Local mayors discuss shared municipal services
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 03/23/07
BY KEITH RUSCITTI
STAFF WRITER
BERKELEY — Attempting to cut expenditures while maintaining services is a problem that has burdened municipalities and its leaders in recent years.
That is the main reason why mayors and administrators from more than 12 Ocean County towns were on hand Wednesday evening for a presentation by Belmar Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle on the shared services concept.
The concept, which would entice neighboring towns to share municipal services — such as law enforcement, fire departments, and municipal courts — in order to slow escalating property taxes.
It is a concept that has been promoted by Gov. Jon S. Corzine and the state legislature.
Last summer the state Joint Legislative Committee on Government Consolidation and Shared Services held a series of meetings investigating the possibility of municipalities, school districts, as well as fire and emergency departments sharing services with neighboring towns.
"The cost of doing nothing is unsustainable," said Pringle, a Democrat who has been mayor of Belmar since 1990. "The cost of living in New Jersey is rising more than the rate of most salaries or fixed incomes."
Some towns in the area have investigated ways to share or consolidate municipal services in recent years.
Four years ago, South Toms River investigated whether it would be worthwhile to merge its municipal court system.
"It was something that (Councilman) Bertram Plante checked into a few years ago to try and save the town some expenses," said South Toms River Councilman Sandford Ross, Jr. "But after investigating, it was decided that it would cost us more money than it would save the town."
However, the primary focus on Pringle's presentation was the possibility of regionalizing some police departments in the area.
According to Belmar's budget for fiscal year 2006, the police department, which has 21 full-time members comprises approximately 30 percent of the budget. By the year 2019, law enforcement costs in Belmar will inflate to 61 percent of the overall municipal budget, according to projections produced by the consulting firm Carroll Buracker & Associates, Inc., of Harrisonburg, Va.
"Regionalizing is going to happen sooner or later," said Pringle. "We should do it on our terms."
He said layoffs wouldn't be required as part of the regionalization as departments would be streamlined through personnel attrition and retirements.
"Actually I think law enforcement takes up almost 38 percent of our budget so it is worth looking into," said Ocean Gate Mayor Paul J. Kennedy, who said his town will conduct a feasibility study regarding shared services. "I have already talked to a couple of mayors about setting something up to discuss the feasibility of regionalization."
"It's a good discussion to have even though we might not agree on everything," said Berkeley mayor Jason Varano. "Every town is different and has different needs. There are some things in the presentation that could help us."
The state is encouraging municipalities to seek alternatives such as shared services plans by increasing state funded grants through the Sharing Available Resources Efficiently (SHARE) program which is run by the Department of Community Affairs.
SHARE has reduced its matching funds for localities from 50 percent to 10 percent as of Oct. 2006.
This means the estimated $32,000 it would cost a municipality to conduct a feasibility study on potential shared services would cost the local government about $2,000. The state grant would cover 90 percent of the total cost.
SHARE also offers implementation grants of up to $200,000 and county grants of up to $300,000. |
