PARSIPPANY — More than 200 Parsippany residents shut down Tuesday night’s council meeting which was slated to take up the final vote on three PILOT agreements, also known as municipal tax abatements.
Before the meeting even started, the crowd of attendees standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the council chambers surpassed the room’s capacity limits.
As a result, Township Clerk Khaled Madin announced the postponement of the meeting until Thursday, December 28 at the PAL building, 33 Baldwin Road, Parsippany.
Council President Loretta Gragnani angered residents, school officials, and parents for initially setting the time of the rescheduled meeting for 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 28 — drawing accusations that council officials tried to suppress public attendance with a mid-afternoon meeting on a weekday.
After the loud criticism and “Shame on You” chants, the time of the December 28 meeting was finally adjusted to 7:00 p.m.
The public also expressed outrage with a procedural change made by Council President Gragnani to move the general public comment period for the Tuesday night meeting to later in the agenda after the council votes on the second reading of the proposed PILOT ordinances.
The public comment period has traditionally come before the individual resolution section of the meeting.
Many suspect the move to delay public comments is a reaction to the unanimous pushback from residents and school board officials who vigorously protested the proposed PILOT programs at the December 5 council meeting.
PILOT agreements are deals that enable a developer to switch their standard tax payments for a property to a fixed, yearly payment to the municipality.
Township residents and school officials warn that PILOTs will allow large developers to avoid paying their full share of property taxes while straining municipal and school district resources.
Despite the unanimous opposition to PILOTs Council members Gragnani, Michael dePierro, Paul Carifi, Jr., and Frank Neglia have voted in favor of the PILOTs being represented by former Parsippany Township Attorney John Inglesino, who served during Mayor James Barberio’s first mayoral term from 2010 to 2017.
Dissenting Council member Justin Musella and the Township’s entire school board have repeatedly stated that the proposed PILOTs will underfund the school system as new developments undoubtedly add additional students and costs.
Municipal officials and Mayor James Barberio have stated that prolonged blight of unoccupied or demolished office buildings will greatly increase the tax burden for residents if PILOTs are not used.
