With total money owed climbing to $6.7 million—made up of over $4.8 million in actual unpaid fees and nearly $1.9 million in accrued interest—the City has officially issued final written notices with an August 28 deadline.

Mayor Caseen Gaines and the City Council announced today that the City officially issued final written notices to delinquent property developers last week, continuing an enforcement and rescue mission to recover millions in overdue PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) revenue.

An independent audit ordered by the current administration initially discovered over $5.4 million in unclaimed developer funds and accrued interest left uncollected under the prior “PILOT obsessed” municipal administration, with some arrearages dating as far back as 2018.

Now, that total amount owed has grown to $6.7 million—consisting of over $4.8 million in actual unpaid fees from the developments and more than $1.9 million in added interest. This total increased in part because newly submitted audits, provided by the developers themselves, allowed the City’s independent financial experts to accurately calculate what was truly owed, and in part because interest continues to accrue daily for any developer who has yet to clear their books.

Crucially, this interest rate was established directly within the tax-exempt financial agreements between each developer and the City, perfectly mirroring the standard rate of interest everyday homeowners and small business owners must pay if they are late on their taxes.

The administration’s aggressive tracking is already yielding concrete results: cooperating entities have paid over $1.7 million just this summer, with two developers complying fully and completely with the City’s legal demand.

The Mayor and Council have repeatedly said they are ready to do business with developers who want to work in Hackensack, as long as they pay their fair share and contribute meaningfully to the City.

“For too long, under the previous administration, we have heard that tax-exemptions for developers were a necessity,” said Mayor Caseen Gaines. “The truth is, they’re a privilege, and they only work if there is a true partnership and benefit for our residents. We are holding developers to the same standard as our residents and the terms they agreed to when they received the financial incentive to build in the City.”

To enforce that standard, the City is maintaining strict compliance parameters:

• Non-compliant developers have been handed a strict, final deadline of August 28, 2026, to clear what they owe, in compliance with the terms of their agreement and State law.

• To fully clear their name and account with the City, developers cannot simply mail a partial check. They must be completely up-to-date with their mandatory financial audits, pay their full unpaid fees, and cover all applicable interest. To date, only two developers have successfully met this standard.

• If developers fail to meet the August 28 deadline, the City is fully prepared to execute the final termination notices. While administration officials will evaluate all available legal remedies to secure the best outcome for residents, revocation remains firmly on the table—stripping non-compliant entities of their tax-exempt status and exposing them to standard, full municipal property taxation.

City officials stress that the current $6.7 million total remains a conservative estimate, as several developers continue to withhold mandatory annual auditor reports—including one delinquent property that has completely failed to submit a single audit since opening to the public. Additionally, multiple developers are facing secondary legal deficiencies that must be resolved alongside their financial debts.

“These financial agreements were designed to spur growth, not provide corporate developers with the ability to defer payments for as long as they want and then wipe the slate clean of the agreed-upon interest, all at the expense of our schools, our streets, our vital city services, and our taxpayers,” Mayor Gaines added. “To the public: know that we are on it, we are actively collecting your money, and we will not stop until all PILOT recipients in the City are called to account for what they owe and agreed to pay.”