Flooding is a significant challenge in Hackensack as well as in most other municipalities in the area. Hackensack has long faced flooding issues, worsened by past development that paved over wetlands and altered natural water courses, as well as the construction of highways and Teterboro Airport which have impacted drainage especially during high tides. The combination of aging water and sewer infrastructure and an increased number of significant weather events leads to neighborhood flooding that can be harmful.

The City is committed to flood reduction and is working with the County and NJDEP to address regional drainage issues in several ways:

• In the past decade the City has invested over $53 million to separate its combined sewer system, addressing health and environmental concerns, and alleviating flooding. The City has also committed an additional $40 million to the low-lying areas of Green St.

• The City is using a multi-million dollar FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant to install new stormwater infrastructure and a 200 million gallon per day pump station in the southern area over the next five years.

• New pumping stations included in the NJDEP’s Rebuild By Design Meadowlands project are expected to benefit the City.

Building more affordable housing is an important priority to ensure that Hackensack continues to have a variety of housing options at different price points. The City Council passed an Affordable Housing Overlay Zone plan that will lead to the creation of hundreds of new affordable housing units. More info about the plan is available here.

It is also important to note that Hackensack is in full compliance with its affordable housing obligations and is satisfying all the terms of its court-approved agreement with the Fair Share Housing Center. For more information about this, please visit www.hackensack.org/affordable.

Stabilizing property taxes is incredibly important, and the Mayor and City Council have worked hard over the years to reduce the burden on homeowners by generating new revenue from redevelopment. In 2024 alone the city will be receiving an estimated $6.5 million in new non-tax revenue from PILOT agreements at new developments, enabling the city to keep property taxes stable even with major cost increases and investments in the city’s infrastructure.

Hackensack taxes remain extremely stable. The 2024 municipal tax levy is only 6.4% higher than it was in 2018, which means that taxes have increased less than one percent each year for the last seven years.  While it is true the projected 2024 tax rate is 7 tenths of a percentage higher than last year, the tax rate is still 23% lower than it was in 2015.

The City Council shares your concern about potentially overburdening local schools and works cooperatively with the Board of Education to monitor enrollment and determine when additional students are coming into the city. The fact is that there have only been 101 new students coming from the new developments in 2023-24, less than 2% of enrollment district-wide. This is because the buildings are primarily studios and one bedrooms that are being marketed to young commuters and empty nesters, not to families.

While the city has extensively used tax incentive programs to attract new investment, it is incorrect to say that the developers are not paying taxes. In fact, each new development that enters into a Payment in lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement with the city pays MORE in non-tax revenue than it did before development. In total we are expecting $6.5 million in new non-tax revenue from PILOTS related to redevelopment projects in 2024, providing a significant boost to the city’s revenue stream and allowing it to address long term challenges like upgrading infrastructure and parks without overburdening residential taxpayers.

This is a very valid concern, and that is why the City Council passed an extensive utility upgrade plan on Main Street in recent years that will ensure that there is sufficient water and sewer capacity. It is also important to note that each redevelopment project pays a sewer connection fee for each unit. Those fees help ensure that the city’s infrastructure is well maintained. Moreover, certified engineers representing both the applicant and the city review and certify that there is adequate capacity and that all state and local requirements are met. Additionally, new developments are required to make stormwater improvements that result in reduced flooding in their immediate vicinity.