The seemingly obvious idea that New Jersey’s many municipal governments could join together to save tax money has been thwarting anyone who tried it for more than a century.

Only since November’s historic referendum in favor of consolidation are the Princetons proving that consolidation might just have a chance. Observers all over the state are watching to see how the Princeton consolidation experiment goes.

Gina Genovese, director of Courage to Connect NJ, has proof that the idea to join towns together goes way back. She likes to show people an enlarged New York Times article from 1895 suggesting that the Oranges merge to form one local government.

“The Oranges must be made one city so that all our public departments may be better and more economically managed. It is only selfishness that keeps us apart,” the article reads.

In 2007, the state legislature streamlined the process of consolidation to encourage municipalities to do it. So far, Princeton Township and Borough have been the only municipalities to join together under the new law, after many failed consolidation votes since the 1950s.

Courage to Connect is a nonprofit group that promotes consolidation and provides resources to help citizens and government officials navigate the treacherous waters of consolidation. The process is a complicated one that requires public votes, coordination with dozens of government agencies, negotiations with public employee unions and more.

It’s all the more complicated, Genovese said, because no one had ever done it before.

Genovese said the Princetons are truly blazing a trail with the never-before-tried process, and that leaders in other cities are watching and waiting to see if they will follow suit.

“For years, people would say if the Princetons can’t consolidate, no one else can, because they tried so often,” she said. “The naysayers would say it’s never happened in New Jersey. Princeton took that away from them and that’s very powerful. Also, now they’re paving the way because they’re doing implementation. Every step they take now is forging a new path for New Jersey.”

This article originally appeared on Mercerspace.com. Click here to continue reading the full article. 

Combining the two New Jersey communities that share the Princeton name is testing Governor Chris Christie’s effort to get the state’s patchwork of 566 cities and towns to merge governments.

Voters in 1.9-square-mile Princeton Borough, which includes the downtown shopping area, and the surrounding 16.6-square-mile Princeton Township approved consolidation in November, after at least three earlier referendums failed. Elected officials have been meeting at least once a week as they face a Jan. 1 deadline to decide on everything from how many people to fire to which municipal buildings to spare.

Christie, 49, a first-term Republican, is pushing consolidation after cutting municipal aid in 2010 and capping annual increases in local taxes at 2 percent. Princeton, home of the Ivy League university, agreed to merge after the governor endorsed the plan and offered to pay 20 percent of the $1.7 million cost of combining. He has promised to do the same for those who follow Princeton’s lead.

“This is a test case for the principles he’s basing the economic future of the state on,” said Brigid Harrison, a professor of law and politics at Montclair State University. “If it fails, it’s going to be held up by the home-rule folks as proof of why it doesn’t work.”

Governors in Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey say their states have too many layers of government and that unwinding them would save money without harming services. Christie, during a May 16 town-hall meeting in East Hanover, said consolidation has been a slow process and “it’s not like ripping the Band-Aid off.”

This article originally appeared in Bloomberg. Click here to continue reading

This article originally appeared in the Asbury Park Press. To read the full article, click here 

EAST BRUNSWICK — Citizens and elected officials from all over the state attended a forum Wednesday to discuss ways in which to make local government more efficient through municipal consolidation.

The event updated participants on the growing number of citizens around the state who are in the beginning stages of forming municipal consolidation committees, following the 2007 Municipal Consolidation Law. The discussion was led by Gina Genovese and Andrew Bruck, both of whom are leaders of Courage to Connect New Jersey, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes municipal consolidation.

A portion of the four-hour program focused on what is happening in Merchantville and Cherry Hill, where the towns are working to come together. A second panel focused on the consolidation of the Princetons, now underway.

“Courage to Connect New Jersey is already in its third year, and has met with so many fabulous people from all over the state who want more efficient municipal government,” Genovese said. “Municipal consolidation is a unifying issue, with Republicans, Democrats and others coming together, willing to do what it takes to make New Jersey are more affordable place for us all to live.”

During the event, Thomas Neff, director of the state Department of Community Affairs’ Division of Local Government Services, said the state agency had 120 staff members at one point, but now the work is being done by only 40 people. That is why, he said, it is so important for citizens to get involved in identifying cost savings at the local government level.

