North Hanover voters will be asked to approve a tax increase of 7 cents for the preservation of the Ervin Farm.
By: William Wichert
NORTH HANOVER The Township Committee has given its preliminary approval for the preservation of a farm at Stewart and Orr roads, but the township does not have enough money in the bank to cover its share of the costs.
At its Oct. 7 meeting, the committee approved the preservation of the 288-acre Ervin Farm, which the township is planning to purchase in conjunction with the state and Burlington County.
After two appraisals of the property are conducted in the coming weeks, the farm is expected to be purchased and preserved by the beginning of next year. But when the county and state come looking for the township’s share, local officials may not have it, said Mayor Lou DeLorenzo.
The mayor said he did not know what the specific purchase price of the farm will be, but he estimated that the cost could be as much as $11,000 per acre for a total of $3.17 million. Since the township’s share of the cost will be between 10 and 15 percent of the total, North Hanover may be responsible for at least $317,000.
But the only money that the township is able to put toward this preservation effort is an annual total of $43,000, which is half the revenue from the 4-cent open space tax rate, Mayor DeLorenzo said. The other half of the tax revenue goes to the purchase of farms smaller than the Ervin property, he said.
Mayor DeLorenzo said there will be a referendum question on Nov. 2 that asks voters to approve a tax increase of 7 cents per $100 of assessed property value. The mayor has said this increase would produce an annual revenue of about $150,000.
"We’ve got to step up to the plate and get this (preservation of Ervin Farm) done," he said. "If we do this, we’ll have to raise taxes anyway."
Although his Republican colleagues on the Township Committee, Bill Tilton and Mike Moscatiello, have said that the 7-cent increase would help offset the $1.5 million in the township’s farmland preservation debt, the mayor said the increase could be applied to the purchase of the Ervin Farm.
"It’s only a small window of opportunity," the mayor said. "I’d go against any builder for preservation."