The latest downtown development is expected to begin contributing a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) this year, bringing anticipated revenue from PILOTs to more than $1.5 million in the 2018 municipal budget.

The 2018 municipal budget, introduced during a special meeting on June 21, will come up for a public hearing and final approval during a City Council meeting on on July 23.

Meridia Lafayette Village, a 115-unit rental development at the corner of Main and Monroe streets, is the latest project to begin PILOT payments, anticipating $180,000 in the 2018 budget. The five-story building has a total assessment of $7,663,500, according to property records.

Total revenue anticipated from nine PILOTs will be $1.54 million, up 12 percent from the $1.378 million generated by eight PILOTs in last year’s budget:

• Lower Essex Street / Denholtz Management (Rahway Plaza Apartments), $470,000
• Senior Citizen Housing, $270,000
• Meridia Water’s Edge (10-year PILOT), $180,000
• Meridia Lafayette Village, (15-year) $180,000
• Metro Rahway (15-year), $160,000
• Parking Authority (River Place), $170,000
• Housing Authority, $60,000
• Meyers Senior Residence, $28,000
• Rosegate, $25,000

The total anticipated in 2018 is slightly higher than the average $1.3 million in PILOTs over the past several years.

The budget also anticipates $410,000 from the city’s foreclosure registry, which was created in 2014. Last year, $350,000 was anticipated in the budget but the city recorded actual revenue of $606,815, or about 73 percent more than anticipated. Revenue from the foreclosure registry has increased every year since it was enacted:

• 2017 – $606,815
• 2016 – $403,500
• 2015 – $322,500

The proposed $54.895 million spending plan (AR-134-18) anticipates an average $82 increase in the municipal portion of the average home, assessed at $133,000. About $55 of the increase is attributed to a loss in ratables from acquisition and razing of flood-prone properties under the state’s Blue Acres program.

City Council also introduced the annual Special Improvement District (SID) budget (AR-135-18) of $140,000, which funds the Rahway Arts and Business Partnership (RABP).

The $82 increase on the average assessed home in Rahway ($133,000) is about a 2.38 percent increase over 2017. Average municipal taxes were about $3,432 in 2017 and projected at $3,514 for 2018. Last year’s budget also increased by about the same average total. The amount to be raised by taxes is about $37.73 million, up less than 1 percent, or about $288,913, from $37.441 million last year.