MANALAPAN — Residents of Manalapan’s two fire districts approved a tax levy for 2009 to support the operating budget of each fire district. The fire district vote was held Feb. 21.
Fire District No. 1 covers the north side of Manalapan and is served by the Gordons Corner Fire Company, headquartered on Tennent Road. Fire District No. 1 has no paid firefighters. There are about 65 volunteer members of the fire company.
Voters approved a tax levy of $1,140,116 to support the fire district’s total budget of $1,385,236 for 2009. The result was 269 yes votes to 44 no votes.
The tax rate for Fire District No. 1 will decrease from 3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 2.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That means the amount of property taxes the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay in fire taxes will be approximately $116 in 2009, down from $120 in 2008.
Residents re-elected Michael DeAngelis and Kenneth Kelly to three-year terms on the Board of Fire Commissioners. Kelly received 270 votes and DeAngelis received 244 votes.
The other candidates were Joseph Cuccia (38 votes), Gerald Russin (25 votes) and Michael Wilson (20 votes). Matt Haran received one write-in vote. A total of 308 people voted in Fire District No. 1.
Fire District No. 2 covers the south side of Manalapan and is served by the Manalapan Township Fire Company No. 1, headquartered on Sweetmans Lane. Fire District No. 2 has no paid firefighters. There are about 35 volunteer members of the fire company.
A total of 52 people voted in the election (48 at the firehouse and four absentee ballots).
Voters approved a tax levy of $974,614 to support the fire district’s total budget of $1,124,139 for 2009. The result was 42 yes votes to 8 no votes.
The tax rate for Fire District No. 2 will increase from 3.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to 4.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That means the amount of property taxes the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay in fire taxes will be approximately $164 in 2009, up from $156 in 2008.
Residents elected Joseph Spevak and Timothy Kirkland to the Fire District 2 Board of Fire Commissioners for three-year terms. Both men were already on the board and they were the only individuals seeking election. Kirkland received 51 votes and Spevak received 50 votes.
Kelly provided the results for Fire District No. 1 and Spevak provided the results for Fire District No. 2.