Tag: PILOT

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Idea of fee on N.J. hospitals is greeted with caution

Valleywood_theridgewoodblog

JANUARY 5, 2016    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY MATTHEW MCGRATH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Local officials reacted cautiously to a proposal to charge hospitals a “community service” fee intended to offset, in part, property tax revenue that municipalities lose out on because of the non-profit status of most medical centers.

The proposed bill, which has cleared the state Senate but has not been posted for a vote in the General Assembly, would require hospitals to pay the towns in which they are built $2.50 per bed each day. If the bill becomes law, the fees would infuse about $2.7 million a year into six North Jersey communities that host the medical centers.

Not-for-profits are exempt from paying property taxes for certain uses. The proposal has been endorsed by the New Jersey Hospital Association, which hopes the payments will head off potential lawsuits from towns, but it is opposed by the League of Municipalities, whose members generally think they deserve more from the hospitals than the proposed law would allow.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/health-news/idea-of-fee-on-hospitals-is-greeted-with-caution-1.1485099

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Valley Hospital in Ridgewood Joins 60 non-profit hospitals agreeing to PILOT program

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In landmark shift, hospitals agree to fees in lieu of property taxes

JANUARY 3, 2016, 10:59 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2016, 11:00 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

For more than a century, New Jersey’s non-profit hospitals have been exempt from paying property taxes, despite relying on their communities to maintain local roads and provide police and fire protection. Now the state’s largest hospital association says its members are willing to make payments to towns they reside in — but many municipalities want more.

In a historic change, the New Jersey Hospital Association recently declared its support for a proposal in the Legislature to require non-profit hospitals to make “community service contributions” to municipalities. The move came after a tax court decision this summer that Morristown Medical Center was not entitled to its property-tax exemption because its operations were little different from those of a for-profit company. That hospital has since agreed to pay $15.5 million over 10 years.

Concerned that Judge Vito Bianco’s decision would lead to tax battles involving many other hospitals, the hospital association endorsed a proposal by state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. The measure would assess non-profit hospitals a fixed daily contribution — not a tax — of $2.50 per bed, to be used for public safety expenses or to reduce property taxes.

The association estimated that the payments from all of the state’s s would total $21 million to $25 million, including about $2.7 million annually from the six non-profits in Bergen and Passaic counties, if the measure is enacted as written. They are Hackensack University Medical Center; The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood; St. Joseph’s Healthcare System’s two hospitals in Paterson and Wayne; Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. Hospitals owned by for-profit companies — HackensackUMC at Pascack Valley in Westwood and St. Mary’s General Hospital in Passaic — already pay property taxes.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/in-landmark-shift-hospitals-agree-to-fees-in-lieu-of-property-taxes-1.1484621

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Fight over non-profit hospitals’ tax exemption looming

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

DECEMBER 5, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

New Jersey’s non-profit hospitals may not pay property taxes, but they generate so many jobs, both directly and indirectly, that their economic activity contributes more than $1.4 billion to local and state tax revenues, a report commissioned by the state hospital association said Friday.

The industry is bracing for legislative action that might threaten the current exemption from property taxes in the wake of a precedent-setting Tax Court decision earlier this year involving Morristown Medical Center. State Senate leaders have said they plan to introduce legislation this month to clarify the standards for maintaining a property-tax exemption, to better reflect hospitals’ evolution into complex corporate enterprises since the tax code was written in 1913.

In Bergen and Passaic counties, the value of hospitals’ tax exempt properties is conservatively estimated at more than $700 million.

The report by EY (formerly Ernst & Young), commissioned by the New Jersey Hospital Association, details the economic and community benefits that non-profit hospitals provide. The 63 non-profit hospitals statewide employed 140,000 people, who received $8.3 billion in salaries and paid $674 million in state and local taxes in 2013, the report said. Hospital activities led indirectly to an additional 114,000 jobs statewide, and generated $777 million in additional taxes.

In North Jersey, those hospitals include Hackensack University Medical Center, Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood and St. Joseph’s Healthcare System in Passaic County.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/property-tax-fight-looming-1.1468111

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North Jersey towns reassess tax-exempt status for hospitals after key ruling

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

NOVEMBER 23, 2015, 9:53 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2015, 6:42 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Around North Jersey, more than $700 million worth of property goes untaxed because it is owned by non-profit hospitals. That includes hospital campuses on nearly 90 acres in Ridgewood, Hackensack, Teaneck, Englewood, Paterson and Wayne. And it also includes hospital-related properties, such as portions of medical office buildings in Wayne and Paramus, parking garages in Hackensack and an assortment of lots in Paterson.

