NJ Spotlight published the following article on July 1, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
Maybe Next Year: Open-Space Funding Not Likely to Make It to November Ballot
Tom Johnson | July 1, 2014
It is likely that open-space advocates will have to wait until next year — if then — to get a bill through the Legislature to fund the preservation of undeveloped land, farmland, and historic structures.
With the Assembly canceling a session scheduled for yesterday, it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that there will be enough time to get a constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would use corporate business taxes to finance open-space preservation. The measure (SCR-84) needs to be approved early August.
The proposal is the latest unsuccessful effort by a wide-ranging coalition of conservation and recreation groups to come up with a way to fund a variety of programs to protect open spaces at a time when state money for that effort is virtually exhausted.
With the state mired in repeated fiscal crises, an issue that once won broad bipartisan support has failed to achieve any traction with either the Legislature or the Christie administration. The result is that funding for one of the state’s most popular programs — embraced by towns, counties, nonprofit groups, and others –could dry up in the next few years.