To the Editor:
My wife and I moved to Hopewell Borough in 2013 – our first home wasn’t quite large enough for one child, let alone three. Within several years, we had our first child (now 9 years old) and second (now 7) and were fortunate enough to find an affordable home in Hopewell Borough to grow into with three kids – ages 9, 7, and 5.
That first home we bought in Hopewell was just under 1,200 square feet, and we bought it for just under $350,000. Today? That same home has been sold twice, most recently in 2023 for $600,000. In 10 years, without major renovations, that home appreciated nearly 42%.
By 2019, the housing boom in our area continued, with the average home price in Hopewell Valley hovering around $500K. And this year, those numbers continue to skyrocket to around $700K for a new home in Pennington Borough, and more than $650K in Hopewell Township and Hopewell Borough.
The questions we should ask ourselves as a community are “Why are our home prices rising so drastically?” and “Why have we seen an influx of families moving into the area?”
I love everything our community offers – the arts, nature, great small businesses and restaurants, and wonderful neighbors. But I am sure many would agree that the school system is a major driver of home sales and offers the type of education families are looking for without the property tax bills typical in Bergen or Essex County.
As a Hopewell Valley Regional school board member and current Finance Chair, I joined the board three years ago with one major goal: To better understand the school budget. Just three months into my tenure, I grasped the unfortunate reality that faces not just our district, but so many around the state: Rising costs are CRIPPLING to districts and something needs to change.
The Need for Community-Wide Support of the School System
For the past 15 years, new families have been moving into the area, and that number will only continue to grow with the plethora of PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) developments underway and on the horizon in Hopewell Valley. There’s already evidence that the original estimates of enrollment growth tied to PILOT developments are drastically outpacing the most recent demographer’s report. The Board of Education has taken the lead to run a new report so we can better understand the actual impact of these developments.
While it has been a challenging undertaking, I personally am thankful to the Hopewell Township representatives for their commitment of $16.1 million for the Bear Tavern expansion. In recent days, I’ve seen tremendous momentum between township and school board attorneys to make this pledge official through a legal memorandum of agreement before the November 4 bond referendum. This leaves me cautiously optimistic that these talks will provide additional assurance to voters that the PILOT funding – now tied up in ongoing litigation – would eventually be used to pay down the debt for the Bear Tavern. (which, along with the Toll Gate addition, comprises referendum Question 2)
I am personally requesting and calling on all elected officials in Hopewell Valley to publicly support the school referendum. There is no one more astute to the financial challenges facing shared services in Hopewell Valley than the elected officials in Hopewell Township, Pennington Borough, and Hopewell Borough. If additional PILOT-funded developments are built in our communities, the district will face more costs that directly impact our budgeting capabilities, and our district will need long-term alignment with every town on how we tackle these issues together. We hope that we can work together to ensure our constituents continue to receive the type of programming that is expected from our school district.
I hope my fellow leaders in Hopewell Valley show their support of our efforts between now and November 4.
To a Stronger Community,
Mark Peters
Mark Peters is a member of the Hopewell Valley Board of Education but is expressing his personal beliefs in this letter and is not speaking on behalf of the board.
