Patton Township residents passed a referendum during last week’s election that paved the way for an increase in property taxes to acquire and preserve additional open space land.
The referendum is part of an ongoing process to obtain and take care of undeveloped lands greater than five acres in the township, according to Patton Township Manager Doug Erickson.
Now that township residents have had their say on the referendum, they can also volunteer to serve on the new Open Space Task Force. Any Patton Township resident can serve on the committee, as long as he or she can commit to attend meetings, Erickson says.
In 2004, when the township was looking into acquiring lands, the former Open Space Task Force inventoried all undeveloped properties in the township that were five or more acres. Erickson says that once the new task force is assembled, those properties will be evaluated against criteria and ranked based on an overall score.
“We’ll be looking for properties with the most value,” he says. The properties that have already been identified as possible open space lands will be pursued.” The township, however, will only approach willing sellers.
As a result of the referendum, which was approved by 63 percent of the voters, the Patton Township Board of Supervisors will seek a loan for $3.5 million at a four percent interest rate for 20 years and residents will see an increase of 0.6 mills in their property taxes beginning in 2016. This will increase the current township property tax millage to 9.5.
Erickson says residents have been surveyed several times since the county began pursuing this in 2001 and asked if they would be willing to raise property taxes to acquire more open space lands.
“We consistently get a high percentage of ‘yes’ votes,” he says. The township is on the verge of paying off the first loan for open space lands and Erickson says that prompted the look into acquiring more property.
In 2006, the township bought a 465-acre farm near Circleville Road from Hubie and Helen Haugh for $2.5 million. When the township borrowed the money to fund the purchase, residents approved a property tax increase of 1 mill. Future funds that would have been put toward that loan will now go to other township capital and infrastructure projects, Erickson says.
While the township was purchasing the farm, the Haugh family set up an endowment in the amount of $300,000 through Centre Foundation to help maintain the property. The township also set up an endowment for $195,000 for maintenance. Erickson says that it will be up to the sellers of future open space lands whether they want to set up endowments. He also says it’s too early to know how the township will contribute to maintenance funding.
About half of the land is used for agricultural production, Erickson says, and the forest lands are managed according to a forest stewardship plan.
The farm is currently self-sustaining due to revenue generated by the endowments, the farm lease and timbering activities under the forest stewardship, which means no township tax dollars are currently being used to maintain or improve the open space lands.
For more information about open space acquisition, you can contact Patton Township at www.twp.patton.pa.us.
