Morris To Fund Open Space Projects In 2016, Seeking Applications

After spending $1 million in 2015 to preserve 113 acres of Morris County land, the board of chosen freeholders is allocating funds for Open Space projects in the area for 2016, and welcoming all applications.

Grant application can be found online here, and are due back to the county before Friday, June 17.

Any of Morris County’s 39 municipalities and qualified charitable conservancies are eligible to apply. The Preservation Trust Fund is made up of 7/8 of a cent per $100 of tax assessment in Morris County, which will generate about $8 million in 2016.

Of that funding, the county puts ¼ of a cent to the Park Improvement Trust used by the Park Commission to restore facilities and 5/8 of a cent to other Preservation Trust Programs.

More than 13,500 acres of open space have been preserved with the assistance of grant funding from the county in the last 23 years, the county said.

In 2015, projects in Washington Township, Boonton, Hanover, Jefferson, and Mendham Borough were the recipients of county funding.