“It is important to have groups like this willing to step up to the plate to help educate people about what they can do to bring local efficiencies to government,” said Neff, adding the state can serve as a resource with experts in local government administration. However, he said, the state does not have the funds at the moment to pay for municipal consolidation studies.

This opinion-editorial by Princeton Mayor Chad Goerner originally appeared in the Daily Record. To read the full article, click here. 

For the Princetons, 2012 is the year we transition to a single municipal government, with the promise of a brighter and more sustainable future.

Our success in consolidating has set off a series of similar efforts across the state. To that end, a dynamic and energetic organization called Courage to Connect New Jersey has gathered significant momentum and is holding a conference on Municipal Consolidation on March 28 in East Brunswick. The statewide event will build on the success that we’ve had in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township.

In a time where municipalities across the state are struggling to maintain the same level of service, we in Princeton Township have struggled to do the same while trying to keep municipal taxes low. As a result, we ended up reducing 18 percent of our staff over the last five years.

With the new 2 percent state-mandated municipal cap, many towns are facing a choice: reduce staff and cut services or spend down their municipal surplus (i.e. savings). That is the situation that towns across the state face today. Consolidation will put our towns on a more sustainable path and allow us to actually bring back services that had been cut to balance the budget.

At the same time, it will save our taxpayers a significant amount of money. Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have identified $3.2 million in annual savings at the full implementation of our consolidation plan. These savings are from personnel reductions only. (One personnel reduction is my own as I worked myself out of a job, too.)

This opinion-editorial by Princeton Mayor Chad Goerner originally appeared in the Asbury Park Press. To read the full article, click here. 

For the Princetons, 2012 is the year we transition to a single municipal government, with the promise of a brighter and more sustainable future.

Our success in consolidating has set off a series of similar efforts across the state. To that end, a dynamic organization called Courage to Connect New Jersey has gathered significant momentum and is holding a conference on municipal consolidation on Wednesday in East Brunswick. The statewide event will build on the success that we’ve had in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township.

In a time where municipalities across the state are struggling to maintain the same level of service, we in Princeton Township have struggled to do the same while trying to keep municipal taxes low. As a result, we ended up reducing 18 percent of our staff over the last five years.

With the new 2 percent state-mandated municipal cap, many towns are facing a choice: reduce staff and cut services or spend down their municipal surplus (i.e. savings). That is the situation that towns across the state face today. Consolidation will put our towns on a more sustainable path and allow us to actually bring back services that had been cut to balance the budget.

At the same time, it will save our taxpayers a significant amount of money. Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have identified $3.2 million in annual savings at the full implementation of our consolidation plan. These savings are from personnel reductions only. (One personnel reduction is my own. I worked myself out of a job, too.)

As budget hearings continue in Trenton through the early spring, there is another important meeting that is also taking place. In my opinion, this meeting is more critical for the long-term fiscal strength of our state than anything taking place in the Statehouse.

It is a statewide municipal consolidation workshop scheduled for the morning of March 28 in East Brunswick, near the geographic center of New Jersey. The event, coordinated by non-partisan, non-profit Courage to Connect New Jersey, brings together people from throughout the state who are involved in local consolidation movements.

One panel will focus on what is taking place in Merchantville and Cherry Hill, which have already formed a municipal consolidation commission between the two towns and is moving quickly through the state-mandated process. Another panel will focus on the Princetons, where residents and local leaders of both towns will explain how they built consensus for their future. There will also be talk of what is happening in Scotch Plains and Fanwood, in which citizens of both towns are the first in the state to take advantage of a 2007 municipal consolidation law, in which they petitioned the state for a study without the approval of local, elected leaders.

Through consolidation, we will no longer spend our budget seasons focusing on where to cut and what services will be diminished, while taxes continue to climb. Through consolidation, we can begin the discussion of how we can take the best attributes from adjoining towns and create the type of affordable communities that our children will one day be proud to live in.

This article originally appeared on Baristanet. To continue reading, click here 

For the Princetons, 2012 is the year we transition to a single municipal government, with the promise of a brighter and more sustainable future.

