Boroughitis

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Boroughitis was craze that spread through New Jersey in the late 19th century, which led groups of residents to unite to form Boroughs from within and among the many Townships that were the prevalent form at the time. The peak point in this cycle was 1894, particularly in Bergen County, "that being the year the county went crazy on boroughs.""History of Bergen County" Vol. 1, p. 366.

This wave of municipal formations was fomented by legislation that allowed a Borough to be created by a referendum with no further legislative approval required. By 1875, only 17 boroughs existed, but with Boroughitis the prevalence of Boroughs exploded, so that they are now the most common type of municipal government in New Jersey, accounting for over 200 of the 566 current municipal governments statewide.

In 1893, an act was passed which specified that a borough could have a Freeholder only if the borough contained a portion of two or more townships. Many of the new boroughs were formed from portions of multiple municipalities to take advantage of this new provision.

Early in 1894, the New Jersey Legislature passed a school act which had each township to consitute a separate school district. Taxpayers were required to pay off any existing debts of the old districts and all future school-related debts of the new districts. Exempted from this provision were "boroughs, towns, villages, and cities".

The citizens responded to the legislation in 1894, and Boroughitis was in full force, as scores of new boroughs were carved from townships. The borough-formation pace slowed down when new legislation was passed mandating that boroughs could have their own school districts only if they had 400 children within their boundaries.

The formation of new boroughs continued after 1894. The Borough remained the most popular form of government for new municipalities, and most governments formed into the early 20th century used the Borough form.

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