LITTLE EGG HARBOR – The Annual Fire District Election will be held on Feb. 17, 2018 where residents will have the chance to vote on any fire commissioners that are up for election as well as the 2018 budget for their fire district.
Little Egg Harbor Township has three fire districts, which all aim to “provide the highest level of fire protection and emergency assistance to the community of Little Egg Harbor, County of Ocean, and the State of New Jersey,” according to the Fire District #1 website.
Each district maintains its own budget and has its own Board of Fire Commissioners that act on three-year terms.
Fire District #1
The budget for Fire District #1 is $613,117, with $145,250 to be allocated for capital appropriations. Almost the entire total, $612,967, would be raised by taxation.
The proposed 2018 budget for district #1 would increase by approximately $19,800 from 2017. The budget from 2017 was $593,366, with an amount of $593,266 raised by taxation.
This increase is due to increased spending on office expenses by $2,500, uniforms and gear by $2,000, training and education, and non-bondable replacement equipment, according to district documents.
These added expenses would increase the amount raised by taxation by approximately $19,700, increasing the tax rate from 6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2017, to 6.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2018.
Fire District #2
Attempts to obtain budget figures for Fire District #2 were unsuccessful as of print time.
Fire District #3
The budget for Fire District #3 is $473,044, with $446,000 to be raised by taxation.
The proposed 2018 budget would increase by $6,100 from 2017. The budget from 2017 was $466,944, with an amount of $433,000 raised by taxation.
There would be no significant increase or decrease in budgeted items, and the total debt service would remain the same from 2017 to 2018 for district #3.
The amount raised by taxation would increase by $13,000 from 2017, taking the tax rate from 9.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2017, to 9.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2018.
