BROWNS MILLS 08015 · Pemberton Township · Burlington County, NJ

The annual rhythm, month by month

The Year

Browns Mills runs on rhythms nobody publishes in one place. The mayor writes a budget in winter and the council adopts it in spring. Tax bills come four times a year. The school board holds its budget hearing in late April and opens the schools in early September. The lakes fill up in summer and the state forest fills with hunters in fall. Below is that calendar, month by month, with the source for every date — and an honest list at the bottom of the things that belong here but don't have a verified date yet.

Every dated item on this page comes from the township, the school district, Burlington County, or a state deadline notice. Nothing here is estimated. Where a date is specific to 2026, it says so.

The shape of it

The four seasons of the civic year

  • Winter

    The budget gets written. The mayor prepares the municipal budget and must transmit it to council early in the year — for calendar year 2026, by February 27. The county runs fire district elections in February. The school board reorganizes in January.

  • Spring

    The budgets get adopted. Introduction, public hearing, and adoption of the municipal budget run roughly February through April; the 2026 adoption deadline was April 30. The Board of Education held its public budget hearing the same night, April 30, at 6:30 pm.

  • Summer

    Lake season. The township runs swimming at Mirror Lake Beach, Country Lakes Beach, and Presidential Lakes Beach, plus movies under the stars and the Water Carnival at Mirror Lake Beach. Third-quarter property taxes are due August 1.

  • Fall

    Elections and school. The general election falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November — November 3 in 2026 — with early voting from October 25. School opened September 4, 2026. Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, 93% of it open to hunting, gets busy.

Sources: pemberton-twp.com · pemberton.k12.nj.us · burlingtoncountynj.gov · New Jersey League of Municipalities Local Finance Notice 2025-18 · NJDEP (Brendan T. Byrne State Forest) · verified August 2026.

Month one

January

Thu Jan 8, 2026 Board of Education — reorganization meeting The first meeting of the board's year, from the district's posted 2026 meeting dates. Verified
Wed Jan 7, 2026 Mayor's term begins Mayor Matthew Bianchini's current term runs January 7, 2026 through December 31, 2026 — an unexpired term, per the township's mayor page. Verified
All month Municipal budget preparation Under the Faulkner Act mayor–council plan, the mayor prepares and submits the budget; the council then introduces, hears, and adopts it. Preparation runs ahead of the late-February transmission deadline. Recurring
1st & 3rd Wed Township Council — regular meetings The council meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at the Municipal Building, 500 Pemberton–Browns Mills Road. The council page does not publish a start time; confirm before attending. Recurring

Sources: pemberton.k12.nj.us — 2026 meeting dates · pemberton-twp.com — mayor · form of government · meeting cadence from the township's own audio archive · verified August 2026.

Month two

February

Feb 1 First-quarter property taxes due Pemberton Township bills property taxes quarterly. The same bill carries water, sewer, and solid waste. Tax Collector Shayla Steele, 500 Pemberton–Browns Mills Road, (609) 894-3365. Recurring
Fri Feb 27, 2026 Municipal budget transmission deadline For calendar-year municipalities in 2026, the budget had to be transmitted to the governing body by February 27, under the state's annual budget calendar. Verified · 2026
February Fire district elections Burlington County runs fire district elections in February. Pemberton Township's fire service is all-volunteer, with three of its four stations in Browns Mills. The 2026 date is not confirmed here. Recurring

Sources: pemberton-twp.com — tax collector · fire department · burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · New Jersey League of Municipalities Local Finance Notice 2025-18 · verified August 2026. The February 1 quarterly due date follows New Jersey's standard quarterly schedule; the August 1 quarter is confirmed directly by the township's 2026 tax notice. Confirm your own due dates with the tax collector.

Month three

March

March Special school election window Burlington County administers special school elections in March, September, and December. Pemberton Township does not necessarily hold one in any given year. Recurring
Feb – Apr Municipal budget: introduction and public hearing Between transmission in late February and adoption in April, the council introduces the budget and holds a public hearing on it. Those two dates are set meeting by meeting and are not published on a fixed schedule. Recurring
1st & 3rd Wed Township Council — regular meetings Budget items appear on these agendas through the spring. Minutes are posted afterward as dated PDFs; full audio goes up on the township's Audiomack page. Recurring

Sources: burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · pemberton-twp.com — minutes and ordinances · New Jersey League of Municipalities Local Finance Notice 2025-18 · verified August 2026.

