Lawmakers in the Assembly and Senate are considering a resolution letting New Jersey voters decide whether a portion of sales tax revenue should go toward open space preservation.     The Garden State Preservation Trust overseas open space acquisition and preservation of farms and historic sights.
Program supporters hail it as one of the most successful government efforts on record. They say it’s vital to the quality of life of all New Jerseyans to replenish the fund that pays for land
buys and historic preservation.
Voters overwhelmingly approved a similar request in 1998. It resulted in two billion in land buys before the fund ran out of money for new projects this year, two years ahead of schedule.
The present proposal would dedicate 175 million per year from the sales tax, funding land buys for ten years, then paying off bonds for the next 20.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)