John Tredrea

By: centraljersey.com
Fire district budgets all three Hopewell Valley towns passed easily Saturday.
Separate ballot questions also passed by wide margins.
Voter turnout was extremely light as it has been annually since fire districts were instituted in Hopewell Township, Pennington Borough and Hopewell Borough in 1987. All candidates for the Valley’s three fire commissions ran unopposed this year.
Hopewell Township’s 2011 fire district budget of $2,915,099 was approved 167-81. It will bring a fire tax rate of 6 cents per $100 of assessed property value, a 1/2-cent increase from last year. For the owner of a home assessed at $500,000, that means a $300 annual fire tax bill this year.
Approved 183-68 was the township’s separate ballot question that asked for $421,535 for sets of self-containing breathing apparatus for firefighters. SCBAs give firefighters a source of oxygen during fires in which they would not be able to breathe on their own due to lack of oxygen. Oxygen is in tanks firefighters carry on their backs.
Incumbents Donald Kintzel and Joseph Lenarski were re-elected to three-year terms on the township Board of Fire Commissioners with 187 and 209 votes, respectively. The fire budgets of both Pennington and Hopewell Borough passed unanimously as did two separate ballot questions in Hopewell Borough.
Hopewell Borough’s $159,354 fire budget passed 32-0. It will bring a fire tax rate of 4 1/2 cents, the same as last year. Incumbents Donald Reichman and David Anderson were re-elected to the borough fire commission with 32 and 31 votes, respectively. Steve Webb received one write-in vote.
For the owner of a borough home assessed at $500,000, approval of the budget translates to a fire tax bill of $225 for 2011.
Also passed 32-0 were two ballot questions, one asking for $46,500 for SCBAs, the other asking $114,000 for a new tanker truck to replace one in service for 21 years.
Fire officials of both the township and Hopewell Borough said approval of the separate ballot questions in their respective towns will have no impact on this year’s tax rates. This is because none of the money involved would be spent until 2012 at the earliest, they said. It then would be spent over a period of five to seven years. The impact on the fire tax rate each year would, thus, be a small fraction of one cent, the officials said.
Pennington’s fire budget of $147,771 was approved 22-0 and will bring a fire tax rate of 3 cents, the same as last year. For the owner of a home assessed at $500,000, that would mean a total fire tax of $150 in 2011.
Re-elected to three year terms on the fire commission were Mark Blackwell and William Meytrott with 20 and 17 votes, respectively. Charles Marciante received two write-in votes.