Hometown Chatham

Tag: Mayor Dempsey

  • The last straw

    Do you know what’s happening in Chatham Borough? Find out before it’s too late. Attend the Borough Council Meeting: Monday, Oct. 27   🕢 7:30 pm 📍Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. Or, at the very least, Zoom from the calendar at chathamborough.org

    For years, Council candidate Karen Koronkiewicz enjoyed the loyal support of career firefighter and Ground Zero alum Captain Robert Penn, a respected longtime Borough resident.

    Not anymore.

    Now even Captain Penn has washed his hands of Karen and her political bosses, in part over their mishandling of the new Housing Element of the Master Plan.

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/no-longer-supporting-koronkiewicz

    Karen played a big role in that fiasco. She is on the back room committee that opted to let an unspecified developer pave over 58 North Passaic Avenue, the green, Borough-owned lot right next to home plate in Memorial Park.

    Though she represents the Council on the Borough Shade Tree Commission, Karen dismissed that wooded lot as “useless” and agreed to sacrifice all but one tree without first weighing the alternatives or taking public input.

    Screenshot

    Even after that scheme was announced, Karen kept mum about it with her colleagues on the Borough’s Shade Tree Commission until after a resident had broken the news to them at the May 22nd meeting. https://chathamborough.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=chathamborough_9bf1e4ac366152661e23e298c0351638.pdf&view=1

    At the October meeting of the Shade Tree Commission, Karen flatly refused to explain why she had withheld that pubic news from her Commission colleagues, including her own running mate Miles Gilmore. Could the reason for her silence have something to do with the location of the most obvious alternative site?

    With Karen’s re-election at stake, the rest of the one-party controlled Mayor & Council aren’t talking either. They would have you believe they cannot talk about it because it’s in litigation and settlement talks. That’s utter nonsense.

    In fact, there’s no gag order, and settlement talks are NO excuse not to explore alternatives in executive session, so the Mayor & Council will be prepared to update the public on alternatives once Chatham Borough receives its Judgment of Compliance and Repose, likely in January.

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/sections/government/articles/chatham-borough-residents-still-seek-change-to-affordable-housing-plan-to-save-green-land-council-mum-on-lawyer-s-advice

    It’s high time the Mayor & Council did the right thing: consider alternative ways to satisfy the Borough’s housing quotas without sacrificing  the green lot right next to home plate in Memorial Park.

    How can one person help persuade them to consider the alternatives? It’s easy.

    Attend the Council Meeting:   📅 Monday, Oct. 27   🕢 7:30 pm 📍 Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. Take the elevator to upper level. Enter the last room on the left. (Your presence matters. Speaking is optional.)

    House-bound? Out of town? Zoom from the calendar at chathamborough.org or https://www.chathamborough.org/resident/calendar/mayor-council-meeting-23-1761604200

    Tell your Mayor and Council you want to see some options:

    cdempsey@chathamborough.org       itreloar@chathamborough.org kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org    khay@chathamborough.org  bhargrove@chathamborough.org  jmathiasen@chathamborough.org jstrickland@chathamborough.org

    If it turns out that 58 North Passaic Avenue is the best bet, then so be it. But to hand that lot to a developer without due diligence would be unconscionable.

  • Good news!

    Contrary to popular rumors, Chatham Borough need not build housing on the wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to our Memorial Park.

    But the Mayor & Council will sacrifice that green lot anyway unless you tell them not to!

    Starting 1 January 2026, the Borough can offer alternative ways to complete the new Housing Element of the Master Plan.

    That’s what Chatham Borough Planner Kendra Lelie said under oath at the 18 June 2025 Planning Board Hearing on the new Housing Element. See for yourself starting at 1:12:20 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=393

    Here’s a partial transcript:

    Q: Planning Board Member William Heap: Kendra, let’s say the Plan is adopted. It is approved. And somewhere down the line, somehow, magically, another piece of land appears. Is there room after approval for a little bit of horse trading? 

    A: Chatham Borough Planner Kendra Lelie: So, after the approval from the Court, it is not uncommon that things happen, things change… Maybe something better comes up – and a better opportunity comes up. So yes, it’s a possibility.

