From and after the effective date of this article,
there is hereby imposed, levied and assessed a tax at the rate of
0.25% on the earned income of the residents of Franconia Township
to be used for financing the acquisition of open space, for the acquisition
of agricultural conservation easements, for the acquisition of property
development rights and for the acquisition of recreational and/or
historical lands.
The Tax Collector for the tax hereby imposed
shall be appointed by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
This article and the tax hereby imposed shall
be effective from and after January 1, 2002.
[Added 6-18-2018 by Ord.
No. 398]
A. Any funds collected pursuant to the Franconia Township open space
tax may be used for any of the following purposes:
(1)
To retire the indebtedness incurred in purchasing interests
in real property or in making additional acquisitions of real property
for the purpose of securing an open space benefit or benefits under
the provisions of the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Preservation
Act or the Agricultural Area Security Law, 3 P.S. § 901
et seq.;
(2)
For transactional fees that are incidental to acquisitions made
in accordance with the Open Space Lands Acquisition and Preservation
Act, including, but not limited to, costs of appraisals, legal services,
title searches, document preparation, title insurance, closing fees
and survey costs;
(3)
For expenses necessary to prepare the resource, recreation or
land use plan required under Section 3 of the Open Space Lands Acquisition
and Preservation Act, 32 P.S. § 5003;
(4)
Annual allocation:
(a)
Annually, up to 25% of any accumulated balance of the fund from
the levy authorized by referendum, to develop, improve, design, engineer
and maintain property acquired pursuant to this act for an open space
benefit or benefits; or
(b)
Alternatively, for purposes of allocation, the creation of a
maintenance fund into which the Township may deposit an amount up
to 25% of the annual revenue from the open space tax, to develop,
improve, design, engineer and maintain property acquired pursuant
to this act for an open space benefit or benefits; or
(5)
Any other purpose permitted by future amendments to the Open
Space Lands Acquisition and Preservation Act.
B. In no event, however, shall any revenue in a particular year be used to develop, improve, design, engineer and maintain the property unless the annual debt service under Subsection
A(1) or acquisition fees under Subsection
A(2) will be satisfied. The acquisition fees shall be paid in their entirety at the time of acquisition.