Committee Introduces 2nd Lower Open Space Tax

The Chatham Township Committee passed an ordinance at first reading to lower the municipal open space tax to half a cent per $100 of assessed value.

If the ordinance passes at its second reading, this will be the second consecutive year the committee will lower the tax to half a cent in order to keep local property taxes flat.

The municipal open space tax automatically reverts to two cents per $100 of assessed value every year. Revenues raised from the tax go into an open space fund and help the township pay for the purchase of ew open spaces, and make payments for debts accrued by previously purchased open spaces.

"There is a balance of about $800,000 in the [open space] account," said Township Mayor Nicole Hagner. Some of the money in the account will go to help pay down debt from prior acquisitions.

Committee Member Kathy Abbott cast the sole dissenting vote against lowering the open space tax. The ordinance passed 3-1 with Committee Member Kevin Tubbs absent from the meeting.

Joseph Basralian, the head of the Open Space Committee, said he believed lowering the tax was a "financially prudent" decision and he hopes to have another conversation about the tax in 2013.

The township has over 200 acres of open space, not including the land from the Great Swamp.

The Open Space Committee 2011 Annual Report

Open spaces, Basralian said in his annual report to the township committee Thursday, "strengthen our home resale values." Basralian cited research stationg homes near high quality open spaces have between five and 70 percent increases in resale values.

"Surely, one of the reasons behind Chatham Township’s high value per-residential square-foot is the Township’s preservation of open spaces," he said.

Also, by wisely limiting development for ratables in the township, Basralian said the town helped to control local taxes. "Open space preservation limits the many taxpayer costs associated with supporting ever-increasing development," he said.

The Open Space Committee plans to install a public walking trail through 17.9 acres of the Averett property, which the township purchased in 2011. The path would connect the on Fairmount Avenue with the Chatham Glen development on River Road. Basralian said the township has applied for a state grant for the walking path.

Basralian also said the committee hopes to "[create] more convenient and appealing links for township residents to Loantaka Brook Reservation" and the Kirby property along Shunpike Road.

Basralian's report to the committee bay be found attaached to this article in the Photos and Documents section.