Thursday, November 6, 2014

NJ Voters Approve Ballot Question on Preservation


New Jersey voters voted YES this week on Ballot Question 2, amending the state constitution to set aside a larger percentage of the corporate business tax (from 4 to 6%) for preservation. This does not mean an increase in the corporate or other taxes, just a reallocation of how the collected taxes are dispensed. 
 
The question was approved by an overwhelming 65 percent of Garden State voters. According to the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, this is the fourteenth time in 52 years that voters have approved efforts to preserve New Jersey's clean water, productive farmland, parks, natural lands and historic sites.

Being the nation's most densely populated state, makes saving land for all of our communities even more critical. For example, with rising sea levels and increasingly severe storms, protecting lands that mitigate flooding all the more urgent.  

New Jersey is considered to be the first state projected to be fully "built out" - with all land either preserved or developed. Preserving and adding what we can to parks, farmlands,  and forests, and investing in open spaces can help protect and expand a healthy environment for current and future generations.


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