Ridgewood NJ, a mystery mailer about the upcoming Ridgewood Open Space referendum has landed in residents’ mailboxes, sparking a fierce debate and raising serious questions about transparency and taxpayer funding. The referendum, set for November 4, 2025, asks voters to approve doubling the Open Space tax in the Village of Ridgewood, New Jersey. But it’s not just the proposed tax hike that has people talking—it’s the peculiar, officially-paid-for piece of campaign material.
photo courtesy of Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Lodi NJ, Bergen County has announced exciting plans for Garibaldi Ave Park in Lodi thanks to funding from the Open Space Trust Fund. According to Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, the Borough of Lodi was awarded $121,142 to support a major revitalization project for the park.
Ridgewood joins group seeking return of Open Space Trust Fund
JUNE 20, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014, 12:31 AM BY DARIUS AMOS STAFF WRITER
Ridgewood has joined a group of municipalities that is seeking restoration of full funding to the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund.
Members of the Village Council unanimously approved last week a resolution endorsing the change, and a copy of legislation will be forwarded to the county executive and freeholder board.
The open space trust fund is fueled by the county open space tax, which all property owners currently pay at a rate of a quarter of one cent per $100 of real property valuation. Ridgewood, led by the village’s Open Space Committee, has asked the county to increase the rate to a full one cent per $100.
In a May 20 letter from the Open Space Committee to Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and the freeholders, Chairman Ralph Currey noted that the county’s open space tax had been set at the one cent figure between 2004 and 2009. During that period, Ridgewood and other municipalities received “vital support” from the trust fund for open space purchases and recreation facility improvements.
The county then slashed the tax by 75 percent in 2010, and “in essence dried up the open space money,” according to Tom Riche, the Village Council representative to the Open Space Committee.
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_riaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 165
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_inhaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 166
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodonIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 177
