VOTERS in Upper Freehold Township passed a bond question this month that will raise an additional $264,000 annually to preserve farmland in their Monmouth County community.
Or did they?
It turns out the ballots were misprinted. Instead of asking if voters wanted to pay an additional $.02 per $100 of assessed value 2 cents the amount printed on ballots was .02¢.
The error was brought to light by a resident, Walter Helfrecht, at the Nov. 1 town meeting five days before the election and too late for a reprint.
Im an engineer and I pay attention to detail, said Mr. Helfrecht, who said he still voted for the ballot measure, which passed, 962 to 899.
When I brought it up, everyones jaw dropped, he said.
The towns plan was to issue a bond of about $2.5 million for farmland preservation and use the money raised by the ballot question to make the annual payments of about $264,000, said Barbara Bascom, the township administrator. A .02-cent assessment, on the other hand, would bring in only $2,640 a year.
Even when the township committee passed the resolution authorizing the bond question on Aug. 16, that erroneous cent sign was in place. The bond questions explanatory statement was also wrong. It said that if the measure was rejected, the towns open space tax levy would remain at .04¢ not the correct amount, 4 cents.
This must have been reviewed by all five township committeemen three or four times, Mrs. Bascom said. She said she and the town attorney, Granville D. Magee, also repeatedly examined it. If Mr. Helfrecht had not raised the matter at the Nov. 1 meeting, I dont think anyone would have noticed it, she said.
The town will discuss the options at its next meeting, on Thursday, including whether it can levy the 2-cent tax that was intended, Mrs. Bascom said.
The people of this municipality very clearly knew that we were looking for 2 cents because it was mostly at the request of the public that we put it on the ballot, she said, noting that numerous local news stories leading up to the vote referred to 2 cents.
According to the State Division of Elections, if the township decides to levy the 2-cent tax, a resident could file a challenge in State Superior Court within 30 days of the election, said David Wald, a division spokesman.
Penny M. Venetis, a Rutgers law professor, said the town could run into trouble if it unilaterally decided to levy the 2 cents. They would really need to hold a special election to fix it, she said.
Ms. Venetis said that in addition to taking the expensive and time-consuming step of suing to invalidate the amount if the town levies the 2 cents, residents could refuse to pay the larger levy, shelling out only the .02 cents that was technically approved.
The Monmouth County clerk of elections, Bertha Sumick, said she assumed the town would be bound by what was printed, but thats why attorneys get into it.
Rita Marie Fulginiti, vice president of the statewide organization that represents county clerks, said errors were quite common, recalling mistakes like spelling problems and incorrect Spanish translations. Its generally caught with the absentee ballots, which are mailed out 40 days before the general election, said Mrs. Fulginiti, who is also the Cape May County clerk.
Upper Freehold has a long history of farmland and open space preservation. About 42 percent of the land in the 48-square-mile township is preserved in some manner, Mrs. Bascom said.
The people in the municipality have always been very supportive because they basically want this area to stay rural, she said.
Mr. Helfrecht, whose sharp eyes caught the error, said he was frustrated that so many officials missed such a key mistake. If the town winds up putting the measure to another vote, he said, he will keep his eyes peeled.
They better be careful next time, he said. Ill put my two cents in again if they mess it up a second time.
