Voters raise open space tax in Upper Freehold BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - Township voters have elected to pay more taxes toward preserving local farmland and open space. The local ballot question posed to voters in the Nov. 6 election asked to increase the township's open space tax an additional .02 cents per $100 of assessed value. The measure narrowly passed, with 961 votes in favor and 899 votes against. According to election results, more voters in three of the township's four voting districts opted to turn the question down. In the largest voting district, District 4, the opposite occurred and 353 voters passed the question while 256 voters turned it down. Township Administrator Barbara Bascom said she thought the question would pass with an overwhelming majority. "It just shows you the people that are vocal at meetings may not always be the voice of the majority," she said. Bascom said the close vote on the issue dismayed her. "It indicates that everyone does not really support preservation or they don't understand the process," she said. "While we only pay 16 percent of the cost for the farmland easements, we need to have those funds available to leverage the Planning Incentive Grant (PIG) funds. If people are going to be putting in applications as predicted, we will have to preserve as far as our money will go." Deputy Mayor William Miscoski said he thought the close vote meant that people want open space, but they don't want to pay for it. "[You] can't have your cake and eat it, too, but that's what people want," he said. "Talk is cheap." Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said he believes that "skyrocketing energy costs" and "failure of state government to implement real property tax reform - which would lessen the disproportionate burden of education on local taxpayers in communities like Upper Freehold" - made the preservation/open space question more difficult for voters. "Local taxpayers are overwhelmed, yet the majority of our voters still approved the measure," he said. Whether or not the election results will actually allot .02 cents more or 2 cents more toward open space preservation in the township still remains to be seen, however, because the ballot question had a wording error. The question on the municipal ballot asked voters if they were in favor of authorizing the Township Committee "to impose and raise by taxation up to an additional .02 cents per $100 of annual assessed value" to be deposited in the Municipal Open Space, Recreation, Conservation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund for acquisition of farmland and for farmland preservation purposes. The wording should have read .02 dollars per $100 of assessed value or 2 cents per $100 of assessed value. Bascom said she believes that the governing body's intent was clear and that most people in Upper Freehold would recognize the question as authorizing 2 cents. Township Attorney Granville Magee has said he would wait to hear the Monmouth County Board of Elections' view on the matter. Bertha Sumick, of the Monmouth County Board of Elections, said that the question would have to stand as printed on the ballot and that any question of intent would be a matter for attorneys.