    What can you do? Ask the Mayor & Borough Council:

    1. What substantive steps have our Mayor & Council been taking to prepare to identify better alternatives to developing 58 North Passaic Avenue?
    2. When will the Mayor & Borough Council begin to search for better alternatives?
    3. This time, will the Mayor & Borough Council perform due diligence on all parcels, including sites the clandestine Affordable Housing Advisory Committee never gave proper consideration, as well as sites the Committee never considered at all?
    •    Email them:

    cdempsey@chathamborough.org.      jmathiasen@chathamborough.org

    kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org.     itreloar@chathamborough.org

    jstrickland@chathamborough.org       bhargrove@chathamborough.org

    • Stop by the Council meeting, Monday, 8 September 2025, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. (Use the north entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level. Speaking is optional.)
    • Sign the petition: https://chng.it/GN4yhK8sGT
    • Share the flyer:

    Flyer for 58 N. Passaic 8 13 25 Download

  • Is it too late?

    Is it too late to preserve the wooded, Borough-owned lot at 58 North Passaic Avenue, right next to home plate at Memorial Park? No!

    In case you haven’t heard, that lovely, green parcel is targeted for development under a controversial Master Plan amendment that also allows construction of up to 206 new apartments on the busy east end of Main Street. 

    In June, Hundreds of residents protested that plan, but to no avail.

    End of story? No.

    Once the Superior Court approves the plan, which should happen by the end of December, the Borough can propose substitute sites, according to the Borough’s Professional Planner. https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=393 (Go to 1:12:20)

    If the Mayor & Council choose instead to sacrifice 58 North Passaic without having considered all the alternatives, they will lose the chance to achieve a better outcome for Chatham Borough.

    To avoid that fate, the Mayor & Council must begin searching for better options immediately after Labor Day.

    What are they doing about that?

    What substantive steps have our Mayor & Council been taking to prepare to identify better alternatives to developing 58 North Passaic Avenue?

    •    Ask them:

    cdempsey@chathamborough.org.      jmathiasen@chathamborough.org

    kkoronkiewicz@chathamborough.org.     itreloar@chathamborough.org

    jstrickland@chathamborough.org       bhargrove@chathamborough.org

    khay@chathamborough.org.       mayorcouncil@chathamborough.org

    • Stop by the Council meeting, Monday, 8 September 2025, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Ave. (Use the north entrance. Take the elevator to the upper level. Speaking is optional.)
    • Sign the petition: https://chng.it/GN4yhK8sGT
    • Share the flyer:
    Flyer for 58 N. Passaic 8 13 25Download

  • Myth vs. Reality

    Hearing conflicting claims about affordable housing? Like to separate the facts from spin & fiction?

    Free ice cream at Scoops, a slice at Bucky’s, or coffee at Fleur de Sel for the first person who can find a factual error in the following post.

    MYTH: Chatham Borough has a history of shirking its affordable housing obligations! 

    REALITY: Not so. The Borough has met its affordable housing quotas so far.

    MYTH: Before June 30, Chatham must agree to build affordable housing on the green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot at 58 N. Passaic, right next to Memorial Park, or else the Borough will risk lawsuits that would destroy the town! 

    REALITY: Not so.  Like virtually all other NJ municipalities, Chatham Borough has until the end of June to revise the Housing Element of its Master Plan to meet a new quota, but the Borough is NOT required to build anything on that particular green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park, and the Borough cannot be held liable for declining to let a developer build there.

    MYTH: The Planning Board must have had a good reason for choosing to develop that green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park!

    REALITY: No, the Planning Board did NOT select that lot for development. Only a few political bosses even heard about it before May 7, when a non-resident expert told the Planning Board about a proposal to change Borough policy by changing the Housing Element of the Master Plan, an amendment they won’t see until at least June 6, but will be steamrolled into adopting on June 18. Start approx. 46:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=368

    MYTH: The Borough Council must have had a good reason for choosing to develop that green, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park! 

    REALITY: The Council did NOT vote to select that lot for development. Half the Council never heard about it until a few days before the Planning Board first heard about it on May 7. The Council never even mentioned it in public until the May 12 Council meeting, when residents started asking questions. The Mayor said they couldn’t talk about it, but the reason, if any, was not clear. If the Council can’t discuss a change in Borough policy, who can?

