Every taxpayer dollar deserves a purpose. Chris Peters will fight for responsible municipal budgeting and careful spending. We need to prioritize essential services, eliminate unnecessary expenses, pursue grants and shared-service opportunities, and make sure major projects provide real value to taxpayers.

Chris can’t control every tax imposed on Jefferson, but he can impact how we respond to them. In the meantime, Jefferson is conducting its first full revaluation since 2001, with new assessments based on October 1, 2026 values and implementation for the 2027 tax year.

The right growth, in the right places, for the right reasons: Growth should strengthen our community, not change what makes it special.

Our existing homeowners should not have to carry the oversized burden of funding municipal government and schools. We can support current businesses, attract businesses that support the community, revitalize underutilized commercial properties, encourage limited and appropriate commercial development, and expand the tax base where appropriate.

We need to require that development make financial sense for our community, as we encourage appropriate development that expands the tax base. We should evaluate projects’ impact on traffic, schools, emergency services, utilities and infrastructure, and not give away valuable space without a direct benefit that suits us.

For example, we don’t need more gas stations. Lake Hopatcong needs a supermarket. Jefferson Township needs some kind of a downtown. With 80% of our land in the Highlands Protection area, smart use of the spaces we have is so important.

Town council meeting minutes shouldn’t be posted months after the meetings happen, if they are even posted at all. It delays and even discourages public engagement for those who can’t make it to town council meetings or have access issues. We shouldn’t have to wait for extended periods of time to know what transpired in the meetings where town-related decisions were discussed and made. We should have recap videos for related committees as well, like the Land Use Board.

Other towns nearby live stream meetings so that residents can join from where they are and listen along remotely. Why doesn’t Jefferson Township? Chris supports all town council meetings and board meetings being accessibly live streamed so that residents can participate and learn what their local government is doing. He also supports regularly updating a YouTube channel where meeting recap videos are posted. We pay a technology staffer; let’s have the use of technology to access content related to how our land and our tax dollars are being allocated by our elected and appointed officials.

Having a council made up of diverse views from more than one political party would benefit the town in a variety of ways, primarily as accountability and transparency are concerned. For example, there have been conflicting allegations made in recent years regarding township contracts and the methods by which our vendors have been engaged in doing business with our town. Chris Peters would be a check-on-power to ensure we are making key decisions with taxpayers’ money in good faith, using best practices.