The city of Burlington will raise taxes for an open space and historic preservation fund
The fund will primarily be used for the preservation and maintenance of the city's historic sites.
The city of Burlington will raise taxes to form a trust fund for the preservation of open space and historic sites, voters decided Tuesday.
The ballot measure passed with over 60% of the vote, or 1,372 voters, according to preliminary results from Burlington County as of Wednesday afternoon.
Burlington City Council will raise property taxes up to 2 cents per $100 of assessed value to fund the trust over the next 10 years — about $20 to $30 for a home valued at the city’s average assessment. Voters will decide in 2036 whether to extend the fund.
The money collected for the fund can be used only to acquire, develop, or maintain land and historic sites for recreation and conservation purposes within the city. The fund will primarily be used for the preservation and continued maintenance of the city’s historic properties, Burlington Mayor Barry Conaway told The Inquirer on Thursday.
“I know asking taxpayers to fund something else is very difficult,” he said. “But on the eve of Burlington City’s 350th anniversary, we thought it was something that we needed to do to save some historic buildings that we have here in town.”
Any property acquired through the trust cannot be sold or given away without a public referendum.
City Council now must pass an ordinance to formally establish the fund and determine the tax rate, Conaway said.
A 2013 property condition study documented problematic conditions at five prominent historic buildings, including the Hoskins House, the Carriage House, and the Quaker Schoolhouse.
The repairs for those three properties were estimated to cost more than $1 million combined when the report was published.
The buildings have largely continued to deteriorate in the years since as the city searched for a way to pay for the necessary work, Conaway said.
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