That property, and the potential revenue it could produce if it were assessed property taxes, is getting a close look by leaders of the state and local governments after a precedent-setting Tax Court decision and recent settlement in a case between Morristown and the non-profit Morristown Medical Center.

Judge Vito Bianco ruled that non-profit hospitals in the early 21st century are essentially legal fictions, with little in the way they operate to distinguish them from for-profit hospitals — and almost nothing in common with their beginnings as “charitable alms houses.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/north-jersey-towns-reassess-tax-exempt-status-for-hospitals-after-key-ruling-1.1461487?page=all

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The Valley Hospital’s tax liability would be $4.5 million in Ridgewood if its main campus was not exempt

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

N.J. towns may push hospitals to pay up; more could seek property tax deals with non-profits

NOVEMBER 11, 2015, 11:14 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2015, 11:22 PM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Cash-strapped local governments around the state may be looking at non-profit hospitals with new eyes, now that the non-profit Morristown Medical Center has agreed to pay its hometown $15.5 million over the next decade to settle demands for property taxes.

A judge in state tax court took away the hospital’s property-tax exemption in June, declaring that it operated more like a for-profit company than a charitable institution. Rather than appeal the decision, the hospital negotiated an agreement with the town, which was approved Tuesday night.

“Clearly, this is an open invitation for a number of towns,” Frank Ciesla, head of the health-law practice at Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, said Wednesday. “I think you’re going to see a lot more in the way of litigation.”

Non-profit hospitals are among the largest landowners in some municipalities. Local governments could begin by assessing taxes on their property, leading to a series of appeals as hospitals seek to clarify their status, he said.

The Valley Hospital’s tax liability would be $4.5 million in Ridgewood if its main campus was not exempt, and $360,000 in Paramus, according to local records. (It already pays taxes on some other properties.) Hackensack University Medical Center reached a settlement this year of various tax issues that is to result in a $5.1 million payment to the city treasury over three years. Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Healthcare System’s hospitals in Paterson and Wayne all are exempt from local property taxes.

Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn said that it hasn’t been possible to raise the issue of taxes — or a payment in lieu of taxes — with Valley during the last few years because of the hospital’s pending application for approval of its building plans.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-towns-may-push-hospitals-to-pay-up-more-could-seek-property-tax-deals-with-non-profits-1.1453139

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Pilot in Cresskill crash bypassed fields with kids to find safe spot to land

cresskill plane crash

SEPTEMBER 4, 2015, 10:07 AM    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2015, 12:26 AM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The pilot who crash-landed a small plane into a Cresskill recreational field desperately searched for a safe place to land, passing by two other fields because they were filled with people before he finally made a dead-engine touchdown behind a local swim club, authorities said.

The pilot, Jack Rosenberg of Spring Valley, N.Y., and Erik Pearson were on a routine patrol for the Coast Guard Auxiliary over the Hudson River when the engine faltered.

When Rosenberg couldn’t make it to Teterboro Airport with his sputtering engine, he tried to make an emergency landing in Tenafly but decided against that because the field was full of people, Cresskill Police Chief Ed Wrixon said.

After finding a Cresskill baseball field occupied, the pilot crashed near Regan Field behind the Cresskill Swim Club late Thursday afternoon just hours before youth sports teams were due to practice.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ntsb-preliminary-investigation-blames-cresskill-plane-crash-on-mechanical-problems-1.1404010

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Reader says the Morristown case is a clear precedent for Valley, USE IT

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

Reader says the Morristown case is a clear precedent for Valley, USE IT

Why the Council hasn’t been protecting Village taxpayers is just stunning in the failure to uphold their fiduciary responsibility. Now they have a court ruling that establishes CLEAR precedent to go after Valley’s not-for-profit tax status and force them to pay the +$4.3 million they should be paying annually based on assessed value of their properties in Ridgewood, and yet they’d rather argue about an HR hiring and a parking garage that should be paid for in a public private partnership with the business owners in the CBD. Wake up and go after Valley, and stop pandering to biz owners. Taxpayers deserve your immediate attention to these issues, which can bring in millions in new revenue. Otherwise they’re not doing their job to protect the interests of tax paying Villagers.

Morristown just put in the effort for us, all you need to do is cut & paste and change the name of the defendant from “Morristown” to “Valley”. The Morristown ruling establishes clear precedent, it’s a lay-up tailor made for Ridgewood vs. Valley. They pay their supposedly “not-for-profit” CEO $2 mm a year but pay no Village taxes. But our Council has a bunch of people trying to start knife fights while our house is on fire. Very, very damning of the current five.

