Warren moved the first quarter tax deadline to February 13, and then held its busiest meeting of the year
With Town Hall closed by the February 8 pipe break, Resolution 2026-087 extended the first quarter grace period to February 13. The same night the Committee paid $12.6 million in bills and ratified an emergency sewer contract.
Resolution 2026-087 extended Warren Township's first quarter 2026 property tax grace period to February 13, 2026, because the closure of Town Hall after the February 8 sprinkler pipe break "may have delayed Warren taxpayers from making their first quarter 2026 tax payments through no fault of their own." It was adopted February 19 as part of the consent resolutions, 2026-075 through 2026-089, on a 4-0 vote with Committeeman Croson abstaining. The same meeting approved $12,632,146.99 in bills and ratified a $137,432.50 emergency sewer repair contract.
The grace period extension
New Jersey property taxes are billed quarterly, and municipalities allow a grace period after the due date before interest attaches. Warren's Town Hall was closed for the stretch of days when many residents would ordinarily have walked a check to the counter.
Resolution 2026-087 moved the first quarter grace period to February 13, 2026. The stated ground is the closure itself, in the Township's language: the closure "may have delayed Warren taxpayers from making their first quarter 2026 tax payments through no fault of their own."
It passed as part of the consent agenda, resolutions 2026-075 through 2026-089, 4-0. Committeeman Croson abstained. The reason for the abstention is not recorded in the minutes, and I am not going to speculate about it.
The extension ran to February 13, 2026. If you paid by then, you were inside the grace period. If you have a question about interest on a first quarter payment, that is a tax collector question, and Town Hall is not open at the counter.
The sewer break on Mount Bethel Road
The largest operational item of the night was not the tax resolution. It was Resolution 2026-083, ratifying an emergency contract for a sewer force main break on Mount Bethel Road near Powder Horn Drive.
The break occurred January 31, 2026 and exposed sewage on a public road. That is the kind of failure that does not wait for a bid cycle.
Warren had already awarded sewer repair contracts to three vendors under Resolution 2025-304. All three were unavailable. The Township authorized Porchetta Land and Site Contractors of South Plainfield the same day under N.J.S.A. 40A:11-6, the statute that permits emergency contracting without public bidding when a threat to public health or safety requires it. Porchetta worked January 31, February 1 and February 2.
The ratifying resolution sets the contract at not to exceed $137,432.50.
Ratification after the fact is the normal path for a 40A:11-6 award. The work happens, then the governing body puts it on the record.
The money
Resolution 2026-073, payment of bills, passed 5-0 at $12,632,146.99. Resolution 2026-081 authorized budget transfers of $140,000.
Resolution 2026-085 awarded a forensic audit of the Township's active PILOT agreements to Holman Frenia Allison PC, not to exceed $49,400.00. The only other bid was Mercadien, at $75,000.00.
A PILOT is a payment in lieu of taxes, the arrangement under which a redeveloped property makes a negotiated annual payment instead of conventional property taxes. A forensic audit of active PILOT agreements is a check that the payments being made match the agreements as written. Warren has taken the cheaper of two bids on it, and the spread between the two was $25,600.
Resolution 2026-084 authorized a Department of Community Affairs grant application for Duderstadt Fields.
Personnel
Two items. Resolution 2026-077 appointed Zachary Myrtetus to the Police Department. Resolution 2026-078 accepted the resignation of Sergeant Joseph Cohen. Resolution 2026-079 appointed Township Administrator Mark Krane as Municipal Housing Liaison, a required role under New Jersey affordable housing administration.
Health, camp, the World Cup, and your street
Health Officer Kevin Sumner reported to the Committee that there were no avian influenza cases in Warren or in Watchung, notwithstanding a confirmed outbreak elsewhere in New Jersey. He also noted that free radon test kits are available at the Green Brook Health Department office, which serves Warren.
Radon is worth two lines of your attention. Somerset County sits in a part of New Jersey where elevated indoor radon shows up routinely, and a free test kit is a low friction way to find out where your house stands. If you are buying or selling, radon testing is a standard part of the inspection period anyway.
Two calendar items. Summer camp will run June 29 to July 31. Warren will host a FIFA World Cup watch party at the Municipal Complex on June 19.
The item most likely to matter to your daily driving: Committeeman Croson announced that the 2026 road overlay program is beginning, and asked residents to email Public Works with candidate roads.
Email dburo@warrennj.org with the street and the limits you think need work. That is the channel the Township named for the 2026 overlay program.
My read
Labeled as the author's opinion and separate from the record above. A grace period extension is a small administrative act, and it is also the clearest public signal so far of how much the Town Hall closure is going to touch ordinary transactions. Tax payments, permits, records requests and closings all pass through that building. The Committee handled the tax piece quickly. The rest of the list is longer, and February 19 was the first meeting where the scale of it was visible on one agenda.
- Township of Warren, Township Committee Regular Meeting Minutes, February 19, 2026. https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_02192026-956
- Township of Warren, Resolution No. 2026-087. https://warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11372
- Township of Warren, Resolution No. 2026-085. https://warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11370
- Township of Warren, Resolution No. 2026-083. https://warrennj.org/DocumentCenter/View/11368
John Mangini
Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier
Warren Township resident and full time broker, serving clients since 1999. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above.
