Taxes

The Township Council on April 14 extended leases it holds with a township resident on several pieces of farmland. The leases were renewed with George Manioudakis. The first parcel is 25 tillable acres on a 78-acre lot at South Middlebush and Suydam roads. The one-year lease is for $35 a tillable acre, or $1,325. The lease was originally awarded in 2012. …

The Township Council April 14 gave its final blessing to a $57.2 million spending plan for 2015. The budget is powered by a $37,388,103 tax levy, up about $1.1 million from the 2014 tax levy. That translates to a 3 percent tax hike, which means the owner of a residential property assessed at the township’s average – $306,000 – will …

Updated: Here are the candidates for the open Board of Education seat: John Kinghorn, Weston Road Laurie Merris, Wilson Road Joshua Ruszkiewicz, Fir Court Richard Seamon, Rue Chagall C. Kelly Zehr, Ari Drive. The candidates will be interviewed by the board during a special meeting at 7 p.m. on April 13. Original story: Applications for the Board of Education seat vacated by Richard Arline are …

A plan that would temporarily close New Brunswick Road to replace an aging bridge was endorsed March 10 by the Township Council. The council voted to push the “preliminary preferred plan” to replace the Al’s Brook bridge, which carries New Brunswick Road close to the Cedar Grove Lane intersection. The bridge, which was built around 1979, needs a replacement of …

Hikes in stipends for two of the township’s four fire districts were approved March 10 by the Township Council. Fire districts have their own budgets, but the council must approve some items, such as commissioners’ stipends. Commissioners in Fire District 1 received $1,000 increases, from $5,000 for commissioners and $6,500 for the chairman to $6,000 for commissioners and $7,500 for …

Township police may one day wear body cameras, Police Chief Lawrence Roberts said March 10. The chief, speaking to the Township Council, said he is researching body cams for the department. “We’re going to look into it,” he said later. “It’s a big expense, so I don’t know what direction we’re going to go yet.” The issue of police wearing …

Two leases with township farmers were extended Feb. 24 by the Township Council. The council voted to approve the second of two one-year extensions to Albert Puchalek for Catalpa Farm on Old Vliet Road. The farmland consists of 50 acres, with a fee of $51.25 per acre, or $2,562.50 for the year. The council and Puchalek originally entered into a …

Update: The budget was introduced at the March 10 Township Council meeting. A public hearing has been set for April 14. Original Story: The $57.2 million township budget expected to be introduced next month will carry with it a 3 percent hike in the amount to be raised by taxes, the Township Council was told Feb. 24. Based on that …

Members of the township Open Space Advisory Committee are willing to shoulder some of the cost of laborers to help maintain township parks, but they want the township to chip in, too. The committee on Feb. 17 voted down a suggestion from the Township Committee that it shoulder the entire $100,000 cost of two new laborers in the Department of …

The township’s payroll could grow by eight more positions this year, based on requests made at the Township Council’s second budget hearing on Feb. 12. Department heads presenting their budgets to the council also made requests for trucks, technology and other capital items during the four-hour hearing. In a process begun on Feb. 9, the council heard from seven department …