If approved by the voters, the expansion would cost the Lumberton tax payers $4 million dollars with the remaining $4 million being paid by the state of New Jersey. If approved, construction would begin in the Fall of 2006 so that the 15 additional classrooms would be available for the start of the 2007 school year.

The Board believes the addition is needed to keep pace with Lumberton's growing school population. Lumberton now has 1,800 students in grades K-8. Lumberton's K-8th grade student population has been growing by over 100 students for at least the last five years and is expected to continue to grow with the construction of 109 new three and four bedroom townhouses being built in County Estates off Earyestown Road.

Tax Re-Assessment: The township held a second informational session on the Tax Re-Assessment on January 20th. At the meeting the Tax Assessor, Dennis DeKlerk reiterated much of the same information about how the Re-Assessment will be conducted and the potential impact as he did during the December informational session. (See Lumberton E-News Dec. 12, 2004 for more details.)

One area where there is more information is on the potential for a shift in some of the tax burden from the commercial properties to the residential properties. It appears that the market-to-assessed ratios for these two primary categories of real estate, commercial and residential, are less out of balance then they were last year and look like they will be more closely aligned by October 2006 when the re-assessment values are set. The re-assessment will take effect in 2007. The chart below shows differences in the Assessed-to-Market Ratios over the past three years.

If there is a significant difference between the commercial and residential ratios, one result of the re-assessment will be a shift in some of the tax burden from commercial to residential properties. The large disparity in these ratios was one of the reasons the township committee decided to delay the re-assessment by one year last year. The township committee wanted to allow as much time as possible enable commercial and residential properties to re-align to minimize the adverse impact on homeowners.

Super Wal-Mart: Wal-Mart went in front of the Land Development Board in December with its plan to expand to a Super Wal-Mart. The session was lengthy and numerous questions were raised about the entrance way, the proximity to the townhouses under construction behind the proposed expansion, and truck parking on the side road. Wal-Mart sought Mount Holly's approval to put in a second entrance to the parking lot on the westbound side of the building which would run through Mount Holly. Mount Holly rejected the application. Wal-Mart now has to re-work their site plan and come before the Lumberton Land Development board again for approval. No date has been set.

Main Street Traffic Calming: In January, the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders approved a recommendation to lower the speed limit by 5 miles per hour on Main Street through Lumberton Village. There will have to be another speed survey on the road and the recommendation must be approved by the State Department of Transportation before it can be enacted.

The Greater Lumberton Business Association: Lumberton has started a Business Association. The goal of the group is to help get small business owners, aspiring entrepreneurs, the municipal government and community to communicate better and make Lumberton a better place to do business as well as attract new businesses. New members are welcome. The group meets the second Tuesday of each month from 4:30-6:00 PM in the Municipal Center.

Open Space Preservation: The Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders purchased 196 acres of farmland in Lumberton as part of the Burlington County Farmland Preservation Program. The farm is located at the Southampton border on both sides of Newbolds Corner. The county will extinguish the development rights on the land and re-sell the farm to a private owner. If developed, the farm had the capacity of supporting 49 single family homes. The county will ask Lumberton to share 20% of the cost that they will incur to ensure this property remains a farm forever and never developed.   Lumberton's share is expected to be about $300,000.

Agricultural Advisory Committee: The township has created an Agricultural Advisory Committee comprised of residents who are actively engaged in agriculture. The purpose of the committee will be to make recommendations to the township on how the township can make it easier for farmers to remain farmers and less likely to sell their land to developers. An Agriculture Advisory Committee is also a requirement to apply for a Farmland Preservation Planning Grant from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. The township is actively pursuing several programs and funding sources to preserve more open space. Over a 3-5 year period of time depending on the situation, it is cheaper to pay to preserve open space than it is to pay the additional education costs per student and the additional school construction costs that are required to support single family homes.

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