At a special meeting on July 29, 2026, the Board of Fire Commissioners of Fire District No. 1 in the Township of Toms River adopted a resolution “calling for a special election on September 29, 2026,” according to the July 29 minutes. The minutes record the resolution was moved by Commissioner Tutela, seconded by Commissioner Goresh, and carried on a roll call of Tutela yes, Krohn yes, Cirz yes, Goresh yes and Roman yes.
The proposal put to voters asks whether the board may purchase a ladder truck and related apparatus to be housed at Station 25; two fire engines and related apparatus for Stations 26 and 28; an Emergency Vehicle Preemption System — equipment that lets emergency vehicles control traffic signals as they approach — to replace older units district-wide; and two Emergency Rescue Vehicles for Stations 27 and 28. The resolution says the older apparatus “will be traded in or sold.” It also asks whether the district may “issue bonds or bond anticipation notes” — short-term borrowing that is later repaid or replaced by longer-term bonds — to finance all or part of those purchases “in the amount not to exceed $6,068,000 for a term not to exceed eighteen (18) years.”
Earlier in the same meeting the board adopted a separate resolution authorizing an application to the state Local Finance Board under New Jersey Statutes Annotated (N.J.S.A.) 40A:5A-6. The minutes record the roll call as Tutela yes, Krohn yes, Cirz yes, Goresh yes and Roman yes, and the resolution carried. The Local Finance Board, part of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, reviews certain local government borrowing; the election resolution says the district adopts the proposal “subject to the approval of the Local Finance Board.”
A New Jersey fire district raises its money through a property tax levied within its own boundaries, so repayment of any bonds issued would fall on property owners inside District No. 1 for as long as 18 years. Neither the resolutions nor the minutes state an estimated tax impact or an annual repayment figure. The application resolution records the board’s own view that the amounts to be spent “are not unreasonable or exorbitant” and that the proposal “will not create an undue financial burden.”
The July 6, 2026 minutes show the board scheduled the July 29 special meeting after Erica Lonieski, whom the board named the district’s chief financial officer later in that same meeting, told commissioners a special meeting would be needed to move forward with a bond.
The resolution directs the district clerk to post notice of the election in ten public places at least 21 days before the vote. The vote is now set for Tuesday, December 8, 2026, with polls open from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., according to a Notice of Special Election uploaded to the district’s website on September 16, 2026. The notice lists the same four purchases and the same financing item, with the same $6,068,000 limit and 18-year term, as the July 29 resolution. One item is worded differently: the rescue-vehicle purchase changes from “to include any upfitting” to “and any excess upfitting,” and gives the vehicles’ locations by street address (“629 Fisher Boulevard, Toms River” and “40 Kittiwake Avenue, Lavallette”) rather than as Stations 27 and 28. Voters are assigned by election district to one of three places: Toms River Fire Company No. 2, 45 W. Water St., Toms River; Ocean Beach Fire Company, 40 Kittiwake Ave., Lavallette; and East Dover Fire Company, 629 Fischer Blvd., Toms River.
The agenda for the board’s September 2, 2026 meeting lists a “Resolution Special Election for December 8, 2026/Bonding” under new business. The district’s 2026 minutes page did not include minutes of the August 5 or September 2 meetings as of October 4, 2026, so the posted records do not yet show the vote on that resolution or state why the date changed. The district’s page for the 2026 bonding election links only the December 8 notice, the ballot question and a letter to residents, and lists no September 29 result. This article will be updated when those minutes or an election result are posted.