 Garden State Preservation Trust
Renewal Goes to NJ Voters
By an overwhelming, bipartisan majority, the New Jersey Legislature voted to put a $400 million conservation bond on the November ballot. This critical funding will help stem the loss of New Jersey's last remaining unprotected open space to sprawl.
The bond would provide several years of funding for the depleted Garden State Preservation Trust, which pays for the acquisition and preservation of open space, farmland, parks, floodplains and historic sites. Renewing the Trust now will allow the state to purchase land at prices not seen in decades and protect properties once given up as lost to development.
New Jersey has led the way dedicating public financing for land and water, passing all 12 of the 12 statewide conservation ballot measures since 1961. The New Jersey Keep It Green coalition is gearing up for an election campaign to pass this new initiative in a difficult economic climate. Find out how you can get involved. |
 Two Mass Towns to Vote on Community Preservation Act
Like New Jersey, Massachusetts is in the vanguard of the nationwide movement to conserve land and water through dedicated public funding. In 2000, the Commonwealth established the Community Preservation Act (CPA) to help towns and cities to protect open space and historic sites and provide affordable housing and recreation. The act provides for a state matching grant to communities that adopt a CPA property tax surcharge of up to 3%.
So far, 40 percent of the municipalities in Massachusetts have adopted the act. Now, even in a recession, two more towns have approved placing the CPA on the ballot for 2010. Sunderland (in the Connecticut River Valley) and Dighton (in southeastern Massachusetts) are both rural towns seeking to preserve their working farms, sense of history and rural character in the face of increasing development pressures. Watch for updates as the elections approach.
|