    MYTH: There must be some explanation. Nobody would sacrifice a green, wooded, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park without having determined that it was the best – or only feasible – option. 

    REALITY: So far nobody’s shown any evidence that anybody considered any alternatives before targeting that green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot right next to Memorial Park. The expert who presented the idea to the Planning Board said essentially, we owned that lot, and the developer wanted it, so we made a deal. Start approx. 1:09:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=368

    MYTH: The Environmental & Shade Tree Commissions must have approved targeting for development this green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned location right next to Memorial Park!

    REALITY: No, neither Commission was even consulted. The Environmental Commission members who aren’t also political bosses didn’t hear about it until residents broke the news to them at the May 14 meeting. The only person on the Shade Tree Commission who knew about it was Council member Karen Korenkiewicz, who kept mum about it until a resident shocked the Shade Tree Commission with the news at its May 22 meeting.

    MYTH: This wasn’t a secret, back-room deal, so there must be some record as to who chose that green, woodsy, vacant, Borough-owned lot and why!

    REALITY: On May 7th the expert told the Planning Board the proposal was the work of a certain “advisory committee.” But the committee she credited with developing the proposal has NO public meetings, NO agendas, NO minutes, and takes NO public input. It isn’t even on the list of advisory committees on the Borough website as of yesterday.

    MYTH:  They’re going to do what they’re going to do. You can’t make any difference! 

    REALITY: Yes you can make a difference. You did it with the rolling reassessment, the peddler curfew, Post Office plaza, and the Middle School Arts Center. You can do it again. Our local leaders tend to consider their actions far more carefully when faced with strong public interest in an issue.

    So whatever your views:

    • Talk to friends on the Council, Planning & Zoning Boards, and the Environmental & Shade Tree Commissions.
    • Write mayorcouncil@chathamborough.org and shadetree@chathamborough.org. 
    • Attend or Zoom the Council meeting on Tuesday, 5/27/25 and Planning Board meeting on 6/4/25, both at 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue, upper level.
    • Encourage everyone you know to do the same.

  • The secret plan

    Have you heard about the Borough’s proposed affordable housing plan for 2025-2035? The Planning Board heard about it last night.

    They’re going to vote on it on June 18, and after that it will be the heart of our Master Plan for the next ten years.

    Of course, Borough residents and other taxpayers will have to pay for it in taxes, traffic, and quality of life, but you aren’t allowed to actually SEE the plan until June 6, nearly a month away.

    And after that, you won’t have a chance to ask questions or comment until the June 18 meeting where the Planning Board votes to adopt the new plan.

    Your only real chance to ask questions or comment before then is at the Council meeting this Monday May 12th, 7:30 pm, Borough Hall, 54 Fairmount Avenue.

    eCourts Civil Case JacketDownload

  • Things fall apart

    Last November 11, our Borough Council commissioned a draft Redevelopment Plan for a massive, 500-unit apartment project on River Road, next to the huge, 245-unit Ivy complex.

    https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2972429/RESOLUTION__24-333_AUTHORIZING_DMR_TO_PREPARE__A_DRAFT_REDEVELOPMENT_PLAN.pdf

    Since then, it’s come to light that the new project would be risky for Chatham Borough in at least seven ways, as follows:

    First, this new River Road project is NOT required by affordable housing law, and it would NOT help fulfill the Borough’s new Fourth Round affordable housing RDP quota for 2025-2035 either.

    The new apartments would be in addition to the Borough’s 2025-2035 affordable housing quota, which the Council must figure out how to satisfy before the end of this June 2025.

    Go to minute 1:31:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=197

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/blind-faith

    Second, the alleged risk associated with NOT adopting that 500-apartment Redevelopment Plan for River Road is imaginary.

    Our Council President insists that, absent the new Plan, current zoning allows private property owners to develop up to 707 new apartments on River Road and the Borough would have NO say in the matter. That sounds scary, but where is the evidence?

    https://patch.com/new-jersey/chatham/borough-supporting-another-massive-development-river-road-nodx?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3WyQLIJjRrA656yOFZhCsqROaE5baV9gYZ9WzT4wwfflvk8LfY5WYe4j0_aem_POd3z1AP3xU68-EadQWMWw

    In fact, about 40% of the Redevelopment Area (and more than 50% of the Gateway 1 district) is Borough-owned. Would-be developers can’t touch it without the Council’s consent.

