From the Record:
Should New Jersey borrow $200 million to preserve open space at a time when the state is $33.7 billion in debt?
That’s the question facing voters on Election Day next week. Conservationists say that despite the Garden State’s financial crunch, the answer is yes.
“Open space, because of real estate prices, is not going to get cheaper,” said Eugene Reynolds of the non-profit Passaic River Coalition. “If we don’t act now, when we can preserve this land, efforts to preserve it down the road are going to be that much harder and more expensive.”
Ballot Question No. 3 would generate $109 million for open space and park development, $73 million to preserve farmland, $6 million for historic preservation and $12 million to acquire flood-prone properties along the Passaic, Raritan and Delaware rivers and their tributaries.
The $200 million — which would last a year — would come from state-issued bonds, which would be paid back within the next 30 years from existing revenue sources.
The most vocal opposition to Question No. 3 has come from Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, whose group, Americans for Prosperity, has launched an advertising campaign on several radio stations to oppose all four initiatives on the state ballot.
“The state already has a staggering debt load,” said Lonegan, adding that it would be financially irresponsible to increase that debt to buy open space. The conservative Republican’s group also opposes the use of eminent domain to acquire public land, and says that too much of the money is spent in administrative costs.
The Garden State Preservation Trust, created in 1998 with a $2 billion nest egg, is virtually broke. Governor Corzine and the Legislature, unable to agree on a permanent source of money to replenish the fund, agreed last summer to let voters choose whether they want to keep it afloat for another year in the meantime.
I saw a campaign sign the other day on Route 46. It said “Stop taxes: Vote no on all ballot questions”.
“Open space, because of real estate prices, is not going to get cheaper,” said Eugene Reynolds of the non-profit Passaic River Coalition. “If we don’t act now, when we can preserve this land, efforts to preserve it down the road are going to be that much harder and more expensive.”
I thought the “buy now or get priced out forever” frenzy was a thing of the past. I have nothing against open space preservation, but why overpay for land today? Give it a year. It is going to get cheaper.
RentinginNJ #1,
I saw that sign on Mountain Avenue in Middlesex boro as well. I assumed (wrongly, it appears) that it had something to do with the redevelopment plans in Middlesex. If you saw the sign on 46 (nowhere near here), I guess the sponsoring organization has a bigger battle in mind!
Saw the same sign this weekend. I can’t remember where. I did travel down Rt. 46 and spent some time in Livingston / East Hanover on Rt. 10.
Got this states sucks.
Save the acre big mcmansions…kill the protection of grounds.
Killing me here.
Your free to move about the country. 49 other states to live in. Maybe the next vacation you take shouldnt be just a vacation but a look into moving there.
Buddy of mine vacations in Vermont every year and is starting to seriously consider why kill himself in NJ when every little bit more he makes the state finds a way of taking it away.
With all the people and businesses leaving the state, I think the state should have more of a wait and see attitude on purchasing open space. If you do it during the down cycle you will definitely have more purchasing power.
Get out of NJ while you still can. get out. It will not change.. and soon it will be a turd world republic. NJ may just be what the nation will look like in 20yrs.
You must get out and leave. There is no reason to be here.
Everytime I go to the state to either go to Manhattan or visit family, I either:
1. Get a busted alignment on my car
2. Get stalked by gestappo cops every 3 miles when i enter a new town and a new dept (they did this to blacks in alabama once) for having a PA plate.
3. Get stuck in perma-construction on 78 or 80
4. Pay ever higher tolls on the Turnpike and Parkway.
5. Get cut off by some Tony Soprano, who then drive 10mph UNDER the speed limit for ever.
F your state. You have snobs in the HILLS and illegal immgrants ghettos and not much in between.
It is sad, that so many great things came from NJ, but none lately.