Lebanon, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Lebanon is a borough in Hunterdon County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

Lebanon was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 26, 1926, from portions of Clinton Township, based on the results of a referendum held on April 20, 1926. Additional portions of Clinton Township were annexed in 1962.

The borough is located north of the Round Valley Reservoir. The borough was known in the early part of the 19th century as Jacksonville and later as Lebanonville, Lebanonville Depot and finally Lebanon, a station on the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The centre of Lebanon has changed little in the past century. The Dutch Reformed Church is one of the oldest churches in the County. Records of the church begin in 1769, however, the church is cited as early as 1747. The Lebanon Historic District was listed on the state and national registers of historic places in 2009.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.90 square miles (2.34 km²), almost all of which was land.

The borough is an independent municipality surrounded by Clinton Township, making it part of one of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

Local government Lebanon Borough is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, one of 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form, the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected at-large on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council is comprised of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle. The borough form of government used by Lebanon is a "weak mayor / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can veto ordinances subject to an override by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.

As of 2023, the mayor of Lebanon Borough is Republican James J. Pittinger, whose term of office ends December 31, 2026. The Lebanon Borough Council is comprised of Council President Richard J. Burton (R, 2024), Samuel Berger (R, 2024), Gregory F. Crawford (R, 2025), Robert J. Kirchofer (R, 2025), James Lance (R, 2023) and Mary Basile Logan (R, 2023).

In August 2019, the borough council selected Melissa Saharic to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that became vacant following the resignation of Michael Piagentini, who left office the previous month after announcing that he was moving out of the borough. In November 2019, Saharic was elected to serve the balance of the term of office.

After Republican incumbent Barbara "Bonnie" Schmidt and Democratic challenger Marlene Baldinger ended up tied with 431 votes for the second of two council seats in the November 2016 general election, the two faced off in a January runoff, which Baldinger won by a 183-135 margin.

Federal, state and county Lebanon Borough is located in the 7th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 23rd state legislative district.

For the 118th United States Congress. New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District is represented by Thomas Kean Jr. (R, Westfield). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Bob Menendez (Englewood Cliffs, term ends 2025).

For the 2022–2023 session, the 23rd Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Doug Steinhardt (R, Lopatcong Township) and in the General Assembly by John DiMaio (R, Hackettstown) and Erik Peterson (R, Franklin Township, Hunterdon County).

Hunterdon County is governed by a Board of Chosen Commissioners comprised of five members who are elected at-large on a partisan basis to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats up for election each year as part of the November general election. At an annual reorganization meeting held each January, the commissioners select one member to serve as the board's Director and another to serve as Deputy Director, each for a one-year term. As of 2023, Hunterdon County's Commissioners are Commissioner Director Zachary T. Rich (R; West Amwell Township, term as commissioner ends December 31, 2025; term as director ends 2023), Deputy Director Jeff Kuhl (R; Raritan Township, elected to to serve an unexpired term ending 2024; term as deputy director ends 2023) John E. Lanza (R; Raritan Township, 2025), Susan Soloway (R; Franklin Township, 2024) and Shaun C. Van Doren (R; Tewksbury Township, 2023). Constitutional officers elected on a countywide basis are County Clerk Mary H. Melfi (R; Flemington, 2026), Sheriff Fredrick W. Brown (R; Alexandria Township, 2025) and Surrogate Susan J. Hoffman (R; Kingwood Township, 2023).

Politics As of March 2011, there were a total of 955 registered voters in Lebanon, of which 190 (19.9%) were registered as Democrats, 374 (39.2%) were registered as Republicans and 388 (40.6%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were three voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 57.5% of the vote (471 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 40.9% (335 votes), and other candidates with 1.6% (13 votes), among the 826 ballots cast by the borough's 1,118 registered voters (7 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 73.9%. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 56.7% of the vote (403 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 41.4% (294 votes) and other candidates with 1.3% (9 votes), among the 711 ballots cast by the borough's 861 registered voters, for a turnout of 82.6%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 63.0% of the vote (410 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 36.1% (235 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (5 votes), among the 651 ballots cast by the borough's 780 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 83.5.

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 77.1% of the vote (373 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 20.5% (99 votes), and other candidates with 2.5% (12 votes), among the 497 ballots cast by the borough's 1,107 registered voters (13 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 44.9%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 67.1% of the vote (365 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 19.9% (108 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 10.1% (55 votes) and other candidates with 1.7% (9 votes), among the 544 ballots cast by the borough's 880 registered voters, yielding a 61.8% turnout.

Historic district The Lebanon Historic District is a historic district encompassing the village of Lebanon. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 26, 2009, for its significance in architecture and community development from c. 1813 to c. 1942. It includes 227 contributing buildings.

Education Students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade for public school are served by the Lebanon Borough School District at Lebanon Borough School. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 40 students and 13.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 2.9:1. In the 2016–17 school year, Lebanon had the ninth-smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 101 students.

Students in seventh and eighth grades attend Clinton Township Middle School in Clinton Township as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Clinton Township School District. As of the 2018–19 school year, the middle school had an enrollment of 479 students and 57.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.4:1.

Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend North Hunterdon High School in Annandale together with students from Bethlehem Township, Clinton Town, Clinton Township, Franklin Township and Union Township. As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,584 students and 123.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. The school is part of the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, which also includes students from Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Lebanon Township and Tewksbury Township, who attend Voorhees High School in Lebanon Township.

Eighth grade students from all of Hunterdon County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District, a county-wide vocational school district that offers career and technical education at its campuses in Raritan Township and at programs sited at local high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.

Emergency services The Borough of Lebanon is covered by three emergency services providers.

Police and law enforcement is provided by the New Jersey State Police from Troop B, based at the Perryville station.

The Lebanon Volunteer Fire Company provides fire suppression to the borough as per ordinance.

The borough's Emergency Medical and Rescue services are provided by the Clinton First Aid & Rescue Squad.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the borough had a total of 7.08 miles (11.39 km) of roadways, of which 4.52 miles (7.27 km) were maintained by the municipality, 0.33 miles (0.53 km) by Hunterdon County and 2.23 miles (3.59 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

U.S. Route 22 passes through the centre of town. Interstate 78 runs through the northern part with Exit 20 within its borders.

Public transportation The Lebanon station offers service on NJ Transit's Raritan Valley Line. There is a station building on the south side of the tracks. The northern track is no longer in use and the stop has limited weekday and no weekend service.