    DRAFT Gateway Analysis – Copy – Copy – Copy 1 – Copy – Copy – Copy 2Download

    Also, the part of the Redevelopment area that’s privately-owned is mostly small lots, all subject to many federal, state, and local rules and regulations, including setbacks. https://ecode360.com/6793110#29899351

    P. 14  https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1399493/2022-05-27-HEFSP_amendment.finaladopted.pdf

    As such, the owners of that private property would NOT be able to build anywhere near 707 new apartments there without Borough approval.

    Third, if the Borough Council tries to prevent private development by adopting a rental Redevelopment Plan, then we’ll end up with far more apartments on River Road. That’s because to satisfy the legal requirement to provide at least 75 affordable units, making up at least 15% of the project, a rental Plan would have to provide for at least 500 new apartments – more than twice the number at the Ivy.

    P. 13 https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/1399493/2022-05-27-HEFSP_amendment.finaladopted.pdf

    Our Mayor & Council are well aware that the Redevelopment Plan would allow construction of 500 apartments – twice the number at the Ivy. They heard it directly from Borough Planner Fran Reiner last March. Go to minute 1:06:00 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=197

    Fourth, some Council members don’t seem to realize that such a Plan would also almost inevitably involve granting the redeveloper corporate welfare, at the very least a total PILOT exemption from paying property taxes, same as the Ivy.

    Fifth, some believe the Mayor & Council could negotiate for a smaller project by persuading a developer to provide MORE than 15% affordable rental units. A 20% affordable project, for instance, could be limited to 375 units. But what would the Council need to do to induce a redeveloper to accept that deal?

    Would they give away the Borough land along the River? Allow the redeveloper to build several extra stories? Grant the redeveloper an even more lavish PILOT tax exemption? All three? How would such concessions impact financial security and quality of life in the Borough?

    Sixth, even a 375-unit Redevelopment project would burden our precious water supply, and might force us to resort to less desirable sources.

    https://chathamchoice.org/2024/11

    Seventh, the Mayor & Council President claim that adopting a Plan would enable them to get the redeveloper to throw in a “free” riverside park and other so-called “amenities.” But the fact is that nothing is free.

     https://chathamchoice.org/2024/08/welcome-back/

    To get those goodies, the Borough Council would have to accept an even worse a deal for residents and taxpayers. They’d probably need to give away most or all of the Borough land along the River, to allow the redeveloper to build even more extra stories, and to grant the redeveloper an even more lavish PILOT tax exemption.

    Before spending any more time or money on another Redevelopment Plan for River Road, our Mayor & Council need to tell us how they would avoid getting stuck with a huge, 500-unit rental project that would clog up our roads, and would almost certainly demand an exemption from property taxes, forcing the rest of us to make up the difference.

    https://chathamchoice.org/2024/12

    Tell the Mayor & Council to set aside this ill-conceived scheme and concentrate on urgent business, including meeting our affordable housing quota without overburdening our wallets and infrastructure.

  • What gives?

    At Monday’s meeting, the Mayor & Council intend to accept the huge affordable housing Prospective Need quota imposed by the state last October 18. https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3106163/RESOLUTION__25-87_COMMITTING_TO_COMPLY_WITH_AFFORDABLE_HOUSING_OBLIGATIONS.pdf

    https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/files/administrative-directives/2024/12/dir_14_24.pdf

    To fill that quota with inclusionary rental housing, Chatham Borough would be forced to make space for more than 1,200 additional families, putting at least 2,000 additional cars on our busy streets.

    Why haven’t the Mayor & Council demanded an adjustment for the lack of vacant land in the Borough?

    If they go ahead and accept the number, will they have another opportunity to demand an adjustment?

    When will they make that demand? What are the chances they’’ll get it?

