Parsippany resumes debate on controversial tax deals. See how the new council voted

PARSIPPANY — Following a raucous seven-hour meeting last week where some town council members say they were harassed and cursed by protestors, Mayor James Barberio had some hard-earned experience to share with new council members at their first meeting of 2024.

"When it gets hot and heated, it can be very difficult, but that's OK," said Barberio, who took the brunt of criticism at last Thursday's meeting when 800 angry residents protested developer tax incentives. "You've got to be battle-tested at times," the Republican mayor said at Tuesday night's meeting, which featured two new members on the five-person council.

The incentives − known as PILOTs, short for "payments in lieu of taxes" − can lower developers' yearly tax bills, in theory to encourage them to build on unwanted properties. The controversial deals arose again on Tuesday, though they weren't on the official agenda, which focused on 2024 committee appointments and the election of Paul Carifi Jr. as the new Parsippany council president.

Carifi is entering his fourth term as the panel's senior member following the year-end retirements of Michael dePierro and Loretta Gragnani. He was elected president by a 4-1 vote, as was Frank Neglia as vice president. Councilman Justin Musella, a fellow Republican but also a fierce critic of seven recent PILOT agreements, cast the lone "no" vote on both nominations.

Push to repeal tax incentives stalls

Musella also offered a motion to repeal three PILOTs passed on Dec. 28 until they can be studied in more detail. New council member Judy Hernandez, now the lone Democrat on the panel, seconded the motion.

Noting last week's meeting, when scores of residents, including several Parsippany school board members, spoke against the tax deals while none spoke in favor, Musella said, "I think it's imperative we go back to the drawing board and we come up with a process that works for everyone. The process we saw on Thursday was indefensible, and should never happen again in this town."

Musella's motion failed with a 2-2-1 vote. Hernandez sided with Musella while Carifi and Neglia voted"no" and new Republican Councilman Matt McGrath abstained.

McGrath and Hernandez were sworn into office during a separate ceremony on New Year's Day.

PILOT debate is relit

School board members condemned the PILOTs, saying they cut the district out of the 65% of property taxes that would normally go directly to local education.

Barberio, along with Carifi and Neglia, repeated their arguments for the incentives, saying the district will get its money simply by submitting a budget and bill for expenses to the township. Without PILOT deals they said, developers will take their projects to neighboring towns more willing to offer a discount.

With owners of Parsippany's glut of vacant office buildings already filing tax appeals, Barberio warned, Parsippany is losing revenue. If those owners cannot sell or redevelop, he said, they will demolish buildings to lower their tax rate even more.

Neglia asked Musella why he approved preliminary redevelopment deals when they were introduced in April. "Had I known that every single redevelopment plan was a beard for a PILOT, I would have voted no," Musella responded.

Affordable housing legislation

Barberio also warned of pending legislation in Trenton that he said could accelerate the pace by which New Jersey towns must meet affordable housing mandates in the state constitution, a change that could speed up development overall.

Under a series of court rulings dating back to 1975, the state Supreme Court's Mount Laurel Doctrine requires New Jersey municipalities provide their "fair share" of low and moderate-income housing. Almost a decade ago, in 2015, the state's highest court found that most towns still weren't meeting their obligations, so it shifted enforcement to state Superior Court where builders can seek approvals from local judges.

Those rulings have spurred a development boom in New Jersey − including hundreds of new units under construction in Parsippany − that has worried residents and school districts about increased enrollment, traffic and water use.

New legislation proposed by Democrats in Trenton would replace the current system with a trio of court-appointed "special masters" who would determine how many affordable housing units each town must zone for, aided by a group of judges or other experts appointed by New Jersey's chief justice. The bill would create a "uniform, transparent and efficient plan for municipalities to meet their fair share obligations,” Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, D-Middlesex, chair of the Assembly Housing Committee, said last month.

More: Affordable housing quotas may get a sweeping overhaul. How it could impact your town

Why Parsippany mayor opposes the bill

But at Tuesday's meeting, Mayor Barberio said he would ask local state legislators to oppose the bill, including Sen. Joseph Pennacchio and Assemblyman Brian Bergen, two Republicans representing the 26th district.

"This is going to fast-track affordable housing," Barberio said. "The developers will be looking at certain properties in Parsippany."

Pennacchio agreed the pending legislation could add to the burden of North Jersey towns already falling behind their affordable-housing obligations.

"I think they should drive a stake through the heart of affordable housing," Pennacchio said. "The (state) program itself is so bad. They are building units that are not needed, not in areas where people work and have public transportation. And the burden on the individual communities is horrific."

"This bill is a clear example of legislators representing a special-interest group instead of constituents," Bergen said. "It flouts constitutional separation of powers, ignores municipal concerns with the affordable housing process, and will continue to rake municipalities and taxpayers over the coals by shifting the court process to a state program."

He said he would be discussing the bill during a committee hearing in Trenton on Thursday.

17 vacant office buildings

Carifi, the new council president, said the pending legislation also fueled the council majority's urgency to pass the PILOTs so Parsippany can remove those developable properties from the calculation used to determine Parsippany's future obligations.

"Right now we have 17 vacant office buildings and more that are only 20% to 30% occupied," Carifi said. "Am I in favor of dishing out PILOTs? No. But I saw the opportunity to get these properties off the map before it hits."

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com 

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: New Parsippany council, same tax fight at year's first meeting