The Manville Mayor and Council held their regular meeting on Monday, February 23, shifting to Zoom because of the snowstorm. Residents wishing to speak were asked to submit questions to the Borough Administrator prior to the meeting.

The most significant items on the agenda were the introduction and first reading of four ordinances related to zoning and affordable housing. As these were first readings, no public hearing was held. The public hearing for all four ordinances is scheduled for March 9, 2026, at the next Council meeting.

Two additional ordinances -- one concerning the reconstitution of the Police Department and another establishing a 3.5% "cap" for the 2026 municipal budget and creating a cap bank -- were presented for public hearing. No comments were made by attendees, and these were voted on and approved.

During the public portion on resolutions, a resident asked a question on resolution 2026-087 which was to "Approve Tax Appeal Settlement on Block 311 Lot 1.02 Commonly Known as 20-180 North Main St" also known as the Marketplace at Manville.

The resolution stated that National Retail Resources, LP (the owners) filed appeals for their 2023, 2024, and 2025 assessment in the Tax Court of New Jersey (Docket Numbers 004446-2023, 003799-2024, & 004259-2025). The Mayor and Council met and discussed these, and the recommendations of the Tax Assessor and Special Tax Appeal Attorney. (Editor's Note: The resolution did not indicate when these discussions took place, and a review of previous Council meeting minutes did not list this as an action item. It is possible it was part of a closed session which would not be part of the regular meeting minutes.)

The resolution further stated that the property was assessed for $45,080,000 for the 2023 tax year, $49,900,000 for the 2024 tax year, and $53,100,000 for the 2025 tax year, but the owners provided an appraisal report valuing the property at $36,000,000 for the 2023 tax year, $35,000,000, for the 2024 tax year, and $35,200,000 for the 2025 tax year.

An acceptable settlement was agreed to which reduced the total tax assessment for the 2025 tax year from $53,100,000 to $49,900,000 (the same amount as the 2024 tax year assessment). As part of this settlement, the owners withdrew their 2023 and 2024 tax year appeals.

The Borough Tax Assessor determined that the property may be over-assessed, and that the cost and expense of continued litigation, along with the potential risk of a judgment reducing the tax assessments, would likely far exceed the cost of the recommended settlement proposal.

The resident's question was in several parts.

The first part of the question was regarding if there was a different timeline for businesses as opposed to residents. The Mayor asked Borough Administrator Siboni if she had any information from her meeting with Tax Assessor Sopko.

Business Administrator Siboni said "the time line for an appeal is not different for residents as it is for commercial, the timeline for which the court addresses them is different," noting that commercial appeals take much longer than residential.

The resident then asked "how come in this resolution it doesn't mention that its gonna be decreased another 9 million dollars for 2026,"

Business Administrator Siboni responded that the settlement agreement is specifically regarding for the refund being adjusted and that "their assessment is then set for the next three years".

The resident responded, "so when a resident does that they get one stay and then they get whacked higher, but then this guy gets an adjustment lower of 9 million dollars. I mean, so that's my third question how are we making up that $275,000 in lost revenue? Is that going to be passed on to the residents in the form of a tax increase, or a higher assessment on residential properties?"

Business Administrator Siboni stated "I want to be clear that the $275,000 as a whole can accustom to all the property taxes paid, not just municipal levy, so the refund amount actually is far less than that,"

The resident explained how they calculated the $275,000 by looking at the current tax rate on the new assessed value for the property and that we need to make up that difference.

Editor's Note: From the back and forth between the resident and Business Administrator Siboni, it was not clear the resident's question was fully answered, as they were asking about the potential loss of tax base revenue by lowering the assessment, and the response only focused on the dollar amount of the tax settlement.

Before the consent resolutions could be approved, Councilwoman Camacho asked for a point of order that resolution #2026-087 be voted on separately.

The council vote was called and Council President Lukac stated: “although this is the first I am hearing of this, I am going to reluctantly vote yes on the advice of our tax attorney." Councilman Basista stated "I'm also going to reiterate what Joe just said, Council President Lukac, and I will also vote yes," Councilwoman Camacho abstained and Councilwomen Sanchez, Puia, and Zamorski voted yes.

Editor's Note: As referenced above, based on the comments by Council President Lukac and Councilman Basista, it is worth asking again when did the Mayor and Council meet to discuss this?

The Mayor and Council went into a closed session to discuss Rustic Mall. No action was taken.

The next meeting is Monday, March 9th at 7pm and all residents are encouraged to attend.