Voters should decide fate of Millstone Township’s open space tax

At the last Millstone Township Committee meeting, the committeemen discussed placing a public referendum regarding the open space tax rate on the November ballot. In the July 25 Examiner article on the topic, not all the salient points of my comments were addressed and, therefore, my position may not be clear to my constituents.

The recent property reassessment increased our open space tax revenue by 51 percent. During the volatile 2002 budget meetings, the committeemen supported an open space tax referendum for November. The question would ask the public whether the tax rate should be adjusted in order to keep the total tax collected to the pre-reassessment value. The impact of keeping the existing rate is effectively 7.5 cents based on last year’s assessment value, or 2.5 cents higher.

After gaining consensus support for the referendum during the budget meetings, some Committeemen now want to let the increase slide through without voter input. I disagree.

Let me be clear that I wholeheartedly support the open space and farmland preservation program and the open space tax supporting it.

My position is that the committeemen should not be the ones deciding the matter. State statute mandates that the question of open space taxation reside with the voters, consequently the need for a November referendum.

The concern is not whether or not I support an open space tax increase. The real issue is protecting your statutory rights to its determination.

There are many other alternatives for saving open space. We need to elect leaders with the desire and will to protect and preserve through proper zoning and land use legislation, not merely through taxation.

I support the need for an open space tax referendum on the ballot in November. Let the voters decide their tax fate.

My position is clear: you should decide, as the law requires.

John Pfefferkorn

Millstone Township Committeeman