There is hereby created a Harmony Township Open
Space Trust Fund, whose purposes are set forth below.
The purposes of the Harmony Township Open Space
Trust Fund are as follows:
A. Primarily, to preserve
farmland and assist in the acquisition of same serving the same purposes
within the Township of Harmony.
B. Secondarily, to
acquire land for preservation as open space in order to protect drinking
water sources and provide outdoor recreation.
[Amended 5-1-2001 by Ord. No. 0:01-4]
The funding source for the Township Open Space
Trust Fund shall be in the establishment of a separate Township tax
lien item at an annual rate not to exceed $0.05 per $100 of ratables
for each and every taxable property located within the Township. The
rate shall be set every year by the Township Committee, by resolution,
during the existence of the Township Open Space Trust Fund, no later
than the meeting at which the Township budget shall be introduced.
The Township Chief Financial Officer, the Township Auditor, the Township
Tax Collector and the Township Tax Assessor shall assist the Township
Committee in the annual creation/collection of this open space tax.
The determination of how the Township Open Space
Trust Fund shall be expended at anytime shall be at the sole discretion
of the Township Committee, and they shall be the final determiners
of the allocations of the Trust Fund during its existence.
The provisions for taxation to create and fund
the Open Space Trust Fund and the existence of the Township Open Space
Trust Fund shall continue until the objectives of the program have
been achieved, at which time the tax can be discontinued.