Hearing on payment in lieu of taxes is Tuesday
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Taxpayers would see about three-quarters of last year’s tax revenue from the Route 206 commercial property proposed as an off-track horse racing betting site, under an ordinance up for public comment Tuesday.
According to Mayor Douglas Tomson, Darby Development would pay $32,000 annually in lieu of property taxes, with $29,000 going to the township and $3,000 to Somerset County.
Darby Development, based in Oceanport, is converting the former Maestro’s restaurant on southbound Route 206, just south of Brown Avenue, subject to approval of the state commission.
The state has the final say in approval, not the township.
Mr. Tomson said last week that off-track wagering was made legal by a bipartisan action by the state government in 2011 as an economic measure to save a flagging horse racing industry. Under the law, off-track wagering is allowed in any commercial or industrial zone.
The ordinance allowing the payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) would give the township more revenue than the alternative — an incremental imposition of 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 percent of property taxes over the next five years.
The Maestro property paid $41,564 in property taxes in 2013, according to tax officials.
The mayor said company representatives may make a Powerpoint presentation on Tuesday. It’s not required, and it isn’t the time to object.
Mayor Tomson said citizens will have the opportunity to question, object and seek details on such things as hours, operation, security, lighting, noise, parking, etc., when the state Racing Commission holds a mandatory public hearing in Hillsborough, in late April or May.
The mayor said last week that he had visited the company’s Woodbridge off-track wagering operation and he called it “a restaurant first and wagering second.”