Our success in consolidating has set off a series of similar efforts across the state. To that end, a dynamic and energetic organization called Courage to Connect New Jersey has gathered significant momentum and is holding a conference on municipal consolidation March 28 in East Brunswick. The statewide event will build on the success that we’ve had in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township.

In a time when municipalities across the state are struggling to maintain the same level of service, we, in Princeton Township, have struggled to do the same while trying to keep municipal taxes low. As a result, we ended up reducing 18 percent of our staff over the past five years.

With the new 2 percent state-mandated municipal cap, many towns are facing a choice: reduce staff and cut services, or spend down their municipal surplus (i.e., savings). This is the situation that towns across the state face today. Consolidation will put our towns on a more sustainable path and allow us to bring back services that had been cut to balance the budget.

At the same time, it will save our taxpayers a significant amount of money. Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have identified $3.2 million in annual savings at the full implementation of our consolidation plan. These savings are from personnel reductions only. (One personnel reduction is my own, because I worked myself out of a job, too.)

Personnel savings of $3.2 million is significant, for it represents about 6 percent of our combined municipal budgets. However, there’s an opportunity to save even more by combining operating budgets and eliminating duplicative contracted services (municipal audits, software licensing fees, office equipment, etc.).

This op-ed originally appeared in The Star-Ledger. To continue reading, click here or download the full PDF here. 

Communities, like the people who live in them, suffered from the recent economic crisis, dealing with budget cuts, layoffs, and reduced services.

“This may be the worst of times,” said Rhoda Schermer of the North Jersey Public Policy Network, sponsor of “Creating Thriving Communities in Challenging Times,” a special presentation Thursday at Bergen Community College where a panel of experts proposed solutions to help towns recover and thrive.

Residents of various Bergen County communities as well as Sen. Bob Gordon, Freeholder Maura DiNicola, and public officials from Park Ridge and Little Ferry turned out to hear the proposals, which urged citizens and local governments to work cooperatively on projects that could save money and improve quality of life through better land use, more efficient transportation patterns, environmentally sound practices, and streamlined municipal administrations.

“We have to restructure New Jersey,” said Gina Genovese, founder and director of Courage to Connect NJ, an organization that helps communities consolidate and share costly services such as fire, police, and sanitation departments. “The state cannot sustain its 566 municipalities.”

Genovese was the mayor of Long Hill Township where a small population struggled to finance municipal services. She praised the 2011 consolidation of Princeton Boro and Princeton Township into a single municipality, a move expected to save Princeton $3.2 million a year.

This article originally appeared in the Paramus Patch. Continue reading the full article here 

Scotch Plains and Fanwood residents in favor of merging the two towns made history on February 15, becoming the first neighboring communities in the state to petition the Local Finance Board to commission a study on what consolidation would mean for the SPF tax payers.

Over the past year, this community has seen an escalation in discussions regarding shared services, including a possible police merger. Fanwood Mayor, Colleen Mahr, who has dedicated much of her time as Mayor to revitalizing downtown Fanwood, has remained adamant in her opposition to full consolidation. However, Scotch Plains Mayor, Nancy Malool of has openly voiced her support for pursuing a municipal consolidation study, under the Local Option Municipal Consolidation Act, passed in 2007.

Courage to Re-connect is the local grassroots organization that created the petition to commission the consolidation to study. The organization was founded by Scotch Plains resident, Fred Lange. Courage to Re-connect receives support from Courage to Connect New Jersey, a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to assisting municipalities to study consolidation where appropriate.

Frustrated with rising taxes, Lange formed the organization in 2010. Backed by a firm belief that consolidation was the answer to rising costs, Lange mobilized members of his community to support a municipal study.

In order to commission the study, Lange had to get 10 percent of voters in Scotch Plains and Fanwood who voted in the last general election to sign the petition. Lange exceeded that requirement, collecting over 1000 signatures.

“Initially, I went door to door to have our petitions signed,” Lange said. “Ninety-two percent of the people in Fanwood and 98 percent of the people in Scotch Plains with whom I spoke supported what I was doing. This is really a citizen-driven initiative. We’re the ones who want to study a consolidation by an overwhelming majority.”

This article originally appeared in the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch. Continue reading the full article here.