Weighing the expenses to the township with the revenues it will see from the development of the new hospital on the former FMC site, the township will net about $4.2 million annually in revenue, according to a fiscal impact report.##M:[more]##
Chris Prost, of the firm Basile, Bauman, and Prost and Associates of Annapolis, MD, presented the report to the Township Committee during its May 28 meeting. The report examines the costs as the project is being constructed, including impact on various township departments that will have to devote resources to working with hospital officials on various approvals.
Prost told the committee that his firm held discussions with Plainsboro staff by presenting the project to various township department heads and asking them whether or not the project will affect their respective departments. “If they said yes, we asked them what additional staff would be needed to accommodate this project, additional equipment needed, and what space requirements would be needed to house this additional staff.
While Township Administrator Robert Sheehan says there is still additional work going on in researching this area, the report estimates that the biggest areas of impact would affect the township clerk’s office, the department of public safety, and the billing department. Current estimates show that these departments would require one additional staff member a piece. “These will all require some additional staff and some additional resources to accommodate this new project,” Prost says.
Sheehan says that a provision in the agreement between the township and the hospital requires the hospital to pay a community impact fee, which will help the township cover some of those expenses.
Revenues, however, will also be generated from township fees, payment in lieu of taxes, and hotel taxes, Prost says. “This project will generate some additional hotel space,” said Prost. “There’s also a one-time rollback tax payment based on the value of the land use for profit portion of the project.”
Total revenue generated by the project for Middlesex County is projected to be $1.65 billion dollars of economic activity, with $1.15 million of that allocation flowing directly to Plainsboro, Prost says. “A lot of the economic activity is direct activity through the hospital, so you do retain a lot of that economic impact for the township,” Prost said. These numbers take into account the hospital project in its entirety, not just the hospital, but the other components, like the skilled nursing facility, office research area, and the continued care retirement facility.
When it comes down to weighing the tax revenues with the expenses, the annual township fiscal benefit from the hospital project build-out is about $4.2 million, he said. There are also one-time township revenues in construction totaling about $3 million, and one-time rollback tax revenues just over $1 million, he said. The hospital is estimated to generate about 4,”800 jobs, and between 7,”000 and 13,”000 additional square feet of retail space, Prost said.
