Tax Abatements – Civic Parent

Why the School Tax Levy is Key to Funding JCPS (and why seeking abatement funds is not a concrete solution).

January 30, 2020January 30, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

I've heard "can't we go after the abatement money to fund our schools? Rather than increase the school tax levy?" The answer is: no, at least not directly. I wrote about the intersection of abatements & school funding back in 2015; this current moment has been foreseeable for years, unfortunately our elected are only...

Jersey City: Approximately $40 Million of School Tax is Locked Up in Abatement Contracts

May 7, 2019October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Tax Abatements

This is part of a series about the 2019/20 proposed municipal and schools budgets in Jersey City. Jersey City’s proposed 2019/20 municipal budget shows that over $120 million in PILOT fees are expected to be collected in in the coming year. What is notable about PILOT fees is that they don’t contribute to the...

Updated: Jersey City Abatements from 2016 User Friendly Budget. Mapped by Project Type & Ward.

March 16, 2018June 17, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

If you are new to the topic of abatements, I recommend my tax abatement series here including my 2015 article,”Jersey City PILOTs Rob Funding from the School System.“ This post is a refinement of my previous “Mapping Jersey City Abatements By Project Type and Ward” post. I wanted to update the data, and the map, to...

Fulop Era Abatements Approved from 2013 to 2016

July 6, 2017October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Tax Abatements

I’m sharing a new map I created that pin-drops all abatements approved since Mayor Fulop and the current City Council took office*, i.e. since the summer of 2013. I created the map after reading Terrence McDonald‘s recent article from the Jersey Journal titled “Has Steve Fulop Evolved on Tax Abatements?” It’s a valid question...

Op-Ed Follow-Up: Get the Facts & Figures About Abatements & Public School Funding in Jersey City

May 30, 2017October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

I teamed up with Ellen Simon to co-author an op-ed in The Jersey Journal about how Jersey City’s PILOT policy harms our public schools. The article is dense with facts, figures, and assertions. To ensure our assertions are as accessible as possible to the public, I’ve created a landing page to help readers sort through...

Jersey Journal Op-Ed Highlights PILOT vs. Public Schools Tension in Jersey City

May 15, 2017October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

I teamed up with Ellen Simon, a friend, fellow public school parent, and former board trustee of the Jersey City BOE, to co-author an op-ed in the Jersey Journal. The topic: how Jersey City’s PILOT policy “robs” funding from our public schools. The term “rob” is not ours…to find out who did coin the term, in...

Mapping Jersey City’s Abatements by Project Type and Ward

April 23, 2017July 14, 2019Brigid D'SouzaTax Abatements

If you are new to the topic of abatements, I recommend my tax abatement series here. I’ve updated my 2015 long-term abatement map to include 2016 data. The map is provided below, along with reports showing underlying data grouped by project type (affordable housing vs. market) and by ward. Source data was derived from the city’s user...

Jersey City PILOTs Rob Funding from the School System

November 17, 2015June 17, 2020Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Property Taxes, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

A strong public school system is essential bedrock to a healthy community. Yet in Jersey City, our bedrock is threatened by a fiscal policy that is over-reliant on PILOTs. Here’s the crux of the problem: PILOTs help grow the city, which in turn increases demand for public schools. But PILOTed residents don’t pay school tax, leaving taxpayers to bear the burden...

Mapping Abatements in Jersey City

September 16, 2015September 28, 2019Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Tax Abatements

As I explained in my last post, transparency around abatements is finally, slowly, increasing. As data is unlocked, taxpayers can glean greater insight into how their tax dollars are spent. To help with this effort, I’ve mapped the 146 abatements from Jersey City’s 2015 “user friendly budget” into an easy-to-use Google map. Let’s Get Civic...

Tax Abatements 601: Brighter Sunshine Mandated for NJ Abatements

September 3, 2015October 23, 2020Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Public budgets, Tax Abatements

Tax abatement reporting in Jersey City is finally getting more transparent. Two distinct authoritative bodies have mandated changes that require Jersey City (and other cities) to get onboard the transparency train. This news should come as a relief to taxpayers since abatements now constitute over 20% of Jersey City’s annual revenue yet have been sharply criticized by the NJ Comptroller as being too opaque...

Jersey City, We Have A Problem.

May 18, 2014September 28, 2019Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

Jersey City has been estimating the cost of its abatements incorrectly for at least eight years, and the impact to conventional taxpayers could amount to millions of dollars. Here’s the problem: Jersey City has been under-counting the number of (a) residents and (b) public school students that will eventually live in each abated building. The City has been...

Abatements 501: A Critique of Mayor Fulop’s “Buy Up” Abatement Policy

April 21, 2014September 28, 2019Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

In my Abatement Series, I’ve discussed the basic premise of abatements, how they are funded, and the impact to conventional taxpayers. In this post I look at Mayor Fulop’s new tax abatement policy for Jersey City, which includes two notable components: Tiering System: A system of awarding abatements based on geographic location or project type1. Each...

What Does 1.88 Students Look Like?

March 28, 2014September 28, 2019Brigid D'SouzaJersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

On Wednesday night, the City Council approved an 80-unit abatement in downtown Hamilton Park. Here are some of the specs on the property: located at 9th & Brunswick in downtown Hamilton Park a community the abatement will extend for 20 years contain 80 units, including 20 3-bedroom units and 35 2-bedroom units 1.88 kids from the building will attend...

Tax Abatements 401: The Transparency Issue

March 23, 2014September 28, 2019Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

In his 2010 report, “A Programmatic Examination of Tax Abatements,” NJ Comptroller A. Matthew Boxer highlighted numerous weaknesses with abatements. One issue he touched upon was transparency. He stated, “Information concerning abatement…is not published in a transparent manner or centralized location, making it difficult to impossible for the public to compare, calculate the effect...

Tax Abatements 301: Two Sides of the Same PILOT

February 17, 2014July 14, 2019Brigid D'SouzaProperty Taxes, Tax Abatements

This is article #3 in my series about abatements. Article #1 is “Tax Abatements 101: The Basics” and Article #2 is “Tax Abatements 201: Abatement Impact on Conventional Taxpayers.” In my previous post, “Tax Abatements 201: Abatement Impact on Conventional Taxpayers”, I focused on the orange slice of the pie pieces below. In this post...

Tax Abatements 201: Abatement Impact on Conventional Taxpayers

February 10, 2014July 14, 2019Brigid D'SouzaProperty Taxes, Tax Abatements

This is Article #2 in my series about abatements, which focuses on the impact abatements have on conventional taxpayers. My first post, “Abatement Basics,” is located here. How important are abatements to Jersey City residents? The answer: extremely important. Abatement revenues – also known as PILOTs, or “payments in lieu of taxes” – have increased from 3%...

Tax Abatements 101: A Basic Overview

January 30, 2014July 14, 2019Brigid D'SouzaProperty Taxes, Tax Abatements

A basic introduction to the topic of tax abatements in NJ....

Let’s Get Civic

December 15, 2013September 28, 2019Brigid D'SouzaAdvocacy, Jersey City School Funding Crisis, Public Schools, Tax Abatements

The genesis of CivicParent.org…. I live in Jersey City and on November 14, 2013 I learned that Mayor Fulop’s first abatement – the 3 towers planned for Journal Square – would not include dedicated funding for Jersey City public schools. I also learned that five City Council members, all of whom were Fulop-endorsed candidates,...