Read the article as it originally appeared in The Daily Record

By Gina Genovese

The restructuring of the 566 municipalities in New Jersey has been discussed for more than 40 years. Residents have been told the way to save property taxes was to merge two adjoining towns.

After considerable research, I’m convinced that plan will not work. To achieve true economies of scale, our lawmakers and the community at-large must consider merging between five and 10 towns instead of two.

Last November, the Sussex and Wantage voters were correct in voting down the merger of their two towns. This merger would have created a town of 12,000 residents. The savings were not significant enough to justify the transition to one, streamlined government. Continue reading →

Read this op-ed as it originally appeared on newjerseynewsroom.com

By Gina Genovese

The restructuring of the 566 municipalities in New Jersey has been discussed for more than 40 years. Residents were told the way to save property taxes was to merge two adjoining towns.

After considerable research, I’m convinced that plan will not work. To achieve true economies of scale, our lawmakers and the community at-large must consider merging between five and 10 towns instead of two.

Last November, the Sussex and Wantage voters were correct in voting down the merger of their two towns. This merger would have created a town of 12,000 residents. The savings were not significant enough to justify the transition to one, streamlined government. Continue reading →