Mmunicipalities across New York and New Jersey are dealing with the aftermath of a devastating hurricane and significant budgetary pressures. Many are struggling to determine how to deliver better services at the same or lower cost as tax revenues remain stagnant.
Couple this with a 2 percent budget cap and our municipal governments have their own localized version of the "fiscal cliff."
New York and New Jersey each have their own issues with municipal government inefficiency. New Jersey has 566 municipalities and more than 590 school districts. New York has more than 10,521 taxing districts, resulting in a lasagna-like layer of multiple tax bills and resultant inefficiency.
What's the solution to this morass of home rule? Both states have taken action in making it more feasible for residents and/or elected officials to consolidate towns and school districts.
Before he became governor, Andrew Cuomo passed the N.Y. Government Reorganization and Citizen Empowerment Act to allow citizens to effectively consolidate or dissolve local governments. In New Jersey, the state Legislature passed the "Local Option Municipal Consolidation Act" in 2007 making consolidation more feasible for many New Jersey municipalities.
So, what's the holdup?
The main obstacle remains our elected officials, who still cling to home rule. It's easy to understand why — despite saving money, consolidation brings fears of losing control and giving up town identity. Yet, the new laws that are in place in both states make it possible to achieve consolidation without losing identity or town character.
Princeton Borough and Princeton Township in New Jersey put that to the test a year ago.
In the Princetons, there have been multiple attempts at consolidation. It was studied virtually every decade in the last 50 years, ultimately culminating with Princeton Borough leaving Princeton Township at the altar by voting down the referendum. Many said that it could never be done.
However, one year ago, something historic happened. Princeton Borough and Princeton Township residents went to the polls and approved the first large municipal consolidation in more than 100 years. The savings and promise that consolidation holds for Princeton and ultimately our region is startling.
The Princetons have set a path to savings that exceeds their own consolidation commission's estimate for 2013 and beyond. The merged Princeton's projected savings for 2013 as a result of consolidation are at least 40 percent greater than the original estimate ($2.26 million versus $1.61million) from the consolidation commission.
Furthermore, they now project that if the new governing body follows the commission's recommendations, they can reach approximately $4 million in annual savings at full implementation in three years.
Consolidation may not be the solution for all municipalities in New York and New Jersey, but for some it is certainly worth considering. It has the potential to create a more sustainable budget that can survive under the states' 2 percent municipal budget cap without drastically reducing surplus or cutting valuable services.
In fact, it has the potential to enhance services as Princeton illustrated during the response to Hurricane Sandy.
When Sandy struck Princeton, the two towns responded for the first time in a completely coordinated fashion. With the merger of the Borough and the Township fully under way, they established an Emergency Operations Center that was staffed by the police departments, the public works departments, fire and EMS personnel and other staff.
Police were able to coordinate more effectively in prioritizing coverage for the whole town, while the Borough and Township public works departments marshaled their resources collectively to open up critical roadways more quickly.
This single, coordinated emergency response was a dramatic improvement compared to the response coordination conducted separately by the towns in previous storms.
While consolidation is not a silver-bullet solution for everything that ails us, it certainly is one tool in the municipal toolkit that should be moved to the top shelf. The success in Princeton is proof.
Chad Goerner is the mayor of Princeton Township and an architect in the merger with Princeton Borough. Gina Genovese is executive director of Courage to Connect New Jersey, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that assists citizens and elected officials in municipal consolidation.