Taxes and budget

PILOTs: long-term tax exemptions

Montgomery has four payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements on record, two of them adopted for Village Walk in late 2025. Thrive at Montgomery has said it will apply for one; no ordinance has been introduced. Under state law the schools get no share unless the town contracts to give them one.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

Four on record; Thrive application pending Last moved

What happens next

No PILOT ordinance for Thrive at Montgomery has been introduced. Watch the Township Committee agendas for November 12, December 3 and December 17, 2026: an ordinance needs an introduction, then a public hearing and a second vote.

A PILOT replaces ordinary property taxes on new buildings with an agreed yearly charge, for up to 30 years. Under the state’s Long Term Tax Exemption Law the land tax is still split the usual way, and the rest of the charge goes 95% to the township and 5% to the county. On an ordinary 2026 Montgomery bill about 68% goes to the schools. Since January 2024 a town may contract to pass part of its PILOT money to its school board for school-building bonds; no such contract for Montgomery has been made public.

Montgomery’s PILOTs on record: the 86 affordable apartments at 9 Hartwick Drive (Resolution #18-3-70, 2018); RPM’s senior affordable building at 200 Community Drive (described as a PILOT by the administrator; its authorizing act has not been found); and Village Walk 1360 and 1330 on Route 206 (Ordinances #25-1763 and #25-1764, adopted 5-0 in October and November 2025). On September 17, 2026 the Committee approved an escrow so the township can review GTP Acquisitions’ application for a long-term tax exemption for Thrive at Montgomery.

Nothing has been filed for the Kenvue campus or 23 Orchard Road. Residents can follow the Committee agendas, speak at the public hearing on any PILOT ordinance, and request the executed financial agreements from the Township Clerk.

PILOTs in Montgomery, explained

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Resolved The Committee approves a PILOT for 86 affordable apartments at 9 Hartwick DriveResolution #18-3-70 authorized a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with PIRHL Acquisitions, LLC for an 86-unit affordable family apartment building, under the state housing-finance law rather than the Long Term Tax Exemption Law. It is Montgomery's oldest PILOT on record.
  2. Resolved The Committee adopts the first Village Walk PILOT and introduces the secondAfter a presentation on payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements for Village Walk on Route 206, the Township Committee adopted Ordinance #25-1763 (the Phase I retail building) 5-0 and introduced Ordinance #25-1764 (Phase II, 52 apartments and retail), which it adopted 5-0 on November 13, 2025.
  3. Pending Thrive at Montgomery's developer says it will seek a PILOTResolution #26-9-259 set up an escrow, paid by GTP Acquisitions, LLC, so the township can review its application for a long-term tax exemption for the Thrive at Montgomery senior community. No PILOT ordinance had been introduced as of October 23, 2026.

Explainers

  • PILOTs in Montgomery, Explained

    A PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) replaces ordinary property taxes with an agreed yearly charge. Montgomery has four on record; a fifth, for Thrive at Montgomery, has been announced but not introduced. Under state law most of the money goes to the township and none to the schools unless the town contracts with the school board. The law, each PILOT, and what is not known.

Meetings

  • Township Committee — September 17, 2026

    The Township Committee directed the Planning Board to study whether Block 14001, Lot 2 at 199 Grandview Road meets the statutory criteria for a non-condemnation redevelopment area, and authorised an escrow agreement under which E. Kahn Development pays for the study. Both passed 4-0 with Committeeman Martin absent, over roughly 40 minutes of public comment that ran heavily against them. The township attorney also said on the record that the widely reported "$300 million" damages figure in the data-center lawsuit is false.

  • Township Committee — November 13, 2025

    The first Township Committee meeting after the November 4 election, and the night the alternative to building on the Kenvue site became concrete: a $1.1 million bond ordinance to pay for extending affordability controls on existing affordable homes, the first two extension resolutions covering 54 owner-occupied units, and a resolution ratifying a settlement agreement. All five members were present and every recorded vote was 5-0.

  • Township Committee — October 16, 2025

    Mayor Singh read a statement announcing an agreement with the owner of Pike Run to extend affordability controls, and said that as a result the Kenvue site would no longer be needed in the township's housing plan. Later the same night, without discussion, the Committee voted 5-0 to direct the Planning Board to study 23 Orchard Road as a non-condemnation redevelopment area.

Sources for this overview

  1. Montgomery Township, PILOTs page
  2. Long Term Tax Exemption Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:20 (DLGS copy)
  3. P.L.2023, c.311 (school-facility contracts; amends N.J.S.A. 40A:20-12)
  4. Township Committee minutes, October 16, 2025 (Village Walk PILOT presentation)
  5. Township Committee minutes, November 13, 2025 (Ordinance #25-1764 adopted)
  6. Township Committee minutes, September 17, 2026 (Resolution #26-9-259)
  7. NJ Division of Local Government Services, PILOT Database and Viewer
All issues The full timeline