Councilman asks for decision on PILOT

At Tuesday’s Borough Council meeting, the Council reviewed its proposed 2011 capital budget and a councilmember announced his support for an editorial requesting that the University publicly state that the Arts and Transit zoning ordinance decision will not affect its annual voluntary contribution to the Borough.

The editorial, “Eliminate PILOT Doubts,” published in The Princeton Packet on Thursday, advises that the University “issue a statement that the payments in lieu of taxes are not tied to the zoning changes and that they will continue at the current amount or more well into the future.”

The University makes an annual contribution, called a payment in lieu of taxes, to the Borough’s operating budget as part of an agreement that is set to expire at the end of this year.

The editorial also warns that a decision to end the voluntary contribution “would not be wise,” predicting that “resulting publicity and media coverage would go national and would put the University in the role of a spoiled child who didn’t get its way.”

The article is a response to a speech Councilmember Jo Butler made at last week’s meeting predicting that the Council’s decision on the University’s requested zoning ordinance would influence the University’s decision on whether or not to renew its contribution next year.

At the meeting, Councilman Roger Martindell said that he agreed with the editorial and provided an enlarged version of the editorial on an easel.

Martindell said after the meeting that the Council would like to resolve negotiations with the University regarding the University’s annual voluntary contribution before the Council votes on the Arts and Transit Neighborhood zoning ordinance at the end of April.

“The [Council’s initial] intention was to resolve the PILOT before the arts and transit issue came before us formally ... so that we wouldn’t be thinking about the consequence of approving or not approving the Arts and Transit Neighborhood on our fiscal health,” Martindell said. “It’s not just the Borough representatives saying so, it’s the community saying so.”

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University Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee ’69 said in an email after hearing about Martindell’s presentation that the University “will wait to discuss any future contributions until we know the outcome of the current deliberation about consolidation.”

“If the [Township and Borough] decide to consolidate, we probably would make one-year contributions of some amount to the separate municipalities next year and then work with the consolidated municipality to see if it makes sense to agree on a longer-term arrangement,” Durkee explained. “If they decide not to consolidate, we most likely also would make one-year contributions for next year and then see if it makes sense to agree on longer term arrangements.”

A joint ad hoc commission of representatives from both the Borough and Township is currently reviewing the possibility of consolidating the two governments into one municipality. If the commission makes a recommendation for consolidation, residents in the Borough and Township will vote in November on a consolidation referendum, which would have to pass in both municipalities to take effect.

Martindell, however, noted that waiting until November to make a decision about the PILOT “doesn’t necessarily make any logical sense.” Adding that the University’s existing PILOT agreement with the Borough expires at the end of the year and that consolidation, if passed, would not take effect until 2012 or 2013, he explained that “there’s going to be basically at least a year that we count on a substantial contribution from the University so that we don’t have to give our taxpayers a big tax bill because the University has decided to cancel its contribution.”

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Despite the Borough’s desire for a decision before agreeing to the zoning ordinance, however, the Council agreed at the end of February to enter a 60-day period of negotiations on the Arts and Transit Neighborhood. Under this agreement, the Council and the University must reach a decision on the Arts and Transit Neighborhood by the end of April, regardless of when — or if — the PILOT decision occurs.

“We agreed to the 60-day period because that was a requirement for the University coming to the table at all,” Martindell said. “Had we not said yes to the 60-day period, my understanding was that the University would have said, ‘Well, we’re taking our marbles and going home.’ ”

In his email, Durkee said the University will hold the Council to the original timetable to reach a decision by the end of April. “If we can develop that area for the arts, we will, and I believe that outcome is best for the community as well as for the University,” he explained. “If we can’t, then we will develop those lands within existing zoning and expand our capacities to support the arts on other University lands.”

At the meeting, the Council also reviewed the proposed 2011 capital budget. The budget, which reflects a $5.7 million spending plan, was reduced from an earlier $6.1 million budget that department heads had requested.

The budget appropriates $850,000 to sewer maintenance and improvements, with $207,500 of these funds appropriated to vehicle replacement, which has been deferred for the past two years.

Princeton Public Library would receive $290,000 from the capital budget, of which $50,000 would go to building upgrades and the rest to technological replacements and upgrades for wireless technology and self-checkout systems.

The Borough’s administrative costs claim $92,000 of the capital budget. Council discussions dwelled largely on the cost feasibility of replacing employees at the Spring Street parking garage with an automated pay station.