Moorestown Voters OK Fire Budgets

Moorestown voters—admittedly, a scant percentage of Moorestown voters—easily passed fire budgets in both districts Saturday.

Moorestown has two fire districts. District 1 voters approved a budget that calls for $1.7 million to be raised through taxes and assesses a tax of 49¢ per $100 of assessed property value. The budget vote came in at 362-75.

District 1, who voted at Moorestown Fire Company, also approved the purchase of a brush vehicle with a cost not to exceed $100,000. The vote for that question came in at 325-15.

Meanwhile, incumbent Karl Shelley beat out newcomer Bradley Kenney, 310-162, for a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.

Over at District 2 polls at Lenola Fire Company, voters unanimously approved the budget 26-0. The budget called for raising $696,238 in tax revenue—an increase of $12,973 from this year’s budget. The new tax rate will increase a penny to 68¢ per $100 of assessed property value, costing the average taxpayer approximately $3.57 more. The increase is just under the 2 percent cap mandated by the state.

Incumbent Lawrence Niedermayer Sr. and William Wesolowski ran unopposed for the Board of Fire Commissioners and each had 25 votes.

All totals are unofficial until the results are certified.

Fire district elections are notorious for low turnout. This year, fewer than 500 of Moorestown’s approximately 14,000 registered voters turned out to the polls.