TOMS RIVER – Taxpayers again shot down an increase to the open space tax. The vote was 14,551 votes to 11,314.
Taxpayers currently pay 1.5 cents per $100 of equalized valuation. The valuation is not what the house was purchased for; this is the assessment of each property based on current market values.
For example, if your property is valued at $200,000, you are currently paying $30 per year toward the township’s Open Space Tax. Voters were asked whether to raise the tax by 1 cent to 2.5 cents per $100 of valuation.
By voting to increase the rate of the Open Space Tax, the township’s budget to purchase open space would have increased.
When the Township Council decided to put the increase on the ballot, there was not a specific parcel made public. Mayor Maurice “Mo” B. Hill had an interest in purchasing land in northwest Toms River because “that’s where most of the open space is left in town.”
“We certainly want to preserve property there,” he said of northwest Toms River. Another concern of his is an upcoming round of COAH.
COAH is the Counsel On Affordable Housing, a quasi-judicial body. A landmark lawsuit vs. the town of Mt. Laurel ended with the State deciding that towns must provide places for people to live who make less money. Mt. Laurel had, according to the lawsuit, zoned the town so that only rich people could live there.
Every town in New Jersey has gone through a few rounds of COAH. This means that every few years, COAH decides, based on a formula, that a town needs to set aside a certain number of units for low-to-moderate income homeowners.
Those in favor of COAH have said that it has provided more affordable housing.
Those against COAH have said that it takes self-rule away from towns, forces development, hurts the environment, and doesn’t really provide for “affordable” housing because the state’s definition of “affordable” is different than the average person’s.
With another round of COAH coming in a few years, Hill said preserving land now would limit how many developments could be put in. Every development comes with it a certain percentage of COAH units.
Another challenge is that if a town doesn’t want a development, the developer can sue in what’s called a “builder’s remedy lawsuit,” basically using COAH to push their project through.
Toms River voters first approved the Open Space Tax in 2000 and taxes began being collected in 2001. In 2018, Toms River residents voted against a referendum that would have doubled the Open Space Tax rate to 3 cents.
The vote totals for this year are unofficial results until the county clerk certifies them at a later date.
