OCEAN COUNTY – Voters in Ocean County approved an increase in the tax used to help keep land green, giving the Natural Lands Trust Fund an extra penny for every $100 of equalized property valuation.
Unofficial results as of Friday, November 6, showed 109,334 votes in favor and 72,052 against. About 60.3% of those who marked a choice on County Question No. 1 supported the increase.
The count also showed that 43,355 of the 224,741 ballots cast countywide didn’t vote on the question. That is about 19.3% of all ballots.
The measure raises the trust fund’s rate from 1.2 cents to 2.2 cents per $100 of equalized property valuation. It is the first increase since voters created the fund in 1997, and Commissioner Director Frank Sadeghi led the push to put it before voters.
Sadeghi won reelection the same night with about 60% of the vote. He said the referendum’s passage mattered a great deal to him. “I care more about this question passing for what it means to future generations,” he said.
What The Increase Could Fund
The new rate takes effect January 1, 2027. County estimates put the annual contribution for a $400,000 home at about $88, up from $48. Sadeghi estimated the added penny could generate about $20 million annually.
He said the county is discussing three large properties as possible future acquisitions, though the conversations are preliminary and no purchase is imminent. One tract covers more than 1,000 acres across Toms River, Berkeley and Manchester, and may reach Lakehurst. Another is in Lakewood and Jackson, while Jackson’s governing body has asked the county to consider a third. Sadeghi said the properties could be valued from $25 million to $100 million.
The trust does not condemn land. Sadeghi said the process requires a property owner to ask the county to consider an acquisition and the municipality to support it. The county’s published guidelines say the Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee reviews a property’s environmental value, development potential, local support and other factors before recommending a purchase to the commissioners.
Sadeghi said the county is less likely to pursue land that already cannot be developed because of environmental restrictions or Pinelands rules. “If you’re not preserving the property and preventing it from being developed, then what’s the point of buying the property?” he said.
Voters expanded the fund in 2019 to include recreation and historic preservation. Sadeghi said commissioners expect to consider grants to municipalities for park and recreation improvements, though the board still must decide how much money to set aside.
He pointed to the county’s new sidewalk grant program as a possible model. The county set aside $5 million for sidewalks along county roads, and Sadeghi said all 11 municipalities that applied were slated to receive funding. He suggested a similar program could help towns upgrade local parks.
Already Preserved Land
Voters in all 33 municipalities supported creating the trust fund in 1997, and the county established its advisory committee the following year. The county says the program has preserved more than 30,000 acres of open space and over 3,600 acres of farmland. If federal, state, county and municipal holdings are added, nearly 47% of Ocean County is preserved.
A major acquisition in the Forked River Mountains region added nearly 8,000 acres to the area’s protected land. The Nature Conservancy donated more than 3,100 additional acres in 2023, and the county purchased another 98 acres in 2026. County officials say the Natural Lands Trust Fund now safeguards more than 12,500 acres in the region.
Other examples include the former NJ Pulverizing sand and gravel site in Berkeley Township, which the county bought in 2016, and the Manahawkin Marsh Preserve in Stafford, now about 350 acres along Route 72. At Good Luck Point in Berkeley, the trust fund has spent about $9 million to acquire roughly 724 acres of marsh. The county’s preservation efforts have also helped protect land near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
For Sadeghi, the vote gives the county a better chance to preserve land before development closes that option. “If the property gets developed, it’s not like 20 years from now they can undevelop it,” he said.
He moved to Ocean County in 1988, around the time his daughter was born. The beaches and boardwalks drew his family, but so did the open space inland.
“What was charming to me was the fact that you can drive 20 minutes, and you could be in Plumsted, horse country, or Jackson or Manchester Township,” he said. “You still have so much open space.”
He acknowledged that a tax increase can be difficult for residents, including seniors dealing with higher grocery bills. “Even with all that, my point to everyone was, we’ll get beyond these difficult times,” he said. “But we have a responsibility to the next generation.”
Sadeghi said Central Park shows what preserving land can mean to future generations. He recalled telling audiences that New Yorkers debated setting aside land for a park as the city grew. “I can’t even imagine New York City without Central Park and the quality of life that that brings,” he said.
The example stands as one that Sadeghi feels relates to Ocean County as far as long term choices. “Can you imagine if we allow the properties just to be developed? Twenty-five years from now, do we have open space left?”
Sadeghi said some of the criticism he heard was that a one-cent increase was not enough. He wants to see how the new funding is received before considering any further increase.
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