Two issues relating to West Windsor’s open space tax will be decided by a referendum vote on election day in November. But voters may be forced to pass the referendum because both items of legislation will be bundled into one question.
Officials believe voters will pass the referendum lowering the amount of open space tax placed upon residents, from 5 cents per $100 of assessed property value to 3 cents. “It doesn’t matter where we set the tax, it will pass,” said Councilman Charles Morgan at a council meeting on June 26, “We have the voters over a barrel.”
If the referendum were to get voted down, it would mean an increase in property taxes. The referendum was finalized at the council meeting on Monday, July 17.
The other issue that will be decided by the vote is a change in the amount of open space funds allotted for maintenance and development of preserved open space. Currently, the township can spend up to 10 percent maintaining and developing open space holdings, with the rest of the money designated for purchase of preserved property.
Voters will now be asked to approve an increase in maintenance allotment to up to 25 percent.
Helen Rancan, president of Friends of West Windsor Open Space (FOWWOS), sent a letter to the editor detailing the organization’s position on the upcoming referendum for adjustments to the township’s Open Space Tax. Wrote Rancan: “FOWWOS supports an overall reduction of the open space tax from 5 to 3 cents per $100 of assessed property value, since this new level is similar in revenue production to that which was supported by the citizens. However, we oppose any increase in the development and maintenance cap beyond that which was contained in the two previous referendums, namely 10 percent.”
Rancan believes that an increase in the maintenance amount will damage the township’s ability to buy more land in the future, both by draining reserves and by limiting the amount of grants that will be given to the township by the state and by private donors.
Mayor Hsueh, who has commissioned FOWWOS to conduct negotiations with landowners considering selling to the township in the past, says he would like to be more involved in the land purchase process. He alluded to the possibility of appointing someone to be chief negotiator for open space land acquisition.
Said the mayor: “I want to make sure the right people get involved in negotiations. We need to start setting up a strategy for purchasing the land. I want to have more coordinated effort, involving individuals who have expertise in this area. I don’t want to form a committee. I want to be more involved.”
Rancan has been one of the people involved in face-to-face meetings and negotiations with owners of open space parcels in the past. Voters who agree with Rancan will have no choice but to vote for the increased allotment if they also support the tax reduction.
Mayor Hsueh said the reason the question is structured this way “has to do with the history. It was done before this way. The final decision is up to the council. I gave the recommendation, and apparently it was the consensus to write the referendum that way.”
Council Member Charles Morgan, who cast the lone vote against the referendum, said “I’m of the impression that we can only have a single question. We have to decide, we have to cut the baby in half and decide what is the best question to put before the voters.”
Morgan said he voted against the referendum not because of its structure or wording. “I thought we should have returned the 2 cents,” said Morgan, who is up for re-election next January.
He said also that he supports the increase in the amount of maintenance allotment because “it gives us flexibility and forces us into accountability for what we do with the money.”
Township Attorney Michael Herbert said there is no precedent for a vote in this township on Open Space where the decision on the tax rate and the maintenance allotment were separated into two questions, “Going back to 1998, we have had the tax amount and the maintenance allocation in one referendum.”
Precedent is not the only reason Herbert gives for the current structure of the proposed vote. Clarity is another. “The second issue is contingent on the first. I don’t know how we could separate it.”
Herbert says since the amount of the allocation is a percentage, and therefore tied to the amount of the total tax, it would be impossible to structure the referendum as two votes. The question of the tax rate would have to be posed first, and the question of the allotment would have to be divided according to the voter’s first answer, as in, “If you voted yes to lowering the tax, do you support raising the maintenance?”
Council also made the decision to have the township use a surplus of $1.3 million generated by last year’s open space tax collection to pay down short term debt. It had considered using the money to purchase some of the six parcels of land the township is considering buying as part of the open space initiative. “It was a management decision through the budget process to retire the debt,” Chief financial officer Joanne Louth said.
Mayor Hsueh said using the surplus to pay debt will not hinder the township’s ability to acquire more land. “You have to look at open space, and property taxes all together,” he said. “If we have really good open space and the opportunity to buy it, we will try to get it. I don’t want people to misunderstand. I’m not going to use taxpayers money to buy land that doesn’t have potential for development in the future, and I’m not going to use taxpayers’ money to pay for land at unreasonable prices.”
West Windsor is currently approximately 48 percent preserved open space, and the Mayor has stated that he would like to increase that number to over 50 percent. He said the township will not take any further action involving acquiring land until after the referendum vote in November. “I think it will pass,” said Hsueh.
