Cherry Hill property owners will decide in November whether to pay an extra penny per $100 of assessed home value to fund a sweeping $400 million plan to clean up the Cooper River and other Camden County waterways over the next decade.

The Camden County Board of Commissioners announced the initiative on Tuesday, July 14, at the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority building in Camden. Commissioner Jeffrey Nash, the board's liaison to the CCMUA, called it the largest investment ever made to improve the county's waterways.

The commissioners have already placed the referendum on the November 3 ballot. If approved, the county's open-space and water-quality tax would rise from $0.02 to $0.03 per $100 of equalized assessed value. Nash said the new rate would still be lower than the same tax in Burlington and Gloucester counties.

What the money would do

The 10-year plan targets the Cooper River, Kirkwood Lake, Atco Lake, Evans Pond, Wallworth Lake, Big Timber Creek and Pennsauken Creek, according to PhillyVoice. Work starts with repairing and replacing municipal sewer lines that are leaking wastewater, then moves to fixing stormwater outfalls, separating combined sewer systems, adding green infrastructure like rain gardens, and dredging lakes and streams.

The Cooper River, which runs through Cherry Hill, was last dredged in 2017 and already needs dredging again, according to two recent reports Nash cited at the announcement.

Nash described the plan's goals as "replenish, repair and recreation," telling southjersey.media the county wants to make waterways cleaner for fishing, boating, and eventually swimming.

The plan also calls for adding boat launches, kayak rentals, and fishing piers, with a long-term goal of making the rivers and lakes swimmable.

How it gets paid for

Funding sources include state and federal grants, county capital investment, municipal participation, philanthropic support, public-private partnerships, and low-interest loans from the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank. A potential CCMUA rate increase is also on the table.

Voter approval of the tax increase is key: it would unlock the county's ability to borrow from the state's water bank. The 10-year timeline depends on securing the full funding package.

Nash acknowledged uncertainty about federal dollars, noting the Trump administration has repeatedly denied funds to blue states like New Jersey. A federal judge ruled on Friday, July 17, that the administration had unlawfully revoked billions in grant funds for state programs including New Jersey's.

"Every administration has their own priorities," Nash said at the July 14 announcement. "We're cautiously optimistic that the federal government will recognize the importance of these environmental projects. But is it a concern? Of course."

Local flooding adds urgency

The announcement came days after severe flooding struck Camden City and the surrounding region on Monday, July 6, and Thursday, July 9. Camden City Mayor Victor Carstarphen said at the event that restoring waterways is essential to managing stormwater "not only for the short term, but for future generations."

Nash pointed to the Cooper River's economic weight: it generates more than $20 million annually in benefits for local restaurants, hotels, and shops, according to PhillyVoice.

The CCMUA did not respond to a request for comment from southjersey.media. No Cherry Hill Township officials have publicly commented on the referendum.

Cherry Hill residents can weigh in by voting on the referendum Tuesday, November 3.