    At the same meeting, the Mayor & Council are also poised to adopt a resolution to amend the state’s affordable housing law to do away with “unrealistic burdens” on municipalities. https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3106150/RESOLUTION__25-85_RESOLUTION_SUPPORTING_NJILGA_LEGISLATION.pdf

    Here’s the proposed amendment: https://www.newjerseyhills.com/west_morris_reporter/news/bucco-calls-for-responsible-growth-in-regard-to-affordable-housing/article_55dad006-d8f7-11ef-b37f-3fee22524221.html

    But the Mayor & Council have yet to announce any efforts toward advancing that amendment or reducing the unrealistic burdens on Chatham Borough. https://www.njcourts.gov/courts/civil/affordable-housing?fbclid=IwY2xjawIA3-pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQVmSy-JmZvt7OZupIHS4SES1HwsPN3zxvm1FyKEeeRSuHAlm8D8HCvO_w_aem_ndPSSH2i6leLkR2aqu3RHw

    When are we going to get some answers?

  • Pitiful

    Our Mayor & Borough Council are plunging ahead with a Redevelopment Plan for another massive, 500-unit River Road apartment project that:

    • is NOT REQUIRED by affordable housing law; and
    • will NOT COUNT toward meeting the Borough’s RDP affordable housing quota!

    Why would they do THAT? They offer two justifications, both flimsy.

    • First, they’ll tell you a Redevelopment Plan is the only way to “control” what gets built on RIver Road: Absent a Plan, they claim, the property owners can do whatever they want. That’s nonsense.

    All Chatham property is subject to countless federal, state, and local laws and regulations. A Plan would actually make matters worse by providing for at least 500 rental apartments to satisfy setaside rquirements.

    • Second, they’ll tell you that with a Redevelopment Plan they can make the developer throw in some public goodies – such as a free riverside park. More nonsense.

    Nothing is free. Whether or not the Mayor & Council manage to negotiate for any decent public benefits whatsoever, the rest of us will pay dearly in the form of a stealth tax increase triggered by the corporate welfare PILOT tax exemption the developer will demand and get, just as happened at the Ivy project.

    The good news is that there’s still time to change all that.

    Tell the Mayor & Council to put this project on ice until they’ve done their homework and considered their options.

    Or better yet, shelve this massive Redevelopment project. Concentrate on urgent matters, like finding a way to meet the Borough’s affordable housing obligations without overwhelming our roads and schools, depleting our water supply, polluting our environment, or cheating taxpayers.

    Context: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/blind-faith

    Stealth tax: https://chathamchoice.org/2024/10/a-slick-infomercial-for-corporate-welfare/

    What about our water supply? https://chathamchoice.org/2024/11/water-water-everywhere/

  • A slick infomercial for corporate welfare

    Back on September 23, Council President Mathiasen promised to level with residents about the crucial differences between PILOT payments of the kind the Borough gets from the Ivy, and the normal property taxes the rest of us have to pay.

    Instead, she used our tax money to hire a slick financial consultant to do an hourlong infomercial for corporate welfare.

    That’s the only way to describe her consultant’s presentation at the October 15 Council meeting. He made his best case for continuing to waive property taxes on big, new apartment buildings for decades, so that the Council can get its hands on a cut of the revenues, which they call PILOT payments.

    https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=298

    Those PILOT payments are actually our money. And it’s a lot of money. With the Ivy, for instance, the consultant says the PILOT payments will average $1.7 million per year for three decades. That’s ten percent of the Borough’s current budget, and 13% of the municipal tax levy. 

    Does that PILOT revenue reduce the property tax burden on the rest of us, as a new taxable development would? No. The Council can spend it all and go right on raising taxes every year as usual.

    In effect, PILOTs take money out of the pockets of the rest of us, by depriving us of the automatic tax break we’d get if the Ivy paid property taxes.

    PILOTs also deprive us residents of the right to vote on how to use those extra public funds. 

    Ms Mathiasen’s consultant actually touted PILOTs as a way to use public funds for projects that are politically unpopular. Check it out here:

    03:00:17 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=298

    Huh? Why does the consultant think spending taxpayer funds to thwart the wishes of voters is a good thing? 

    Now the Mayor & Council are ready to plunge ahead with a second, luxury redevelopment project on River Road –  one that’s twice the size of the Ivy, with 500 apartments, and will require taxpayers to subsidize it with yet another PILOT tax break.

