HOWELL – The annual Fire District election will be held on Feb. 16, 2019. Howell Township is home to five fire districts including: Fire District No. 1 Squankum, Fire District No. 2 Adelphia, Fire District No. 3 Southard, Fire District No. 4 Ramtown, and Fire District No. 5 Freewood Acres.
Residents will be voting on their district’s budget and for any individuals running for a three-year term on the Board of Fire Commissioners.
Fire District No. 1
The proposed 2019 budget for Fire District No. 1 Squankum would be $1,085,211, with $1,054,711 to be raised by taxation.
The 2019 budget would decrease by $112,043, or 9.4 percent from 2018. The 2018 adopted budget was $1,197,254, with $1,046,754 raised by taxation.
The decrease is due primarily to less capital appropriations because there is less need for equipment, according to the district. The 2019 budget would allocate $40,000 for capital appropriations, which would be used as funding for a generator. This is a 73.3 percent decrease from 2018’s $150,000 for capital appropriations.
There is no debt service for 2019.
The amount raised by taxation for 2019 would increase by $7,957, or 8 percent, from 2018. The tax rate would remain the same at 28 cents per $100 of assessed valuation from 2018 to 2019.
Fire District No. 2
The 2019 budget for Fire District No. 2 Adelphia would be $1,787,200, with $1,100,000 to be raised by taxation.
The 2019 budget would increase by $397,500 from 2018. The 2018 budget was $1,389,700, with $110,000 allocated for capitol appropriations and $1,100,000 raised by taxation.
This proposed budget would be offset by $330,000 from capital reserve for new radios, and $357,200 from surplus, according to Treasurer George Patten.
Patten confirmed that on the ballot for Fire District No. 2 Board of Fire Commissioners are incumbents Dr. Harry Carter, chairman, Thomas Ward, vice chairman, and newcomer Robert Tice.
Fire District No. 3
Attempts to obtain budget figures for Fire District No. 3 Southard were unsuccessful as of print time.
Fire District No. 4
The 2019 budget for Fire District No. 4 Ramtown would be $973,500, with $200,000 allocated for capital appropriations and $865,829 to be raised by taxation.
The 2019 budget would decrease $47,500 from 2018. The 2018 budget was $1,021,000, with $843,651 raised by taxation.
The 2019 tax rate would decrease from 8.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2018 to 7.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
District No. 4 has no outstanding debt for 2019.
Fire District No. 5
Attempts to obtain budget figures for Fire District No. 5 Freewood Acres were unsuccessful as of print time.
