---

Members of the Asbury Park City Council voted Wednesday to finalize an agreement with downtown developer Sackman Enterprises to recoup five years’ worth of payments in lieu of taxes the city failed to bill the developer for.

The vote passed 3-1. Deputy Mayor Sue Henderson and Council members Amy Quinn and John Loffredo voted yes. Councilman John Moor voted no. Mayor Myra Campbell was not present at the meeting.

Under the agreement, Sackman will pay a total of $603,480.06 on the Steinbach building split into payments, one $500,000 payment by May 9 and remaining balance in 24 monthly installments beginning June 1, according to City Manager John “Jack” Kelly.

The city has waived the 18 percent interest rate allowed under the agreement for the Steinbach building, which started accruing the day after the city sent Sackman a bill for the payments on December 26.

“I’m happy I was able to bring this issue to light, but as far as the payment I believe he should pay it all including the $36,000 in interest he owes,” Councilman John Moor said after the meeting. “Myself, as a common person, can’t go to the bank and get a two-year loan at zero percent interest. Plus, when it was discovered, Mr. Sackman said he had all the money sitting in escrow and now he is paying in payments on a two-year schedule. But I’m happy the city is getting the money.”

At a city council meeting in late January, Moor said downtown developer Sackman Enterprises owed the city about $700,000 on two payment in lieu of taxes [PILOT] agreements, one on the Steinbach building that was five years past due and another on the 550 Cookman Ave. building, which was by then overdue about a year and a half.

The city neglected to bill the developer for the payments on the Steinbach building and the 550 Cookman Avenue apartment complex apartment complex from 2009 until December of last year, which had by then amassed to about $700,000. Sackman paid the balance on the 550 Cookman Ave. apartment complex in February.

During the public participation session, city resident Rita Marano, who has spoken in opposition to the city entering into PILOT agreements at many recent council meetings, took the same stance on the issue as Moor.

“I think he should pay it all in full – he can afford it. He’s been waiting all of these years, sitting on it, he’s probably getting interest on it and we are sitting here and some poor guy gets on the tax lien list that owes $200. We’re talking about a half million dollars that was never put on a tax lien list.”

Sackman Enterprises’ President Carter Sackman recently told the Sun he was  hopeful to have the issue resolved so that his company could move forward with further development.

“I’m doing a lot more in the city and I want to continue to work with the new government,” he said.

Kelly believes the city should take some responsibility for the fact that a bill was never sent for the payments.

“For that one property that was supposed to be paying PILOT charges, it had not been billed in a very long period of time,” said Kelly. “It was five years where they assessor had removed it as a property that would be billed by ordinary taxation and the tax collector did not send out a bill. So there was some liability on the city’s part, there were other expenses the city wanted to avoid, we wanted to get the money in as soon as possible so the property owner is paying the entire principal amount.”

If Sackman defaults on any of the payments, the agreement states the building will be subject to the city’s annual accelerated tax sale, Kelly said.

The PILOT agreement on the Steinbach building expires in August of 2016, at which point the building will be subject to regular taxation, Kelly said.

The agreement leaves the building’s residential parking requirement still under negotiation, Kelly said. Parking is currently being satisfied on a nearby surface lot adjacent to the Press building which Sackman Enterprises owns.

————————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

---