Laptop Battery Taxes could increase by $45 on the average township home under a proposal to create an open space fund. If voters approve the plan, it will allow the township to establish a tax of up to 2 cents per $100 of assessed value, Mayor Scott Rumana said Monday.
Voters are being asked to create an open space, recreation and farmland preservation fund. The issue before voters is a proposed expansion of uses of already approved local open space dollars, to add farmland preservation, maintenance of open space, and paying off open space preservation debt. Residents are being asked to allow the township council to double the open space tax, which could raise a potential $248, 000 next year.
Thinkpad The revenue would go toward the purchase of land for parks and recreation.
Five years ago, New Jersey voters approved the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund, a decades worth of money to preserve a million acres of open space and farmland. The fund made $98 million available for preservation each year for ten years. Since then, over 300, 000 acres have been added to New Jerseys inventory of preserved lands, including local parks, wetlands, farmlands and forests. So when it came time to ask voters to amend the Garden State Preservation Trust to take advantage of low interest rates, they did it again this Fall, 1!
Microsoft The Township Council is expected to decide Wednesday whether to put the question on the November ballot, giving voters the final say.
With the passage of a measure in Hudson County yesterday, New Jersey became the first state in which every county has approved an open space ballot measure. Earlier in 2003, a total of 35 ballot measures for land conservation were approved by voters in 15 different states. In total, they raised $ related purposes. Added to the November results, the total local and state open space funding created at the ballot box in 2003 is now approximately $1.8 billion.
Laptop Computers The tax would generate an estimated $1,063,068 per year. It would also make the township eligible for matching grants through he state's Green Acres fund, officials said.
Voters in Blairstown, Frelinghuysen and Greenwich townships approved increases to their local open space funds Tuesday. With an overwhelming majority approving the tax increase, 364. The tax was 3 cents per $100 of assessed property value. Now, it will be 4 cents. Open Space Preservation Committee members said the extra cent is necessary to continue their efforts. The tax will bring in $210, 000 annually.
Laptop Computer Rumana said he weighed how much people would be willing to pay in additional taxes vs. the amount of money needed to preserve the township's limited and expensive open space.
It is the second land preservation question on the ballot in as many years in Mount Laurel. The referendum this fall would bring the local rate to 8 cents if voters approve. At the current rate, Mount Laurel's open space fund brings in about $1 million a year. The fund would double to about $2 million a year if the referendum is approved during the Nov. 5 general election. Residents also pay about 4 cents per $100 of a property' s assessed value to Burlington County's open space fund. Of the county's 40 municipalities, 13 have dedicated open space taxes.
Desktop Computer "We looked at the value of properties in Wayne, and there is no way that 1 cent would have raised enough money to do anything," he said.
Notebooks Rumana promoted the plan as a way to control development and stem school taxes.
Lenovo By blocking new residential developments, the township will slow down the expected growth in enrollment that threatens to burden the school district, he said.
Hard Drive Although much of the township is developed, Rumana identified some properties the township may seek to purchase, including a 27-acre tract owned by St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital.
Travelstar The hospital recently submitted plans to the Board of Adjustment for a residential development that includes 192 units of age-restricted housing near High Mountain Park.
Gateway The open space fund would also go toward preserving farmland.
Laptop Parts It could open the way for the township to discuss the possible purchase of the 34-acre Kuehm farm on Black Oak Ridge Road, which Passaic County previously considered for acquisition, he said.
Software "I'm just hopeful that the voting public sees the importance of this issue," Rumana said. "It's an investment. It's a way to save money in the long term."
Hard Drives By Robert Ratish
Bergen Record - 5/6/2003
Topic: Less Sprawl
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