It would be great to see Ms. Hauck use her relationships and actually stand up against Valley Hospital and ask them to 1) drop their lawsuit; and 2) pay for the municipal services they consume like police, fire and snow removal. Or suggest that we use the Morristown Medical Center court ruling that it should pay property taxes on virtually all of its property in town, and go after Valley to pay property taxes in Ridgewood on ALL of their property. How can they argue they are a NOT-for-profit when they are paying their CEO $2 million a year and expanding in an arms race to become a “hospital system” with other regional hospitals? I would have a much stronger view of Ms. Hauck’s independence if she supported either of the above ideas without any form of quid pro quo on Valley’s expansion plans in Ridgewood .

If anything, Ms. Hauck is probably advising them on how to make sure it doesn’t happen. With no background or interest in public service except raising money for Valley, and no knowledge of how it works or most of the issues, she agreed (not decided–agreed–was invited–I know this) to run for council solely to help Valley–I would be a lot on that–in exchange for being the third vote for anything Aronsohn wanted. And she had to agree not to attend the social functions she had enjoyed for many years. This is conjecture, not inside information. It just makes sense.

When 2 of the 3 Council majority members are publicly pro-Valley? Where the 3 council bosom buddies always vote in a block (hmm, how do they do that without meeting illegally?)? When the Council majority doesn’t even allow discussion on an issue if they already have the votes to get their way?

Valley is not only going to continue to get a free pass from this Council – wait until they cut a deal on the Valley lawsuit that lets them double in size and still pay no taxes. We are going to be paying for the damage these 3 Council members have done for a generation.

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Reader states Why on earth doesn’t the Village ask Valley for a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) is beyond me

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Reader states Why on earth doesn’t the Village ask Valley for a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) is beyond me

Why on earth doesn’t the Village ask Valley for a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) is beyond me… all Valley does is present ridiculous expansion plans based on ordinance 3066 -which former Mayor Pfund passed to allow them to apply for exceptions to the Village Master Plan – then waste Villagers time and money, and then sue us. Then they pay their CEO $2 million a year for running a single hospital – whereas the others on that list run hosital systems – and they can’t even pay their fair share of the costs for Villages services including Police, Fire, EMT, sanitation, snow removal, road and pothole repair, etc. Some non-profit that is, they’re a bad neighbor.

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Readers define PILOT for ALL non-profit institutions from the educational, medical, and cultural

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Readers define PILOT for ALL non-profit institutions from the educational, medical, and cultural

The PILOT should be for ALL non-profit institutions from the educational, medical, and cultural sectors that own property valued in excess of $15 million. Each institution should be eligible for a “community benefits” deduction generally limited to 50% of the total PILOT contribution, i..e 50% should be a cash payment to the Village and 50% can be defined as benefits that derive to Village residents. You need the Village Manager to initiate this, whereby tax-exempt, land-owning institutions make a voluntary payment-in-lieu-of taxes (“PILOT”) to the Village to help cover the cost of providing the institutions with essential Village services (i.e. police, fire, snow removal). The Village needs to set a standard level of contributions – in programs and payments – to be met by all major tax-exempt land owners in Ridgewood, based on an open and transparent methodology for valuing community partnerships made by tax-exempt institutions. We also need to propose a structure for a consolidation program and payment negotiation system, which will allow the Village and its tax-exempt institutions to structure longer term, sustainable partnerships focused on improving services for Ridgewood’s residents. You also have to clarify the costs associated with providing Village services to tax-exempt institutions, and if necessary, provide recommendations on legislative changes needed at the Village, County or state level. None of this should be difficult.

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Reader says Valley should contribute PILOT ,with CLEAR understanding there is no relationship between a PILOT and Valley’s renewal.

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Reader says Valley should contribute PILOT ,with CLEAR understanding there is no relationship between a PILOT and Valley’s renewal.

They have nonprofit status in the tax code and pay no property taxes on their Linwood campus. Despite that, they spend millions on advertising billboards, glossy ads in high-end magazines, etc. Their CEO makes almost $3 million a year. And yet they don’t make any volunteer payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the Village of Ridgewood where they are based. They had over $102 million in surplus in 2012, but didn’t volunteer a PILOT to the Village to help cover the cost of snow removal, and repaving & maintenance of the roads around their buildings, or for police & fire services, etc, which apparently are quite extensive, i.e. every time a fire alarm gets pulled in the hospital, the RWFD has to reset it. They also have to understand that there is NO quid pro quo for a PILOT payment and their expansionary dreams. I’m not sure they understand that clearly, but they should understand it, and volunteer 10% of their annual surplus to Ridgewood, with no expectation of anything but a thanks for the service they receive from the municipality. The Village Manager and Council should propose this to the Valley with the CLEAR understanding there is no relationship between a PILOT and Valley’s renewal.

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