{"id":371534,"date":"2026-10-13T01:34:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T01:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/371534\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T01:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T01:34:56","slug":"op-ed-jersey-city-homeowners-get-the-bills-while-developers-get-the-tax-breaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/371534\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: Jersey City homeowners get the bills, while developers get the tax breaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an editorial, Jersey City resident Michael Kutiak argues that developers in the city need to pay the full amount of property taxes other homeowners are already paying.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The solution is simple: developers in Jersey City need to pay the full amount of property taxes that every middle-class homeowner pays.<\/p>\n

If the Mayor or the City Council keeps voting for these decades-long tax abatements for freeloading developers, then that becomes insanity. Additionally, more of the money they do pay should go substantially to the school budget.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The gravy train is over\u2014or it should be over\u2014with these PILOT tax giveaways to developers. However, it\u2019s up to the people running our city to put the best interests of the residents first instead of developers.<\/p>\n

In a previous op-ed<\/a>, I demonstrated that Jersey City\u2019s middle-class homeowners faced a breaking point following a historic 15.15% municipal property tax increase to plug a structural deficit.<\/p>\n

Weeks later, the smoke has cleared, but the brutal reality remains: local leaders still prioritize corporate entities over the working families keeping this community alive.<\/p>\n

This crushing burden is driven by aggressive tax abatement strategies and private, closed-door PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) giveaways for freeloader developers.<\/p>\n

Although now Mayor Solomon, formerly councilman, trades blame with former Mayor Fulop over responsibility, middle-class taxpayers are left holding the bag.<\/p>\n

While the previous Steven Fulop administration granted these PILOT agreements, Solomon himself sat on the City Council for eight years of that tenure.<\/p>\n

By letting wealthy high-rise corporations dodge paying full property taxes for cheap negotiated fees, past and present leadership has starved the citys tax base and shifted the financial burden directly onto families.<\/p>\n

Look no further than a recent City Council session for proof. The council defeated a crucial ordinance<\/a> aimed at tightening five-year tax abatement requirements and enforcing stricter owner-occupancy compliance.<\/p>\n

By rejecting it, they ensured profitable developer perks remained intact.<\/p>\n

Instead of protecting taxpayers, the council turned around that same night and approved two separate 30-year PILOT agreements<\/a> for the Canal Crossing housing project in Bergen-Lafayette.<\/p>\n

The political excuse is that we must offer these multi-decade discounts to attract investment. But Jersey City\u2019s premier location sells itself. We do not need politicians begging corporate entities to build here on the backs of homeowners.<\/p>\n

If these ultra-wealthy developers refuse to pay their fair share, they can take a hike\u2014let\u2019s see how that works for their profit margins out in the midwest.<\/p>\n

Instead, we face a glaring double standard. While a corporate developer secures 30 years of tax immunity, an everyday homebuyer faces a rigid financial gauntlet of banking barriers, ruthless credit screening, and algorithmic scrutiny.<\/p>\n

The rules are simple: if a homeowner fails to pay their property taxes, they get thrown out of their homes. There are no closed-door renegotiations or multi-decade immunity shields\u2014just tax liens, foreclosure, and eviction.<\/p>\n

Our neighborhood infrastructure has been placed under population strain from the influx of renters occupying high-rise, tax-abated properties using up critical resources.<\/p>\n

Yet, multi-million dollar developers receive kid-glove subsidies, insulating them from the municipal inflation they cause while schools and infrastructure strain under population surges.<\/p>\n

Compounding this is a severe mismanagement of basic city services and a collapse in political accountability.<\/p>\n

Residents pay historic premiums to navigate pothole-riddled streets, failed winter snow removal, missed sanitation pickups, and unregulated e-bikes dominating our sidewalks.<\/p>\n

The ultimate insult lies in the profound conflict of interest operating openly at City Hall. In the private sector, corporate executives answer to independent compensation boards; an executive who unilaterally voted on their own salary would face a corporate mutiny.<\/p>\n

Yet, Jersey City Council members possess the unique legal power to introduce ordinances to vote on and approve their own raises.<\/p>\n

Over the last seven years, council members past and present used this loophole to more than double their salaries, skyrocketing from $36,128 in 2019 to $85,000 yearly today. Isn\u2019t that just peachy?<\/p>\n

How nice of these part-time council members to look out for themselves so effectively.<\/p>\n

Maybe if the average citizens stiffed with this tax increase were able to vote on their own salary increases, there wouldn\u2019t be a public outcry.<\/p>\n

But regular people work for a living and justify their earnings, while our politicians simply write themselves a larger check on the publics dime.<\/p>\n

Elected officials defend these raises by claiming they attract talent. But taxpayers must ask a simple question: what specialized talent is actually needed to vote on ones own salary?<\/p>\n

What talent does it take to rubber-stamp a historic property tax increase onto regular families while basic city operations visibly collapse?<\/p>\n

True fiscal talent involves auditing departments, identifying budget efficiencies, and managing growth responsibly\u2014not treating middle-class escrow accounts as an infinite safety net for overspending.<\/p>\n

An old-timer used to tell me, \u201cYou can\u2019t fight City Hall.\u201d When it comes to bureaucratic red tape and closed-door deals, he was right. We can\u2019t fight the system from the outside. We can, however, vote these people out of office.<\/p>\n

Thanks to this amazing country, the USA, the ultimate power does not belong to the politicians or the developers; it belongs to us at the ballot box. We the people have the power to vote. Charity begins at home.<\/p>\n

It is time for Jersey City residents to take an uncompromising stand.<\/p>\n

We must commit to voting out any elected official who prioritizes freeloading developers and political raises over regular taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Best regards,<\/p>\n

Michael Kutiak<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michael Kutiak describes himself as a Jersey City resident writing as a voice for the city\u2019s overtaxed homeowners.<\/p>\n

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