The Flemington Borough Council introduced an ordinance to ensure that borough’s department of public works will not collect solid waste in “areas in need of redevelopment,” in which redevelopment projects are covered by tax abatement programs, such as the recent payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement negotiated with the developer of the former Liberty Village outlet center.
The owners of those projects when completed would be required to arrange for separate solid waste collection. Such tax abatements are in effect for often 20 to 30 years. Mayor Marcia Karrow said such a new ordinance would “level the playing field” for borough taxpayers.
The proposed rules mirror existing regulations that require the owners of the borough’s several multi-family apartment complexes to arrange on their own for solid waste collection. The ordinance language is specific, saying, “The borough will not collect waste, garbage, ash, trash or rubbish from any property a statutory tax abatement is operative.”
Council vice president Elizabeth Rosetti asked when that prohibition would end. Karrow said the borough would begin solid waste collection after the tax abatement program had ended. For the Liberty Village project, that would mean the developer would have to arrange for solid waste disposal for 30 years.