Council Opts for 10-Year Open Space Tax Extension

The borough council reached a consensus Wednesday night to move forward with placing a 10-year extension of the open space fund on the ballot for referendum in November.

The current open space tax, which has funded two major borough purchases including the Pleasureland property where a new park is underway, is currently fixed at one cent on each $100 of a property’s assessed value. Voters have approved it twice for five-year periods, and the second round of funding expires at the end of this year.

The council had considered three options for extending the fund: maintaining a five-year sunset, extending it to 10 years, or leaving it open-ended with no expiration.

“The reason I’m looking for a longer term is that we’ve basically expended the money in the trust,” said Chris Visconti, the council’s president and finance committee chair.

James Mangin, the borough’s chief finance officer, has said that Oakland still has over $1 million in obligations from its prior open space purchases that will require servicing until 2019, and should the referendum be voted down in November that burden will be transferred to the municipality’s general operating budget.

He said Wednesday that future councils could adjust the rate downward to as low as a half a cent should the borough’s needs change.

Visconti said his “preference was to keep it open ended,” but the consensus among the council’s other members was to keep an expiration but lengthen the fund’s life to 10 years.

Oakland voters will have to approve the tax in November, as they did in 2003 and 2008.

The council moves forward on the referendum with little time to spare. For passage, the ordinance requires two separate meetings—one for introduction and another for approval—leaving the council just enough time before an Aug. 16 deadline to submit it to the county for the November ballot.