This title: BOE Filing Deadline Tuesday, Municipal Budget Hearing Thursday

Number one:

The deadline for filing nominating petitions to run for positions on the Fort Lee Board of Education is Tuesday by 4 p.m.

The terms of board vice president Peter J. Suh, Michelle Stux-Ramirez and Joseph J. Surace are set to expire this year. The election is scheduled for April 27.

At least ten signatories, one of which may by the candidate him or herself, are required to nominate a candidate.

In order to qualify you as a candidate you must gather the necessary 10 signatures, be a U.S. citizen at least 18, be able to read and write and have been a resident of Fort Lee for at least one year preceding the date of the election. You also have to be a registered voter in the district.

If you’re interesting in running for a seat on the school board, you can obtain a candidate kit at the school district office at 255 Whiteman St. or online. The kit includes such information as a sampling nominating petition, information about legal qualifications for candidacy and the expected role of a school board member. Important dates in the school election process and briefing sessions for school board candidates can also be found in the kit.

Number two:

The New York Mets have donated four field-level tickets (and a parking pass) to the SADD organization at Fort Lee School No. 1. As a fundraiser, SADD will have a raffle for the tickets valued at about $800. The tickets will be for a game in April, but not opening day. Each raffle ticket is $3, and you can fill out a form on the BOE’s website with a check payable to Fort Lee School One. All raffle tickets need to be purchased by March 11 (that’s Friday!)

Number three:

The Fort Lee Mayor and Council holds its monthly regular meeting Thursday at 8 p.m. at council chambers, where the borough’s governing body is expected to pass its 2011 municipal budget.

At a previous week's work session, Borough Auditor Steve Wielkotz said the total proposed budget for 2011 represents a 1.52 percent increase in appropriation or “a little over a million dollars” and a tax levy increase of 0.89 percent.

“That’s $37.20 [per year] on the average residential unit assessed at $465,000,” Wielkotz said. “While some of the surrounding towns are going to be struggling, as you’ll read over the next couple of weeks with a 2 percent tax levy, this budget, as proposed, is over $2.5 million under the appropriation cap and a little over $2.9 million under the tax levy cap. You’re not going to have many municipalities that can stand up and say, well we’re raising municipal taxes $37 for the year."

The total anticipated amount to be raised by taxation is $57,609,950.92, and the total anticipated general appropriations for 2011 introduction is $67,681,823.15. As Mayor Mark Sokolich had previously vowed, the municipal tax increase represents less than 1 percent.

"I’m extremely proud of the budget that we’ve put forth for this borough," Sokolich has said. "In this economic climate facing the cuts that we’ve faced. Our services remain intact. They remain as strong as they possibility can be. The quality of our lives have not been impacted. And it is a very strong budget. That especially considering the bond debt repayment program that we put into place where we’ve devoted funds to that initiative. It’s under the 1 percent that I had indicated at the state of the borough address. Our efforts now are beginning to manifest themselves in these budgets that we’re able to produce for our community.”

Number four: 

Film buffs with time on their hands are in for a treat Thursday, when the Fort Lee Library shows the film Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). Directed by Richard Brooks and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives and Judith Anderson, the free screening starts at 2 p.m. at the library’s meeting room on the lower level.

Number five:           

And finally, those looking forward to tonight’s Planning Board meeting should consider making other plans. The regular public meeting of the Fort Lee Planning Board scheduled for has has been canceled due to a lack of agenda.

Items scheduled for acceptance/completeness will be listed on the agenda of the next regular public meeting of the Planning Board, which is Monday, March 21 at 7:30 p.m., according to the borough’s website.