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HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Here is what Hillsborough Township voters need to know before they hit the polls.

Township Committee

There are four candidates running for two, three-year seats on the Township Committee:

Hillsborough Township Board of Education

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

There are four candidates running for the three, three-year full-term seats up for grabs on the BOE:

Hillsborough School District Referendum

Hillsborough voters will also be asked to vote on two proposals by the Hillsborough Board of Education. Read More: Hillsborough Asked To Spend $2.8M For School Security, Add Staffing

Proposal 1: The first proposal is seeking $934,636 in additional funds to be used exclusively to create a security department, including salaries and other compensation, benefits, uniforms, and supplies for a supervisor and nine security officers.

This would add 1 unarmed building monitor at every school and 1 person in charge of all school safety and security efforts.

Approval of these taxes will result in a permanent increase in the district’s tax levy. These proposed additional expenditures are in addition to those necessary to achieve the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.

Proposal 2: The second proposal is seeking an additional $1,901,880 in funds to be be used exclusively to hire 20 additional staff for the purpose of reducing class sizes and adding program offerings, interventionists, and mental health supports, and will include salaries, benefits, and classroom supplies.

Approval of these taxes will result in a permanent increase in the district’s tax levy. These proposed additional expenditures are in addition to those necessary to achieve the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.

Somerset County Board of County Commissioners

New Jersey Legislative District 16 Senate

New Jersey Legislative District 16 Assembly

Early Voting: Oct. 28 - Nov. 5

In-person voting at six locations throughout Somerset County will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday during this period. Votes cast during early voting are considered complete, and there will not be an opportunity to amend them.

Eligible voters who have not requested a mail-in ballot may cast their vote during this period at any of the following locations:

Election Day: The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 7 with polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Vote In-Person On Election Day

Dropbox:

Located at the Hillsborough Municipal Building, 379 South Branch Road, Hillsborough.

The boxes are all outside and under surveillance 24/7. They resemble a USPS Blue Mailbox, but are Red, White & Blue and display "Somerset County – Official Ballot Drop Box." Boxes will be available for ballot drop off 24 hours daily from Sept. 22 until 8 p.m. Election Night Nov. 7.

Have a news tip? Email [email protected].

The sentencing of the Hillsborough school district's former director of building and grounds on a charge of stealing $137,800 from the district has been adjourned.

No new date has been set for the sentencing of Anthony DeLuca who pleaded guilty Jan. 25 in federal court to the false overtime scheme. DeLuca had been scheduled to be sentenced on June 1.

DeLuca, who will be sentenced by federal court Judge Peter Sheridan, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

DeLuca is free on $50,000 bail.

The charge also alleges that DeLuca paid thousands of dollars in kickbacks to an unidentified individual for helping him submit those claims.

That unidentified individual is labeled as a co-conspirator and is not charged in the court document.

DeLuca has agreed to make full restitution to the school district.

DeLuca was promoted to the director position in July 2019. That position was created at the urging of the unidentified individual, according to court papers.

DeLuca and the unidentified individual signed the contract which called for him to receive an annual salary of $120,000.

The contract said DeLuca was not entitled to overtime, but the two schemed for DeLuca to submit overtime claims that the unidentified individual would approve so the two could split the money, according to court papers.

Shortly after DeLuca was promoted, the two agreed that the unidentified individual would assign overtime work to DeLuca though his contract had no overtime provisions, court papers say.

In addition, DeLuca and the unidentified individual agreed that DeLuca would submit overtime claims for work he had not performed, according to court papers.

More:Route 206 project in Hillsborough in doubt after NJ fires contractor

For example, the unidentified individual would tell DeLuca how many overtime hours he should fraudulently claim, which court papers say, "substantially" exceeded any overtime work that DeLuca had actually done.

After DeLuca got paid, the charge says, he would withdraw the unidentified individual's share in cash, place it in an envelope and travel to either his office or vehicle to deliver it.

DeLuca received text messages from the unidentified individual with instructions how to deliver the cash.

From July 2019 to January 2022, DeLuca received about $137,000 in overtime and paid thousands to the co-conspirator, court papers say.

In January 2022, then-Superintendent of Schools Lisa Antunes took a leave of absence soon after the resignation of former Business Administrator Aiman Mahmoud in December 2021, during an investigation into school finances by the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

In December 2021, Antunes's leave began two days after Mahmoud resigned. Mahmoud served as business administrator since January 2008. After a four-month leave of absence, Antunes resigned in April.

It's second time in less than a decade that the school district has been hit with a financial scandal.

In 2018, former Hillsborough High School Athletic Director Michael Fanizzi was charged with stealing ticket proceeds from athletic events over a five-year period.

Aa three-month investigation found that Fanizzi received reimbursement checks from the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) between 2013 and 2017 while employed as athletic director.

The checks were intended to be deposited into the Hillsborough Board of Education account as reimbursement for high school athletic event services.

Fanizzi deposited the NJSIAA checks into the athletic department’s bank account in place of cash ticket sales, and allegedly kept portions of the cash proceeds which were generated from the events.

The investigation revealed $10,704 of unaccounted cash was missing from the athletic department.

Fanizzi was accepted into a pre-trial intervention program on the condition he make full restitution to the school district.

Email: [email protected]

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Now that the two referendum questions have successfully passed in Hillsborough, Superintendent Michael Volpe is gearing up to start putting things in motion.

At the Monday night Board of Education meeting Volpe announced new hires and a supplemental tax bill coming to residents.

"I am looking to make some hires starting on the next agenda. I am very excited to start following through on what we had said to the taxpayers of Hillsborough," said Volpe.

One of the hires will include a candidate for the school district's safety operations who will then help Volpe hire Building Monitors.

"We are moving quickly on that," said Volpe.

In total the district will be hiring for the added school security for positions - 9 Building Monitors and Coordinator of School Security Operations. To apply or for more information click here.

The district is also looking at hiring more teachers now. He noted that it can be hard to find candidates in the middle of the school year and encouraged people to apply.

Additionally, since the hires will me made this year Volpe said funds will need to be collected this year.

The Township will be sending out, on the school's behalf, a supplemental tax bill to the taxpayers that will be due for the Feb. 1 and May 1 payments.

"Those are the only supplemental tax bills you will have to deal with in reference to the referendum," said Volpe. "In the future, it will be included in your regular tax bill."

The supplemental tax bills are expected to arrive to Hillsborough Township and Millstone residents by the end of December.

The district also shared some more information on Supplemental Tax Bills in a FAQ for residents:

A supplemental tax assessment calculates additional taxes owed on an existing tax bill. Hillsborough and Millstone taxpayers will receive a supplemental tax bill associated with the approved referendum questions as these funds are being used during the 2023-24 school year. The school district is hiring personnel this school year based on the successful referendum.

Due to the successful referendum, a supplemental tax bill will come from the Township to residents at the end of December 2023. Later, the Township will then release funds collected to the school district. The Township works with the County Tax Assessor, not the school district, as to a timeline and how the supplemental taxes will be collected. Again, the supplemental tax bill should be mailed to you in late December from the Township. The Township is only acting as the conduit to collect the taxes for the school district, as per law.

The amount of the supplemental tax supporting the referendum questions will be equally divided and collected with the February 1st and May 1st normal due dates for tax payments. However, there will be two payments on each date. One for the normal tax bill and one for the newly created supplemental tax bill. The supplemental tax bill is due to the successful school referendum passed by the voters and not any Township initiatives.

The Board and Volpe also reminded residents that Friday, Dec. 15 is the last day to fill out the district-wide survey, which is part of the Strategic Planning process launched this year.

The survey is open to employees, parents, students, and community members without students in the schools.

These survey results will be analyzed by the Board of Education and be used as a first step in setting priorities for the next 3-5 years. The link for the survey can be found here: https://hyasurvey.com/hillsborough

Have a news tip? Email [email protected].

Hillsborough residents and elected officials have been fighting a multitude of proposals to build warehouses in the township.Photo Credit: Rod Hirsch/TAPinto File Photo

By Michelle Peal

PublishedNovember 26, 2023 at 6:39 PM

TRENTON, NJ – Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) has introduced legislation to address the ongoing issue of warehouse sprawl throughout New Jersey.

Assembly bill A5802 would establish a $1 million pilot program in the Office of Planning Advocacy (OPA) to reimburse municipalities for expenditures related to reexamining and updating municipal zoning ordinances concerning warehouse development or conducting a warehouse mitigation study.

Hillsborough recently updated its land use laws to ban construction of warehouse buildings in certain areas of the township.

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This bill builds on the warehouse guidance provided by OPA and ensures that municipalities have the tools to responsibly site warehouse development. It also directs OPA to create one or more model zoning ordinances detailing different regulatory options for the siting of warehouses to help communities avoid negative impacts such as increased traffic volume, wear on infrastructure, increased storm water runoff, deceased public health, or any other impact category determined by the office.

“Right now the Office of Planning Advocacy can offer warehouse guidance to municipalities, but it does not have the associated resources to help communities reexamine relevant plans and ordinances,” Danielsen said. “This pilot program will provide municipalities with the proper resources to adapt their land use policies to account for significant increases in warehouse development throughout the state and mitigate potential impacts on their environment and community.”

The pilot program would provide grant funding to reimburse a municipality for:

- A reexamination of the municipality’s master plan and adoption of a zoning ordinance consistent with OPA’s guidance on warehouse development

- A mitigation study on the potential effects of pending warehouse development site plan applications and, regardless of the results of the mitigation study, adoption of a zoning ordinance consistent with OPA’s guidance on warehouse development

“We support this legislation because warehouse projects should not come at the cost of clean air, public health or severe flooding,” said Katie Perrone, Policy Assistant, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. “Warehouses are being sited in places that just don’t make sense–such as near schools, on farmland, in beloved green spaces, in communities already suffering from air pollution, and in places where there are already flooding concerns from overdevelopment.”

“Communities across the state have outdated municipal zoning ordinances and master plans, especially when it comes to ensuring responsible warehouse placement,” said Zoe Baldwin, NJ Director, Regional Plan Association. “This pilot program would provide critical resources to local governments that will facilitate smart land use decisions, and ultimately reduce the impact of these facilities on our communities.”

"This legislation is a good first step to address warehouse sprawl," said Tom Gilbert, Co-Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation. "Without proper planning, warehouse development will continue to result in the loss of important farmland and open spaces, and add to already poor air quality in overburdened communities."

"We are excited to see the legislature take this first step toward the siting of warehouses by providing funding to municipalities to reexamine how they zone warehouse development,” said Sabrina Rodriguez, Advocacy and Government Affairs Manager, New Jersey Future. “When poorly sited, warehouses can undermine the quality of life, public health, the environment, and the economy. This will be an excellent precursor to upcoming legislative efforts that will make for a more transparent and regionally relevant process."

Danielson and supporters hope this bill will provide municipalities with the proper resources to adapt their land use policies to account for significant increases in warehouse development throughout the state and mitigate potential impacts on their environment and community.

Four lucky winners were chosen including a Grand Prize winner as part of Hillsborough's "My House is LIT" House Decorating Contest.

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — A Hillsborough home has been crowned as the best decorated for the holidays this year.

As part of the township’s annual "My House is LIT" House Decorating Contest, several winners were honored for their festive yards, the Hillsborough Parks & Recreation announced on Tuesday.

The 2023 winners are:

"We would like to thank all of the participants," said Hillsborough Parks & Recreation. "We also extend a special THANK YOU to all of our sponsors for this contest Bella Pizza Hillsborough NJ, Norz Hill Farm & Market, Primrose School of Hillsborough, The Ice House NJ, Flounder Brewing."

You can view a Google Maps directory of all the submitted homes in Hillsborough below and also by clicking here.