On August 23, 1972 the governing body of Washington Township adopted and ordinance that created the Washington Township Fire District No. 1. The territorial jurisdiction of the Fire District encompasses the entire Township of Washington.

The Fire District’s organizational chart appears below. The Board of Fire Commissioners oversees all aspects of the Fire District with District Fire Chief in charge of daily operations. The Fire District also employs a Business Administrator who is in charge of financial management. The Bureau of Fire Prevention is responsible for fire prevention education, fire investigation, and code enforcement. The Maintenance Division duties include the repair, testing, and preventative maintenance of all fire district owned vehicles and equipment.

The fire district’s three volunteer fire companies; Grenloch, Whitman Square, and Hurffville, supported by the career staff, are primarily responsible for the fire and rescue operations in the township. All active members of these fire companies are volunteer, including their respective company fire chiefs. They supply the necessary manpower at the scene of a fire or other emergency. The career staff is normally assigned to cover the fire service needs of Washington Township between the hours of 6:00 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday. This is the time period when most volunteer firefighters are unavailable to serve due to their regular full-time jobs.

Board of Fire Commissioners

All Fire Districts in the State of New Jersey are governed by statue. Fire District Statues are generally located in N.J.S.A. 40A:14-70 et seq. These statutes give fire districts taxing authority, regulate when and how fire district elections are to be conducted, and regulate their fiscal responsibilities, among other things. The Board of Fire Commissioners serves as the Fire Districts governing body and manages all operations. The length of a Fire Commissioner’s term is three years, and commissioners, as well as approval of the proposed annual budget, is conducted on the third Saturday in February, as mandated by New Jersey Statutes.

The current Fire Commissioners are:
Edwin Etschman- Chairman of the Board
Donald Brown- Vice-chairman
Chuck Zemski - Secretary
Mike Vinci - Treasurer
Linda Robertson

The Board of Fire Commissioners hold their meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30 p.m.. The meetings are held at the Washington Township Fire District Headquarters building located at 213 East Holly Avenue.

YOUR FIRE DISTRICT TAX DOLLARS

The following table will show your local property tax breakdown for the last eight years. The accompanying graph shows the property tax breakdown for 2007. The Fire District Tax for 2008 will be $0.195.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP FIRE DISTRICT 2008 BUDGET

The budget for the Washington Township Fire District as outlined below will raise the fire district tax rate by 1.3 cents. The Fire District tax rate will be 19.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. This is the first year that fire districts are subject to the state 4% cap levy.

Revenues:

Operating Appropriations:

Length of Service Awards Program

Operating Appropriations Offset With Revenues

Debt Service For Capital Appropriations

Any questions concerning items in this report should be directed to the District Fire Chief, John Hoffman, at 863-4000 between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The Board of Fire Commissioners holds a public meeting at 7:30 PM on the first Thursday of every month at the fire district office 213 East Holly Avenue. The Fire District mailing address is PO Box 653, Turnersville, NJ 08012.