Month four

April

Thu Apr 30, 2026 Municipal budget adoption deadline April 30 was the 2026 adoption deadline for calendar-year municipalities under the state budget calendar. This is the single most consequential local date of the year: it sets the municipal tax levy. Verified · 2026
Thu Apr 30, 2026 · 6:30 pm Board of Education — public budget hearing and action meeting Held at Helen A. Fort Middle School, 101 Fort Dix Road. The district's action meetings take public comment twice: on agenda items first, on anything else at the end. Verified · 2026
Late April School budget hearing, every year The annual school budget hearing lands in late April. The exact night is published each year on the district's meeting-dates page. Recurring

Sources: pemberton.k12.nj.us — 2026 meeting dates · New Jersey League of Municipalities Local Finance Notice 2025-18 · verified August 2026.

Month five

May

May 1 Second-quarter property taxes due Second of the four quarterly bills. Payments are taken at the Municipal Building and through the township's online payment vendor. Recurring
May 26 – 31, 2026 Early voting — primary election In-person early voting for the June primary ran the six days before it. Burlington County publishes the locations. Verified · 2026

Sources: burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · pemberton-twp.com — tax collector · verified August 2026. Online payments are handled by an outside vendor: WIPP payment portal — TODO: cited by the township, not independently verified

Month six

June

Tue Jun 2, 2026 New Jersey primary election Polls county-wide. Council and mayoral candidates for the November ballot are chosen here. Verified · 2026
Summer Lake season opens Township swimming at Mirror Lake Beach, Country Lakes Beach, and Presidential Lakes Beach, plus movies under the stars at Mirror Lake Beach. Recreation runs out of the Country Lakes Clubhouse, 69 Tensaw Drive. We found no published opening date — the season is documented, the calendar is not. Recurring
Summer Water Carnival at Mirror Lake Beach The township's summer water stunt show, with vendors and a kids' zone. Sources place it in summer without a date. See the undated list below. Recurring

Sources: burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · pemberton-twp.com — recreation · verified August 2026. Program registration runs through an outside vendor: RecDesk registration portal — TODO: cited by the township, not independently verified

Month seven

July

1st & 3rd Wed Township Council — regular meetings The council keeps its Wednesday cadence through the summer; the township posted audio for July 1 and July 15, 2026. Recurring
Summer Beaches and paddling Mirror Lake is 145 acres with a public boat launch. Rancocas Creek access is on Route 530 below the bridge, the put-in for a 14-mile paddle to Mount Holly. Recurring

Sources: township meeting audio, audiomack.com/artist/pembertontwp1 · pemberton-twp.com — recreation · verified August 2026.

Month eight

August

Aug 1 Third-quarter property taxes due This is the quarter the new tax rate first appears on, because the municipal budget was adopted in the spring. Recurring
Aug 6 & 10, 2026 2026/2027 tax bills posted, then mailed Bills went online August 6 and into the mail the week of August 10 — late enough that the township extended the grace period. See September. Verified · 2026
Aug 25 – 27, 2026 School open houses Held across the district's nine schools in the week before opening day. Two of them, Denbo-Crichton and Joseph S. Stackhouse, are in Browns Mills. Verified · 2026

Sources: pemberton-twp.com — tax collector · pemberton.k12.nj.us — district calendar · school directory · verified August 2026.

Month nine

September

Fri Sep 4, 2026 First day of school Pemberton Township School District, about 4,400 students across nine schools. Verified · 2026
Tue Sep 8, 2026 Property tax grace period ends A 2026-only extension. Because bills went out late, the township moved the third-quarter grace deadline to September 8. Interest after that date applies retroactively to August 1. Verified · 2026 only
Wed Sep 9, 2026 Board of Education — retreat From the district's posted 2026 meeting dates. Regular action meetings run 6:30 pm and rotate between school buildings. Verified · 2026
September Special school election window One of the three months Burlington County administers special school elections. Recurring
Fall Hunting season, Brendan T. Byrne State Forest 93% of the forest's 37,242 acres is open to hunting, and it starts minutes from town on Route 530. Season dates are set by the state and are not verified here — check before you walk the Batona Trail in fall. TODO — dates unverified

Sources: pemberton.k12.nj.us — district calendar and meeting dates · pemberton-twp.com — tax collector · burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · NJDEP — Brendan T. Byrne State Forest · verified August 2026.

