COURT HOUSE – The county’s four townships will be hosting annual fire district elections Feb. 18. In each case, voters will be asked to choose who should hold fire commission seats where the term for that seat has ended and to approve the 2023 budget and tax levy for the district.
New Jersey law authorizes municipalities to establish a territory within the municipality as a fire district. That district is then governed by a five-member board of fire commissioners elected by the legal voters of that district. The district submits its budget to the voters in the same election in which the commissioners are chosen. The district strikes a tax based on that budget for the property owners within the territory.
The fire district has ultimate responsibility for fire prevention and suppression within its territory and often will meet that responsibility through contract with a local volunteer fire company that is a separate entity with its own officers.
Cape May County makes use of the fire district statutes in each of its four townships. Frequently, the number of voters who participate in the fire district elections is a small percentage of those eligible to do so.
In 2022, the three fire districts in Dennis Township had a combined total of 166 voters cast ballots. The highest vote total was in Lower Township, the county’s most populous municipality, where 569 voters exercised their rights in the township’s three fire districts.
For 2023, the four townships have a total of 14 fire districts with elections.
Dennis Township
Dennis Township has three fire districts. In each case in 2023, the only candidates on the ballot are incumbents seeking reelection as fire commissioners. They are all running unopposed, except for potential write-in ballots. Each seat up for election is for a full term of three years.
In Fire District No. 1, Ocean View, there is one seat on the commission before the voters and one candidate on the ballot. Robert Clayton seeks reelection. The budget up for a vote is $455,000.
In Fire District No. 2, Dennisville, two full-term seats on the commission are up for election. There are only two candidates on the ballot, with current Commissioners Clifford Lockwood and Bruce Knoll Jr. seeking reelection. The budget presented to the voters is $358,000.
Dennis Township’s Fire District No. 3, Belleplain, has two seats on the commission up for a vote, with Milton Kern and Oliver Twist III each asking for another three-year term. The budget on the ballot is $195,075.
Lower Township
Lower Township has three fire districts. Again, only candidates who are existing commissioners filed petitions and are on the ballot for reelection, with each seat for a full term of three years.
In Fire District No. 1, Villas, there are two seats up for the voters, with Joseph Wareham and William Howard seeking reelection. The budget presented to the voters is $724,264, with $606,200 expected from taxation.
In Fire District No. 2, Town Bank, there are two seats on the ballot, with R. Scott Brown and Charles J. Prendergast Jr. asking for another term. The budget proposed is $1,343,032, with $1,051,000 from taxation.
In Fire District No. 3, Erma, two incumbents, Robert Sweeten and Steven Douglas, are the only candidates on the ballot for new, three-year terms. The budget up for approval is $1,023,457, with $868,201 expected from the fire tax.
Middle Township
There are four fire districts in Middle Township, with Fire District No. 1 having two locations.
In Fire District No. 1, Court House and Swainton, one spot on the commission is up for a full, three-year-term vote. Michael R. McNulty is seeking reelection. The budget being presented to the voters for approval is $1,471,006.
In Fire District No. 2, Rio Grande, there are two seats available, with three candidates on the ballot. Robert W. Zimmerman and Conrad Johnson Jr. are seeking reelection, with Kirby Stiltner Jr. challenging them for a seat. Stiltner ran for the commission in 2022 but failed to win a spot on the board. The budget is $753,892.
In Fire District No. 3, Green Creek, one full-term spot is up for election, with only one candidate, David A. Zeiss, asking for reelection. The budget presented is $559,369.
Middle’s Fire District No. 4, North Goshen, has one seat up for election to a full-term, with Cynthia Gorman asking to be returned to the commission board. The budget is $238,444.
Upper Township
There are four fire districts in Upper Township.
Fire District No. 1, Strathmere, has one candidate listed for one three-year term that is open. Scott Oliver would be new to the board, if elected. The budget presented to the voters is the smallest of all the county fire districts at $104,326.
Fire District No. 2, Tuckahoe, also has only one spot up for a vote, with Justin Hope seeking a seat on the board. Hope is not a sitting commissioner. The budget for approval is $542,800.
The fire district is also asking the voters to approve a capital plan of $30,000 per year for five years, totaling $150,000 outside the normal operating budget.
Fire District No. 3, Marmora, shows two current commissioners seeking reelection to the two open spots on the board. Scott Douglas Snyder Jr. and Paul Edwin Hoster hope to be returned to the board for new, full, three-year terms.
In addition, the fire district has a one-year term spot up for election. Here, Sean William Whelan, who was appointed to an unexpired term on the board last year, must now seek voter approval for the one remaining year on that term. He is challenged by Joshua Matthew Kooker, who would be new to the board, if elected. The budget proposed is $743,333.
Fire District No. 4, Seaville, has one full-term, three-year spot up for election, with current Commissioner Donald Fancher seeking reelection. The budget is for $612,080, with $512,080 to come from taxation.
Thoughts? Questions? Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
