Why should taxpayers subsidize Shop Rite?

Municipalities like Class 4A — Commercial Property ratables because they tend to be clean ratables and they don't add students to the schools. But the site for the proposed Shop Rite formerly had a sign on it warning that the site was polluted and in need of remediation. Has this remediation been completed? Aren't the Papakating Creek and the Wallkill River Class 1 Streams?
In Sussex County, for 2018, the municipalities having the highest percentage of Commercial Property based on their Total Municipal Assessment are: Walpack 62.13%, Branchville 41.94 percent and Andover Borough 29.99 percent; the lowest are Stillwater 3.60 percent, Fredon 3.73 percent and Green 4.03 percent. The average for Sussex County is 9.91 percent. Wantage is 9.40 percent and Sussex Borough is 20.47 percent.
Wantage and Sussex Borough presently have a number of commercial establishments servicing the public's needs, employing local residents and paying their full load of property taxes.
Wantage and Sussex Borough are now apparently contracting for a Shop Rite to be built in Sussex Borough; Wantage gets a parking lot, under a thirty (30) year PILOT (Payment in lieu of taxes) program. As I understand it, this means for 30 years the owners of this property will not be required to pay their full load of property taxes to the municipalities, or the county; and even worse, ZERO school taxes for 30 years. That means that for 30 years us taxpayers will be required to make up apparently the majority of their property taxes. Why should us taxpayers be forced to subsidize this business? No less for 30 years?
Why isn't this new commercial establishment being required to pay its full load of the property taxes?
How is this fair to the owners of the existing commercial establishments who have been paying their property taxes and who will be forced to continue to pay their full load of the property taxes?
How can they possibly compete? How many of these existing commercial establishments could be forced out of business? Should this happen, please remember to thank Wantage mayors Bill DeBoer, Ron Bassani, Bill Gaechter and Jon Morris; plus attorney Glenn Kienz and planner Ken Nelson.
William Gettler
wantage Township