Rateables Anyone?

On July 16^th the City Council passed a resolution rezoning 44 industrial acres on the side of Route 4 bordering Leonia. Once again, developers Hekemian Kasparian Troast LLC (HKT), who last year were given the green light to build a 500 million dollar project in the same area, seem to be the City’s favorite for this new rezoning. The new zoning allows for twenty-five multi family units or 7.5 townhouses per acre. Also, hotels and office buildings up to twelve stories and parking garages as high as seven stories are permitted. In this new plan the city will not condemn any properties in the area. The Planning Board recommended the development of the old Industrial Park in the 2002 Master Plan.

The vote on this resolution was not unanimous. But all councilmen voted to approve another resolution that same night: $5,400,000 of taxpayers’ money was given to the public schools, depriving the Englewood residents of their right to vote on the issue. Have our elected officials forgotten that we have an elected Board of Education? By law it is up to the voters to review and approve the school budget. It appears that our elected officials don’t trust the residents, despite the fact that last April the majority voted to approve a $30 million budget for the public schools. Our elected officials must realize that stealing our right to vote creates resentment. And it also raises legal questions.

We believed that the old Industrial Park should be properly redeveloped. Those property owners who wish to sell their properties to developers should be able to do so. What we don’t believe is that office buildings will flourish in that area. Retailing and housing in our opinion are plausible.

The old Industrial Park is boxed in with only direct entrances and exits from Route 4. Therefore, unless a ramp is built from Route 80 providing direct entrance to this area, office buildings and hotels are unlikely to be built. Maybe a small motel would have a chance if it were located directly on Route 4.

Will this developer find financing to develop these 44 acres? That’s the billion-dollar question. Maybe these developers will bring other developers and broker out this large piece of land. Regardless, this large project could take many years to complete and the residents of Leonia may sue Englewood again in an effort to stop development near their border.

The municipal expenses of the City seem to be unstoppable. We have many unions involved and many tenured employees. The Department of Public Works has a strong union and so does the Police and Fire Departments. We also have a Health Department with highly paid employees. Our health official alone has tenure and makes $115,000 per year plus pension and benefits and is past the retirement age. In the municipal building, library and courthouse we also have well paid tenured personnel. The City Engineer is employed as a consultant to the City of Englewood and is also the City Planner. His fees are less expensive than having an engineering department. We must remember that in the city alone we have about 300 employees with high salaries, pensions and benefits. Lets not forget we have a school system whose budget this year was over $30 million. The school district has approximately 370 employees and most of them are tenured with high salaries, pensions and benefits.

Also, we believe the public school budget could increase about 5% per year. The Board of Education should seriously look at their own assets (they are the largest landowners in the City) in order to minimize the economic impact to the homeowners in the city. Do we need new rateables or not? Please let us know your opinion.

Homeowners carry the biggest tax burden. Existing office buildings, and about 1300 private homes in the City have not been reassessed since 1994. But this is about to change. By 2004 the entire city will be reassessed and numerous homeowners property taxes could go up as much as 40% or more. The perception that all homeowners of the East Hill are billionaires is ridiculous. The so-called East Hill section has only a few homeowners in the financial status of movie star Eddie Murphy. Many homeowners are retired and living on a fixed income.

Homeowners pay almost 75% of the city and school taxes (source - Master Plan 2002). According to our chief financial officer, the upcoming reassessment of the entire City may level off the disparity on taxes between numerous property owners in the city. Hundreds of homeowners’ property taxes have been spot reassessed two and three times in the past 10 years. We hope the citywide reassessment will be fair, especially to those homeowners who have been spot reassessed in the past.

We forget that a high percentage of Englewood’s population is over 60 years old. So the need for new ratetables may be a reality whether we like it or not. Lets hope the developers HKT finds the money to develop the 44 acres in the old Industrial Park, or brings in other developers to do what they cannot do alone.

If these developers cannot get their act together in a reasonable period of time, our elected officials have the obligation to bring in other developers with secure financing.

For months the Board of Adjustments have been hearing the application of Rushton Industries, Inc. of Fairfield to build a $70 million condominium development on 7 ¼ acres overlooking the county golf course and the Overpeck Canal (in the old Industrial Park). According to an article in the Suburbanite, this development could bring about $1,000,000 in tax revenue annually.

HKT attorney Joseph Ferriero has heavily contested the project. It appears that HKT could not arrive at an agreement with Rushton Industries, Inc. to make this project part of their plan. We don’t understand why HKT opposes so vehemently the possibility of having an independent developer build a $70 million condominium development on 7 1/4 acres of empty land (the old leaf depot). Maybe it is because Rushton Industries doesn’t need HKT’s favors and has secured its own financing. Some residents feel this project is too dense while others would prefer townhouses and some don‘t want anything built there at all. Perhaps the fate of this project will end up in the hands of a Superior Court judge.

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