Month ten

October

Sun Oct 25, 2026 Early voting begins — general election In-person early voting for the November 3 general election starts October 25. Locations come from the Burlington County Board of Elections. Verified · 2026
October Cranberry harvest at Whitesbog Whitesbog Historic Village, in Browns Mills, sits on what was New Jersey's largest cranberry farm and is where the cultivated highbush blueberry was first grown in 1916. Our research did not establish harvest dates or a public harvest event — confirm at whitesbog.org before planning around it. TODO — dates unverified

Sources: burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · whitesbog.org · NJDEP Whitesbog Village page — TODO: confirm the exact URL before linking · verified August 2026.

A young cranberry picker carrying a basket at Whites Bog, Browns Mills, in 1910
A cranberry picker at Whites Bog, September 28, 1910. Photograph by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee · Library of Congress · public domain.

Month eleven

November

Nov 1 Fourth-quarter property taxes due Last of the four quarterly bills for the year. Recurring
Tue Nov 3, 2026 General election Four of Pemberton Township's six elected offices are on this ballot — three council seats and the mayor's office. Details below. Verified · 2026
Thu Nov 19, 2026 Board of Education — meeting The last board date listed on the district's posted 2026 schedule. Verified · 2026

Sources: burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · pemberton.k12.nj.us — 2026 meeting dates · pemberton-twp.com — tax collector · verified August 2026.

Month twelve

December

Wed Dec 31, 2026 Terms end The mayor's term and the council terms of Josh Ward and Dan Dewey run through December 31, 2026. Charles de Charleroy's seat is listed as ending in November 2026. Verified · 2026
December Special school election window The third of the county's three special school election months. Recurring
Winter Next year's budget work begins The cycle restarts: the mayor's office prepares the following year's municipal budget ahead of a late-February transmission deadline. Recurring

Sources: pemberton-twp.com — township council and mayor, rosters as of August 2026 · burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · New Jersey League of Municipalities Local Finance Notice 2025-18.

Not placed on the calendar

Undated — needs real dates

TODO — verify official dates. Everything below happens in Browns Mills, but no source we checked gives it a date or a month. It stays off the calendar until one does.

These are the gaps this page exists to close. If you know the date, or where it's published, we want the correction.

  • Browns Mills Improvement Association

    Membership is $15 a year. The association runs a History Expo, a Wellness Fair, Coffee with a Cop, a Chili Cook Off, Passport to Worldly Cuisine, decade dances, and Halloween and holiday events. None of them carry a published date we could verify.

    Browns Mills Improvement Association — TODO: find and link the official events source

  • Recreation

    The township Community Yard Sale, and the exact dates of the Water Carnival, movies under the stars, and the beach swimming season.

    Department page: pemberton-twp.com — recreation. Season and event dates — TODO: not published there as of August 2026

  • Recycling and public works

    Paper Shred Day and the holiday-lights collection both run annually. The curbside recycling and brush schedules exist only inside PDFs, and neither shred day nor lights collection has a date on the department page.

    Department page: pemberton-twp.com — recycling information. Paper Shred Day and holiday-lights dates — TODO

  • Annual tax sale

    The township holds a tax sale each year for delinquent accounts. The date is noticed publicly when it is set; we have not verified where.

    Department page: pemberton-twp.com — tax collector. Tax sale date and notice location — TODO

  • Council start time

    The council meets the first and third Wednesday. The township's council page does not state what time. Every meeting on this page inherits that gap.

    Council meeting start time — TODO: confirm with the Municipal Building, (609) 894-8201

2026

This year, specifically

Four of Pemberton Township's six elected offices are on the ballot on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Three of the five council seats expire this year: those held by Josh Ward, Dan Dewey, and Charles de Charleroy. The mayor's term also ends December 31, 2026. The two remaining council terms, held by Council President Harry Harper and Perry Doyle, run to December 31, 2028.

In-person early voting begins Sunday, October 25. The June 2 primary chose the candidates. Burlington County runs the election, publishes the polling and early-voting locations, and staffs a voter hotline at (609) 265-VOTE.

The council seats decide who votes on the municipal budget adopted every April, and on the redevelopment agreements now governing the Pemberton Commons site.

Sources: pemberton-twp.com — township council roster and mayor, as of August 2026 · burlingtoncountynj.gov — important election dates · verified August 2026.