Richland Township (Bucks County) voters recently approved an Earned Income Tax ballot referendum to continue a 0.1% allocation for Open Space funding measures. Since 2002, Richland Township voters have continually extended this same measure. The results speak for themselves in terms of municipally-funded conservation value:
- 1,400+ Richland Township acres preserved since the tax measure began;
- a range of conserved acreage, including historic farmland, woodlands, wildlife habitat areas, and open space;
- critical watershed areas preserved in the Upper Tohickon watershed, the township’s primary water source;
An essential partner for Richland Township in all of their municipally-funded (and taxpayer-approved) conservation efforts has been Bucks County-based land trust Heritage Conservancy.
In the ballot referendum, 89% of voters (1,441 in favor to 186 opposed) approved the measure, reflecting a statewide data trend of voters supporting conservation ballot measures (even opting to raise their own taxes to support conservation work) amongst urban, suburban, and rural voters in all regions of the commonwealth.
WeConservePA broadly supports ballot measures such as these (at the local municipal, county, or state level) that place conservation funding decision-making into the hands of the people, because clearly, the people of Pennsylvania support conservation.
For more information on this referendum from local media, see the links below from the Bucks County Herald:
