Editing Chester Township, New Jersey (section)

=== Local government ===
In 1958, Chester Township changed its form of government from the [[Township (New Jersey)|Township]] form to a [[Faulkner Act]] form, [[Faulkner Act (small municipality)|Small Municipality]], Plan C. The township is one of 18 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government, which is available to municipalities with fewer than 12,000 residents at the time of adoption.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the mayor and four councilmembers, all elected [[at-large]] for three-year terms on a staggered basis as part of the November general election, with two seats coming up for election in consecutive years followed by the mayoral seat in the third year of the cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 110.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=14 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 14. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The candidates run on a partisan basis at regular primary and general election times. Independent candidates, having declared their intentions at primary time, run only in the general election.

Chester Township's form of government features a [[strong mayor]], who acts as the township's executive, overseeing the creation of a budget, preparing an annual financial report and the enforcement of state and local laws, and is responsible for hiring most township officials (with approval of the Council). The Council, which is the township's legislative body, selects one of its members to serve as president to preside when the mayor is not present. The mayor participates and votes in Council sessions and makes committee assignments to Councilmembers. The mayor and a member of the Council serve on the Planning Board.

{{As of|2024}}, the [[Mayor]] of Chester Township is [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Timothy Drag<ref name=Mayor>[http://chestertownship.org/index.php/government/mayors-page Mayor's Page], Chester Township. Accessed April 26, 2023.</ref> Members of the Chester Township Council are Joseph DiPaolo (R, 2023), Tara Schellhorn (R, 2023), Timothy Russell (R, 2024) and Veronica Heinlein Wood (R, 2024).<ref name=Officials>[http://chestertownship.org/index.php/government/town-council Town Council], Chester Township. Accessed April 26, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i-BEINnbXP54j2qgg3ZbHHLUPmvDdACb 2022 Municipal Data Sheet], Chester Township. Accessed August 17, 2022.</ref><ref name=MorrisManual>[https://www.morriscountyclerk.org/files/sharedassets/clerk/v/3/manual/mc-manual-2024-web-040924.pdf#page=30 ''Morris County Manual 2024''], [[Morris County, New Jersey]] Clerk. Accessed May 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=MorrisOfficials>[https://www.morriscountyclerk.org/files/sharedassets/clerk/v/9/elections/2024-municipal-elected-officials-032224.pdf ''Morris County Municipal Elected Officials For The Year 2024''], [[Morris County, New Jersey]] Clerk, updated March 20, 2024. Accessed May 1, 2024.</ref><ref name=Morris2022>[https://www.morriscountyclerk.org/files/sharedassets/clerk/elections/past-results/2022-general-municipality-report-official.pdf General Election November 8, 2022, Official Results], [[Morris County, New Jersey]], updated November 28, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=Morris2021>[https://www.morriscountyclerk.org/files/sharedassets/clerk/elections/past-results/2021-general-winners-121421.pdf General Election Winners For November 2, 2021], [[Morris County, New Jersey]] Clerk. Accessed January 1, 2022.</ref><ref name=Morris2019>[https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/NJ/Morris/98870/web/#/summary General Election November 5, 2019, Official Results], [[Morris County, New Jersey]], updated November 15, 2019. Accessed January 31, 2020.</ref>

==== Merger discussion with Chester Borough ====
In 2007, New Jersey Governor [[Jon Corzine]] created incentives for municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants to combine with other communities. The goal was to reduce the overall cost of government and thereby offer some tax relief. "New Jersey has 21 counties, 566 municipalities and 616 school districts, and property taxes average $6,800 per homeowner, or twice the national average."<ref name="VanDyke">Van Dyke, Meghan. "The Chesters look at forming one community", ''[[Daily Record (New Jersey)|Daily Record]]'', June 4, 2008.</ref><ref>Porter, David via [[Associated Press]]. [http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/05/17/43270/strapped-towns-eye-mergers-but.html "Strapped towns eye mergers, but few reach the altar"], ''[[The News & Observer]]'', May 17, 2009. Accessed January 15, 2015.</ref>

Chester Borough split from Chester Township in 1930 over the creation of sewer and water infrastructure in the more densely settled center of the municipality. The residents of the rural portions of the Township did not wish to financially support the construction and maintenance of a public sewer or water utility. Since that time rural Chester Township has relied upon individual private wells for water and septic systems for wastewater treatment while the Borough is primarily, although not entirely, served by public sewer and water. Concerns over the extension of utilities into the more rural Township with the resultant potential for large scale growth served as an impediment to consolidation. The prohibition of utility extensions supported by the NJ State Plan and codified in the Highlands Water Protection Act, along with the development restrictions contained in the Highlands Act have lessened those concerns. Additionally, an aggressive land conservation program in the Township has resulted in over 40% of the {{convert|29|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} Township being placed into permanent preservation, further lessening worries about potential overdevelopment. The two municipalities currently share a common K–8 school district, volunteer fire department, library, first aid squad and other municipal services.

Governor Corzine's plan to reduce or eliminate state aid had residents considering recombining towns. The two mayors publicly endorsed a cost/benefit analysis of a merger.<ref name="VanDyke"/> However, a merger vote planned for November 2, 2010, was delayed until 2011 due to Governor Christie's elimination of equalization funds that would ensure some taxpayers do not pay more due to the merger, as an analysis by the [[New Jersey Department of Community Affairs]] estimated that township residents would see an annual increase of $128 on their property taxes while those in the borough would see an average decline of $570 in their taxes.<ref>Goldberg, Dan. [http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/10/chesters_merger_panel_puts_off.html "Chester merger panel puts off meeting until next year"], ''[[The Star-Ledger]]'', October 5, 2010. Accessed July 27, 2015. "Progress toward merging the two Chesters has slowed to a crawl, and the consolidation commission charged with studying the feasibility of it has decided not to meet again until 2011.... A DCA report delivered in May showed that the merger, based on 2009 data, would reduce borough taxes by approximately $570 on a home assessed at the borough average of $528,000. It would increase township taxes $128 on a home assessed at $826,000, the township average."</ref>