PRESERVING OPEN SPACE AND FARMLAND

Extending the Garden State Preservation Trust
Along with a host of environmental problems, Jon Corzine will inherit several extremely popular and effective programs that have made New Jersey a national leader in the preservation of open space and farmland. Once supported by sporadic bond acts, both the state Green Acres and State Farmland Preservation programs have enjoyed a stable and plentiful source of funding through the landmark Garden State Preservation Trust Act (the GSPT), which was enacted in 1999. As a result, both programs have flourished, fueling a surge of state land acquisition and farmland preservation, as well as matching grants and low cost loans to local governments, and even matching grants to non-profit conservation organizations. In turn, these state funds have been dramatically leveraged by dedicated open space taxes which have been approved by local voters in all 21 counties and in almost 250 of the state’s 566 municipalities. Private funding generated by non-profit land trusts have further leveraged these public funds, as have below-market sales by private landowners who can claim a charitable contribution deduction against the New Jersey state income tax.

But these popular state programs have in some ways become a victim of their own success, as funding provided through the GSPT is expected to begin running out by the end of 2006, just as demand for these funds – and the need for expedited land acquisition - has reached an all-time high. Complicating this reality is the fact that, while this money will likely be completely exhausted after little more than eight years, the constitutionally dedicated $98 million per year in sale tax revenues that voters approved in 1998 to support the $1.15 billion in bonds issued by the GSPT still has another 22 years to run until these bonds are retired. Furthermore, the Corzine administration is expecting an estimated budget deficit of up to $6 billion for FY 2007, as well as record debt service payments in 2006 and beyond. To make matters worse, the Transportation Trust Fund is near bankruptcy, which will likely necessitate a gas tax increase, which in turn will probably be subject to a voter-approved constitutional dedication on the November 2006 ballot. In addition, the school construction fund appears to be out of money as well.

Clearly, amidst all of the other financial woes, 2006 may not be the time to ask voters to approve an extension of funds for the GSPT, no matter how popular open space and farmland preservation may be. However, the problem will definitely need to be addressed within the first few years of the Corzine administration, and our new Governor would do well to begin laying the groundwork for continuing this critical program soon after he takes office. This could be done by reappointing the Governor’s Council on New Jersey Outdoors, or a similar group, an approach that has been used successfully by two previous governors.

The appointment early in 2006 of a Governor’s Council composed of respected citizens to study the remaining need for open space and farmland preservation funding would be an important first step. This group could hold hearings around the state to identify and evaluate alternative mechanisms to fund an extension of the GSPT, and report it findings to the Governor and the Legislature by the end of 2006. Such a schedule would allow the new Governor to focus on passage of his first budget, and on the renewal of the Transportation Trust Fund and resolution of the school construction funding problems. This would also let him make progress on building a consensus for open space funding, which could be considered by the Legislature early next year, in time for voter consideration of a resulting ballot question in November of 2007.

Stewardship of Public Lands
Sadly, New Jersey has made significant additions to its state parks, state forests and wildlife management areas just as funding for the management of these public lands has proven inadequate to the task. While the 1998 effort to secure a stable source of funding for open space and farmland preservation originally included funding for capital improvements to public lands, as well as operating resources to insure proper management, these latter two items were dropped from consideration as the funding measure went through the legislative process. As a result, facilities on state lands are now in dire need of repair and restoration, capital expenses have been deferred repeatedly, and visitors to these attractions often find them deteriorated, understaffed, or even shuttered.

In addition, local governments, especially in urban areas, have also experienced extreme difficulty in maintaining the opens spaces they manage for public use, and more and more responsibility has fallen to the private sector to keep parks open and usable. For this reason, Governor Corzine should seek to have renewed funding for the GSPT specifically include stewardship and capital funds for state land management agencies, and a new category of matching stewardship grants for local governments and non-profits, so that we can begin to work through the backlog of deferred maintenance and provide world-class facilities and programs to make our protected open spaces attractive to both residents and tourists alike.

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