If limiting the incentives to a local landowner were not enough, the township passed a provision where the more land the local landowner sells to Hillsborough the more condos he can put on the HES site – 100 condos, 125 condos, 150 condos, it is all up to the developer.
Mayor DelCore apparently lets developers to do his job. When did we vote for local developers to run our town?
Let’s not forget that the township already owns about 500 acres of undeveloped land. However, the way Mayor DelCore designed the rules governing the development of HES, the school board will receives millions less if they opt to build a school on land the township already owns. If the mayor had designed rules that clearly defined the density bonus (e.g., simply stated the incentive is 60 extra condos) and allowed all developers to bid on the project, the township would have both received more money for HES and also been able to keep more of that money in our coffers. Instead of saving money by using land we already own Mayor DelCore is essentially requiring the school board spend money.
I am in favor of developing HES. But, I am not in favor of having our tax dollars go to local landowners. When people complain about how high New Jersey taxes are, the undue influence of developers is often mentioned as a major reason. Hillsborough’s new law is a prime example.
We need to stop blaming teachers for our budget woes and instead look at the folks who enrich their friends at taxpayer expense. Don’t be fooled by the Township Committee’s friendly smiles; deeds – not words – matter.
