[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Demarest as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 8-20-2007 by Ord. No. 938; amended in its entirety 5-18-2020 by Ord. No. 1081-20]
A "Municipal Open Space, Recreation and Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund" is hereby resumed as it was created in 2001, pursuant to the provisions and conditions of N.J.S.A. 40:12-15.7 et seq.
Said trust fund shall be funded through the dedication to the fund of an amount not in excess of $0.01 per $100 of the Borough's total assessed valuation of each annual tax levy.
Such amounts as are raised as a result of said tax levy shall be deposited into said trust fund and thereafter dispensed and used for any or all of the following purposes, or any combination thereof, as determined by the Mayor and Council after conducting at least one public hearing for each annual expenditure relative thereto:
A. 
Acquisition of lands for recreation and conservation purposes;
B. 
Development of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
C. 
Maintenance of lands acquired for recreation and conservation purposes;
D. 
Historic preservation of historic properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas, or objects, and the acquisition of such properties, structures, facilities, sites, areas, or objects for historic preservation purposes; or
E. 
Payment of debt service on indebtedness issued or incurred by a municipality for any of the purposes set forth in Subsections A, B, C or D above.
Any interest or other income earned on monies deposited into said trust fund shall be credited to the fund and shall be used for the same purposes as the principal amounts which have been deposited therein. Separate accounts may be created within the said trust fund for the deposit of revenue to be expended for each of the purposes as specified herein above, subject to the approval and authorization of the governing body of the expenditure or appropriation for such purposes, following the presentation and discussion of same at one (or, at the sole discretion of the Borough Council, more than one) public hearing, which shall be conducted by the governing body relative thereto.
This article shall remain in effect for five years from January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2025, unless this article is nullified or otherwise made invalid by subsequent action of the State Legislature or by subsequent action of the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Demarest, upon the finding and determination of the Mayor and Council prior to such termination that there are no additional acquisitions, appropriations or expenditures relative to the above-stated purposes which can be made in furtherance of the interests of the public or for its general benefit and that all debts incurred by the municipality for such purposes have been repaid in full.
This article shall take effect as of January 1, 2021, subject to and only after a ballot question in a form substantially the same as the ballot question which is annexed to this article as Schedule A[1] is approved by the voters, which ballot question is to be placed on the ballot at the general election which is to be held on November 3, 2020.[2]
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is on file in the Borough offices.
[2]
Editor's Note: Ord. No. 2081-20 was approved at the general election on 11-3-2020.
The County Clerk of the County of Bergen is hereby requested to print said ballot question and the interpretive statement on the official ballots for the Borough of Demarest, which are to be used for the general or special election to be held on November 3, 2020.
The Borough Clerk of the Borough of Demarest is hereby authorized and directed to take such action as is reasonable and necessary to request that the County Clerk of Bergen County place a public ballot question in a form substantially the same as the ballot question which is annexed to this article as Schedule A[1] on the ballot at the next general or special election in the Borough of Demarest. A copy of this article, certified to be a true copy, shall be delivered to the Bergen County Clerk by no later than August 28, 2020.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is on file in the Borough offices.
If the provisions of any section, subsection, paragraph, subdivision, or clause of this article shall be judged invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such order of judgment shall not affect or invalidate the remainder of any section, subsection, paragraph, subdivision, or clause of this article.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with this article are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.