Ballot Question Asks Middletown To Again Pay More For Open Space

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — As voters head to the polls this week and next Tuesday (Election Day, Nov. 5), residents in Atlantic Highlands, Middletown and Wall will see a question that asks if they want to increase the tax levy — pay more in taxes — to preserve open space in those towns.

In Middletown, residents currently pay three cents for every $100 of assessed home value. The ballot question seeks to raise it to four cents.

Here is how the question reads on the Middletown ballot: "Should Middletown increase the levy for the existing Middletown Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, from the currently approved and implemented annual levy of three cents per $100 of equalized valuation to four cents per $100 of equalized valuation, to fund additional acquisitions and improvements to open space and parkland properties?"

Middletown first started its Open Space Trust Fund in 1998; residents were initially asked to pay one cent per every $100 of equalized home valuation.

The last time Middletown asked voters to increase the tax was in 2020, when Mayor Tony Perry urged residents to pay a little more. That year, Middletown residents approved a one-penny increase, to pay three cents per every $100.

This year, the town seeks to raise it to four cents.

If the referendum passes, an average Middletown home assessed at $653,000 will pay $24 more in total yearly property taxes. That home pays $73 now in total yearly property taxes towards the Middletown Open Space Fund, and would pay $97 if the ballot question passes on Nov. 5.

The additional funds will go toward preserving open space, investing in recreational upgrades and restoring historic landmarks, said Middletown Township.

Bill Kastning, who runs the Monmouth Conservation Foundation, urged residents to vote "yes" to increase the tax.

"Based on the increase in residential and commercial developments anticipated in Monmouth County over the next decade, preserving our remaining, unprotected land now is imperative," Kastning said this week. "Once a farm, forest, natural habitat or meadow is developed, it is lost forever."

Perry also encouraged Middletown residents to vote "yes" during last week's debate with Mike Morris.

Affordable Housing The Hot Topic Of Perry/Morris Middletown Debate (Oct. 23)

Atlantic Highlands seeks to increase the annual levy from one cent to two cents per $100. Atlantic Highlands started their open space trust fund in 2000 and has used the tax money to preserve Lenape Woods.

And Wall Township seeks to create its first-ever open space trust fund this year. One currently does not exist in Wall. Wall residents will be asked to pay a municipal property tax of $0.015 per every $100 of real property value "to be used for the conservation and preservation of land and open space."

Middletown Mayor Urges Residents To Approve Open Space Referendum (Sept. 2020)

Polls Open Saturday, Who's Running In 2024 Middletown Election (Oct. 22)