Salem County votes to cut freeholder board from 7 to 5 members

Also on the ballot was a second question dealing with the freeholder board asking whether they should take a 20-percent salary cut.

SALEM -- Salem County residents Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to cut the membership of the freeholder board from seven to five.

The result means that at the next election, November 2017, a new five-seat board will be elected.

The vote was 21,942 to 7,013 in favor of the referendum.

Also on the ballot was a second question dealing with the freeholders, asking whether their salaries should be cut by 20 percent. 

That question was approved by a vote of 22,272 to 6,543.

The two referendums made it to the fall ballot thanks to a grassroots petition drive that began after the county considered outsourcing jobs as a way to balance the 2016 budget.

Town-by-town Salem Co. election results

That privatization plan was dropped, but petition organizers continued with their efforts, saying they felt it was time to look at the cost of a seven-member freeholders board to taxpayers.

Freeholders in Salem County currently earn $25,410. The director gets an extra $1,000 per year. Statewide, freeholder salaries range from over $40,000 to just above $10,000.

Throughout New Jersey, the number of freeholders varies in each county from three to nine.

The referendum to cut the freeholder board membership is binding. The question on cutting their salaries is a non-binding question.

The results reported Tuesday night include ballots cast at the polls and mail-in ballots. They do not include provisional votes.

All election results are unofficial until certified.