Montville Township registered voters may cast ballots in their respective fire district budget and fire commissioner elections next Saturday, Feb. 18.

Each district—Montville, Towaco and Pine Brook—has its own five-member Board of Fire Commissioners that creates budgets and collects taxes to support the volunteer fire departments.

Combined, they collect about $1.75 million a year in taxes, which are part of homeowners' property tax bills.

Montville Township is one of three municipalities in Morris County, along with Hanover and Parsippany, that has annual fire elections.

Voter turnout historically is low. The elections drew increased attention last year because voters rejected the proposed Towaco fire district budget for the first time in history.

(Public notices for the elections and the proposed budgets are attached.)

As a result, the spending plan went to the Township Committee for review. The Township Committee decided to cut the budget by $75,000, which coincided with the Towaco commissioners' plan to eliminate of the position of the district's full-time administrator, who made more than $80,000 a year and retired in June after serving in the position for 20 years.

Towaco was the only district with a full-time administrator, and that led some residents, including members of the Tea Party, to question the fire district system and what they said was a lack of transparency in the elections.

This year's proposed Towaco budget includes a tax levy of $646,620, an increase of 1.8 percent from the previous year. Its budget statement says debt service and the cost of providing services are the main reasons for changes in the budget.

The proposed tax levies in Montville and Pine Brook—$567,480 and $540,000, respectively—are the same as last year.

Incumbents are running unopposed for three-year seats on the fire boards. The ballots have room for write-in candidates.

The Candidates

• In Montville: Michael Caggiano and Carl Lewis.
• In Towaco: Richard D. Conklin and Scott N. Russell.
• In Pine Brook: Donald F. Hainzl.

Montville voters also will have their say on the proposed transfer of $100,000 from the fire district's general fund to a capital line item for the acquisition of fire apparatus, and on a plan to buy a replacement chief's vehicle and associated equipment for no more than $50,000 with those funds.

Voting locations:

• Fire District No. 1 (Montville): Montville Fire Department, 108 Main Road, Montville
• Fire District No. 2 (Towaco): Towaco Fire Department, 27 Whitehall Road, Towaco
• Fire District No. 3 (Pine Brook): Pine Brook Fire Department, 47 Bloomfield Ave., Pine Brook

Fire district numbers are on property tax statements, and the boundaries are described on the township website.