Despite subcommitee vote last year,
officials see no need to increase tax
By:Alec Moore
Voters should not look for a referendum on open space
acquisition when they go to the polls in November.
"Unless we have a need for dollars, then I don’t see
it as a necessity," said Mayor Joseph Tricarico of a proposed
referendum seeking an increase of the local tax rate for open space.
The mayor’s comments stem from a discussion last week
between Planning Board Chairman Chris Jensen, a member of the Open
Space Advisory subcommittee, and Second Deputy Mayor Sonya Martin,
liaison to the subcommittee. Each presented a different account of what
occurred at the Sept. 6, 2001 subcommittee meeting.
Mr. Jensen had said at last week’s Township Committee
meeting that the subcommittee had voted in favor of recommending to the
Township Committee that it put a nonbinding referendum on the November
ballot for a 2-cent tax rate increase for open space acquisition. The
mayor noted that a 2-cent tax hike would put the total open space tax
bill at $180 per year for a home assessed at $300,000, an increase of
$60 per year.
Mr. Jensen then questioned why the matter was not
brought to the attention of the Township Committee. Ms. Martin,
however, did not agree with Mr. Jensen’s representation of the
meeting. "Mr. Jensen, as a private citizen, has every right to request
that we put (a referendum) on the ballot this year, but the open space
subcommittee has not indicated that’s what they want to do," said Mayor
Tricarico.
"That’s a lot of money to spend on open space," said
the mayor, who said he believes that effective zoning coupled with the
acquisition of strategic pieces of open space will enable the township
to control development in town.
"We can’t buy every piece of open space in town, but
we can buy strategic pieces to control development," said Mayor
Tricarico.
An official copy of the minutes from the Sept. 6,
2001, meeting of the Open Space Advisory Subcommittee shed some light
on the discussion that took place at last week’s Township Committee
meeting between Mr. Jensen and Ms. Martin. "It was not my understanding
that I was to bring to you any recommendation for any referendum," Ms.
Martin said Tuesday. "As a matter of fact, they said they wanted to
wait and see what the financial situation of our open space trust
fund."
According to the official minutes of the Sept. 6,
2001, subcommittee meeting, a vote to place a nonbinding referendum on
the ballot for a 2-cent tax hike did pass by a 3-2
margin. However, the minutes also reflect that the subcommittee had
decided to defer notifying the Township Committee of the vote until a
date not specified in the minutes.
Mr. Jensen said at last week’s Township Committee
meeting that he had agreed to hold off on bringing the matter to the
Township Committee’s attention, but only until April of this year
a point which is not reflected in the minutes of the Sept. 6
meeting.According to Mr. Jensen, subcommittee member and former
Township Engineer Frank Scarantino had suggested the subcommittee hold
off on notifying the Township Committee of the vote since the township
was then considering making a significant land acquisition. In
addition, three of the subcommittee’s nine members were not present at
the Sept. 6 meeting."The fact that we agreed not to bring this to the
plate immediately doesn’t change the fact that the vote still took
place," said Mr. Jensen, who noted that regardless of whether the
entire subcommittee was present for the Sept. 6 vote, there was a
legitimate quorum present.
"Mr. Scarantino recommended that we wait to make the
recommendation to the Township Committee until the spring of this year
because certain major purchases were supposed to be made," Mr. Jensen
continued. "The public might then (ask the question) why do you want to
raise the trust fund if we have a big load of money sitting in the bank
and we’re not buying anything."
Since the vote in favor of placing the nonbinding
question on the ballot was never brought to the committee’s attention,
Mr. Jensen raised the matter to ensure that the township did not miss
the August deadline this year, as it did last year, to place the
question on this year’s ballot.
Based on a review of the Sept. 6 minutes, Mayor
Tricarico said the subcommittee has adhered to the decision it reached
at the Sept. 6 meeting by deferring action on the matter.The township’s
open space acquisition tax is currently 4 cents and, according to Mr.
Jensen, generates approximately $450,000 per year.