Open-Space Constitutional Amendment Could Be on November Ballot

By Tom Johnson (courtesy of NJ Spotlight)

With strong bipartisan support, the Senate Thursday overwhelmingly approved a measure that would ask voters to divert more than $200 million a year from the state’s sales tax to fund open-space preservation. 

The proposal is viewed by most environmental organizations as the best way to finance preservation of open space, farmland, and historic structures, given the fact that funding for those projects has been all but exhausted from a bond issue approved by voters in 2009. If approved by the Assembly by a similar margin -- a question that remains highly uncertain -- the legislation (SCR-138) would be on the ballot this November seeking voter approval. In a fiscal note prepared earlier this month by the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services, the proposal to dedicate a small portion of the state’s sales tax to fund open-space preservation would drain about $17 billion from the general fund over 30 years.

With virtually no debate, the Senate approved the resolution, with only two Republican lawmakers casting negative votes, despite the measure’s significant fiscal implications.

The measure also would siphon off significantly morethan the $200 million a year cited by its advocates, according to the OLS. In fiscal year 2015, the loss in sales tax revenue to the general fund would be about $275 million; in fiscal year 2016, the loss would run approximately $288 million; and, in fiscal year 2017, the cost would top $301 million, according to the OLS.

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