Subject:
PILOT Agreements and the Tax Cap
Message:
Dear Legislator,
As a constituent who cares deeply about public education, I urge you to pass S.950 (Gaughran)/A.6050 (Sillitti). This bill would allow school districts and local governments to spread out over ten years, the impacts stemming from a decrease in payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement challenges. This will help to ensure that schools can continue to provide staff and resources to students and local governments can provide high quality services to residents.
Many existing PILOT agreements, which school districts have no legal ability or authorize, influence or opt-out of, provide businesses with the ability to challenge the underlying assessment of their property. If a business is successful in challenging their assessment, it could result in a credit or reduction against future payments to the school district and local government. In some instances, PILOT payments make up a significant portion of a school district's revenue.
Even marginal decreases in PILOT payments can significantly impact a school district's budget. This is particularly true this year as the tax cap is well under the rate of inflation, which has made the cost of goods and services that school districts depend on even more expensive.
This bill would provide districts with some ability to plan and budget for negative outcomes to such challenges by ensuring that these reductions would be phased-in over a ten year period. This arrangement would allow school districts and local governments to better manage the reduction in its tax base.
Thank you for your consideration of this very important issue. I respectfully ask that you bring up this legislation with your conference and I would greatly appreciate a response to this email.
Sincerely,
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