JACKSON — Beginning in the second half of 2010, a lower municipal open space tax rate will be in effect.
On Election Day in November, a majority of residents who went to the polls voted to reduce Jackson’s open space tax rate from 3 cents to 2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
The binding question passed by a count of 7,175 yes votes to 6,609 no votes.
The amount of money a property owner in Jackson pays into the open space fund each year is determined by using the assessed value of his property and the open space tax rate.
With a home assessed at $350,000 and an open space tax rate of 3 cents per $100 of assessed value in place, that property owner is paying $105 annually into Jackson’s open space trust fund.
With a home assessed at $350,000 and an open space tax rate of 2 cents per $100 of assessed value in place, that same property owner will now pay $70 annually into Jackson’s open space trust fund, for an annual savings of $35.
A higher or lower home assessment will yield a higher or lower payment into the open space fund. The fund may be used by the township to purchase and preserve open space parcels and to preclude development from taking place on those parcels of land.
Business Administrator Phil Del Turco said the Township Council has to amend its administrative code to reflect a decrease in the open space tax rate from 3 cents to 2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
Del Turco said that for the first two payments of 2010 property tax bills, the 3-cent open space assessment will be in place because those bills have already been sent to Jackson property owners.
He said a lower rate will be in place for the final two property tax payments of 2010 to compensate for the higher rate that is currently being charged.
As of Jan. 1, 2011, the municipal open space tax rate will be 2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, since the adjusted amount that will be in place for the last two quarters of 2010 will no longer be in effect.