NJ Conservation Funding Alert: 2014

December 19, 2013
NJ Keep It Green

Title

NJ Conservation Funding Alert: 2014

Body

From: NJ Keep It Green

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                         Contacts: Tom Gilbert (267) 261-7325
Dec. 19, 2013                                                                                                      Kelly Mooij (732) 539-1693

                                                                                                                           

LET VOTERS DECIDE ON LONG-TERM SOLUTION FOR OPEN SPACE FUNDING

 

TRENTON, N.J. – NJ Keep It Green, the state’s largest coalition of conservation, agriculture and historic preservation advocates, today voiced strong support for legislation (SCR165) that would ask voters to dedicate a small percentage of sales tax revenues for open space, farmland and historic preservation efforts.

“This is the right approach,” said NJ Keep It Green Chairman Tom Gilbert. “The Senate has shown great leadership by putting forth a fiscally responsible, viable plan and voters should now have an opportunity to have their say.”

The Senate Environment and Energy Committee today held a public hearing on the bill, which was approved by the committee last week with unanimous bipartisan support. The bill’s primary sponsors are Sen. Bob Smith and Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman.

The legislation proposes to ask voters to support an annual sales tax dedication of either 2.4 percent or $200 million – whichever is less – for preservation programs including Green Acres, Blue Acres, Farmland Preservation and Historic Preservation.

The legislation provides safeguards to ensure that annual preservation funding is tied to actual revenues and will not exceed $200 million annually, the average amount that New Jersey has dedicated each year for more than a decade.

With sales tax revenues projected to grow by more than $400 million annually, preservation efforts would be funded using less than half of the growth in revenues. This would leave more than $200 million in new funds available each year to address other needs without taking away from any other programs.

"This legislation is very similar to the Garden State Preservation Trust, New Jersey's most successful preservation initiative to date, which also dedicated sales-tax revenues on a long-term basis,” said former Assemblywoman Maureen Ogden, past chairwoman of the Garden State Preservation Trust. “New Jersey needs to put a sustainable source of funding in place again if we are to address the critical need for investments to protect open space, water supplies, farmland and historic sites that are essential to the health of our economy and our communities."

NJ Keep It Green also expressed disappointment in the legislation passed today by the Assembly (A4541) proposing a $200 million short-term bond measure that fails to address the need for a long-term, stable solution to open space funding.

“A stop-gap measure fails to address long-term needs and continues to delay action on a sustainable source of funding,” said Gilbert. “NJ Keep It Green will continue to work with the Legislature and the Governor to seek agreement on a sustainable source of funding that can move forward with bipartisan support.”

New Jersey has approximately 1 million acres (20 percent of the state) that are still unprotected and developable and is likely to reach build-out by the middle of this century. There continues to be a backlog of applications for Green Acres, Blue Acres and Historic Preservation funding. More than 80 percent of Green Acres grant requests and 60 percent of Historic Preservation grant requests are unfunded and more than 350,000 acres of farmland throughout the state need to preserved to maintain a viable agriculture industry in New Jersey.

An NJ Keep It Green commissioned survey of 600 registered likely voters found that 74 percent support dedicating $200 million annually in state sales tax revenues to fund open space, farmland and historic preservation programs.

Since the start of the year 17 counties – Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Union and Warren – have all passed similar resolutions supporting sustainable open space funding, as have the NJ Highlands Council and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

About NJ Keep It Green NJ Keep It Green is a coalition of 185 park, conservation, agricultural and historic preservation groups working to create a long-term, dedicated source of funding for the preservation and stewardship of New Jersey’s natural areas, waterways, parks, farmland and historic sites. For more information or to sign the NJ Keep It Green Statement of Support, visit www.njkeepitgreen.org.

 

###