T.F. council will heed referendum vote

T.F. council will heed referendum vote
Council must adopt ordinance cutting open space tax rate
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS — Borough officials said last week that once the open space referendum vote has been certified by the county, they will prepare an ordinance that reflects a cut in the dedicated open space tax.

"The council still has to adopt an ordinance once the results of the elections have been certified," Borough Attorney Brian Nelson said at the Nov. 10 Borough Council meeting. "Once the result is certified, we will prepare an ordinance. We can have something for introduction in December."

Chief Financial Officer Stephen Pfeffer explained that the first two tax bills that will be sent out will not reflect the change in the tax, but will be adjusted later in the year.

"The ordinance is forwarded to the MonmouthCounty tax administrator," Pfeffer said. "He will adjust the rate on the county tax certification for Tinton Falls.

"February and May bills go out as preliminary bills based on the old rate," he added. "Everything will be adjusted in August and November billings. They will be reduced to reflect the reduction in rate."

According to unofficial results reported on the Monmouth County Board of Elections website, 2,964 residents voted in favor of cutting the open space tax rate while 1,988 voted against the cut.

The referendum on the ballot asked residents if they wanted to lower the open space tax rate from 3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 2.25 cents.

The council was split on this issue for most of the summer, leading to a 3-2 vote in August to even place the referendum question on the ballot.

Council President Duane Morrill was one of the two council members who opposed cutting the tax.

Morrill joked that, in the vote, the views of the council reflected the views of the residents.

"Congratulations, council, because we do represent the people," he said. "Sixty percent of us want the referendum, 40 percent didn't and that's what the vote came out to."

During the meeting residents commented on the results.

"Clearly the voters of the town said they wanted the reduction," resident Denise Catalano said and pointed out that the council has a mandate from residents.

"I just want to remind the council that you are here to represent the voters not your own personal interests," she said. "The voters have clearly said 'yes, we want a reduction.' It should be a done deal from a council perspective."

Catalano went on to suggest that the council should consider going beyond the vote and lower the tax even further, but Nelson said it wasn't possible.

"The council can only do the ballot question that was eventually selected," he said. "The council had opted not to pose a question setting forth a range."

For resident Joe Fama, husband of Councilwoman NancyAnn Fama, the voters made a statement that was resounding.

"Good job to the council on the open space referendum," he said. "I think the voters made it very clear and I think it was a win-win for everybody.

"We are able to reduce the tax rate while continuing to bring in significant amounts of money to the open space [fund], which we all want to see happen."

The councilman who fought the hardest against lowering the tax was Andrew Mayer, and in an interview last week, Mayer said he was disappointed by the results.

"I'm disappointed the vote went the way it went," he said. "We probably could have done a better job in getting the message out."

Mayer said a problem was the way the question was posed was not clear and a few constituents admitted to him that they were confused.

"I'm not sure the voters understood all the issues with the open space tax," he said. "Some of the people who voted for it didn't understand the question itself.

"Some voted for the opposite of what they thought they were voting for," he added.

Mayer said he had long-term goals with the open space tax that may have to now be adjusted.

"We are going to have to work with about a quarter of a million dollars less per year," he said. "I was hoping we could do more with less bonding so we can save more in the long run. " Mayer said open space is a weapon to halt overdevelopment in the borough.

"Really, open space is the only viable tool in our arsenal against development," he said. "It is the only way we can really limit development."

He went on to say that the prospect of having to build a new school would hurt the taxpayer far more than the open space tax.

"With increased development, we will see impacts on schools, on services that the borough provides," he said. "If we tip the scale enough and have to build another school, that's ultimately going to cost the taxpayers another $30 million."

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.