Middletown Asks Taxpayers To Contribute More To Open Space Fund

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — This fall, Middletown Township will ask local homeowners to pay a little bit more for the Township's Open Space Trust Fund.

The question will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot (the same day as the presidential election).

Currently, Middletown homeowners pay two cents per every $100 of their quarterly tax bill to the town's open space trust fund. This proposition question seeks to raise it to three cents.

The average Middletown homeowner (owning a home assessed at $447,629) currently contributes around $89 a year to the open space fund, so this will be a small increase above that.

“I will be voting ‘yes’ on November 3 to preserve open space here in Middletown and I hope you will join me in voting for Middletown’s future," said Middletown Mayor Tony Perry this week, in favor of the small increase.

At their Monday night meeting, the Middletown Township Committee unanimously approved putting the one-cent increase as a public question on the ballot so voters can decide.

The Middletown Open Space Trust was established by the voters of Middletown in 1998. Preserving woodlands and open space is an important topic in Middletown, with many local residents balking at such development projects as the "Shoppes at Middletown," a massive new shopping complex that is moving forward at the intersection of Rt. 35 and Kings Highway East. (A Wegman's, a movie theater and a 24-Hour Fitness are so far the confirmed tenants to open at the Shoppes at Middletown, plus Toll Brothers housing.)

Monmouth County has its own separate open space trust fund, which taxpayers pay into as part of the county portion of their quarterly tax bill.

If Middletown voters approve the tax increase this fall, the Township Committee will hold a public hearing to determine how the increased money will be spent, and officially change the name of the fund to the “Municipal Open Space, Recreation, Floodplain Protection, and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund." The town says that is more all-encompassing.

Stay on top of Middletown development news: 24-Hour Fitness To Open At Shoppes Of Middletown (Oct. 2019)

Middletown Approves Wegmans, Shoppes At Middletown (July 2019)

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