    Demand that before taking another step, the Council first:

    1. Identify the alternatives.
    2. Do its due diligence.
    3. Present a timely, thorough matrix, comparing the costs, benefits, and other implications of that 500-unit PILOT project with other alternatives, including the normal, wait-and-see approach.
    4. Hold a timely, robust public discussion.

    “By using PILOT agreements, local governments can essentially raise revenue and finance public services in ways that sidestep the constraints of tax caps or spending limitations.”

    – Chat GPT

  • While the cat’s away….

    While you were relaxing on LBI, our walkable little Borough was changing into to a less attractive place, with motor bikes on crowded sidewalks and higher property taxes for all.

    “Higher taxes?” you may wonder. “How could the Council raise our taxes in the middle of the summer? Did they do that to pay for the new fire trucks we so desperately need?”

    Nope. The. Council used a taxpayer asset to make an outright gift, depriving Borough taxpayers of an automatic tax break, and the chance to choose to use those funds for some urgent municipal need, like new fire trucks.

    It was not consensual. How did that happen? Here’s how:

    Given certain caps on local taxes and spending, the Borough Council’s annual budget is only about $17 million. All other things being equal, a new, taxable development automatically triggers a little more revenue to the Borough, along with lower property taxes for all of us, unless residents vote to spend more instead.

    But the Council can take away our right to that tax break, and free up far more spending money for itself, far above the normal limits, simply by designating the new development exempt from property taxes, and allowing the developer to pay smaller, negotiated amounts known as PILOTs.

    PILOT payments aren’t subject to the normal spending limits, and the Borough Council isn’t required to share the PILOT money with residents in the form of lower taxes. The Council doesn’t even need to ask voters before spending the PILOT money.

    WIth a PILOT, the Council can simply plunge ahead and spend 95% of the revenue however the Council members please. They can spend it on urgent necessities like fire trucks. They can spend it on luxurious pet projects like the Stanley church. They can even spend all the PILOT money on outright gifts, and still go right on increasing the Borough budget and raising our taxes every year.

    That’s exactly what the Council did at its August 12 meeting. The Council voted to give part of the Ivy PILOT payments to the Joint School District of the Chathams, a separate entity with its own $90 million budget and its own sources of funds, to cover expenses that would otherwise be shared with Chatham Township. That’s a gift.

    That gift would be acceptable if the Borough Council had made it with the informed consent of Borough residents, for instance if residents had voted for it. But in this case, the Council approved the gift on the spot, the same night the public learned about it.

    Why would the Council make such a gift when the Borough is in desperate need of at least two fire trucks, according to the experts the Council paid $18 thousand to evaluate the situation? Ask the Council members.

    Won’t that gift help curb our school taxes? Not one bit. The School District is still legally entitled to the same annual increase in its share of our property taxes, which taxpayers had already voted to increase permanently in 2023. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/articles/vote-no-on-public-question-1-which-will-permanently-raise-property-taxes-for-an-expenditure-already-in-the-school-district-budget

    In fact, the effect of that gift is to raise the school tax burden on the Borough, because it’s on top of the Borough’s fair share of the cost of running the schools as determined by a longstanding formula.

    https://chathamchoice.org/2023/06/why-should-chatham-borough-pay-more-than-its-fair-share/

    Isn’t the Township also kicking in more money to the School District? No.

    Most of the members of the Township Committee are too smart to throw away assets as the Borough Council has, done, if only for fear of getting voted out of office. Instead of giving more than its fair share to the School District, the Township Committee is buying TWO new fire trucks right away, to save money.

    https://www.tapinto.net/towns/chatham/sections/government/articles/chatham-township-committee-votes-to-bond-4-8-million-to-buy-fire-trucks-police-cars-study-for-expanded-police-headquarters

    Why didn’t the Council ask us first? Good questions for the Borough Council.

    https://chathamchoice.org/2023/06/why-should-chatham-borough-pay-more-than-its-fair-share/

    Will Borough voters ever wise up and rein in Council abuse of our PILOT funds? You tell me.

    See for yourself at 2:55 here: https://chathamborough.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=263