Merge the Donut towns!!!

[novillero]

why not??? Home rule??? How many people vote in local elections? And how many times have local votes been overturned??? (think board of education).

Consolidation of services makes a lot of sense... However, small town mayors fighting for their jobs think otherwise. (Keep that in mind when you read their responses)

Bill calling for merger of 'doughnut' towns' gets cool reception
by Rudy Larini/The Star-Ledger
Monday February 09, 2009, 4:38 PM

A measure that would compel some two dozen of the state's so-called "doughnut" municipalities to merge or share major services with the larger municipalities that wholly surround them was rolled out for discussion today before the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.

It was not warmly received. A handful of local officials and municipal advocates said communities and voters need to make their own decisions on consolidation.

Some smaller towns forced to merge with larger ones actually could face higher taxes, they argued, because their salaries and other expenses already are lower than those of their larger counterparts.

"If you sit down and look at the facts, it will actually cost us more," said Councilman Peter Cammarano of Metuchen, a borough of 13,000 surrounded by the township of Edison, with a population of more than 100,000.

The bill sponsored by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) would force Metuchen and 21 other doughnut towns and the larger municipalities in which they are located to merge or enter into shared service agreements within a decade.

"We've all talked about consolidating communities for a number of years, but no one seems to get it done. No one seems to bring people to the altar," the assemblyman said. "I think we need to have some shotgun weddings."

Assemblyman Patrick Carroll (R-Morris), a member of the committee, said the state's municipal map might very well look different if communities were being designed from scratch. But he said Gusciora's proposal would be tough to sell in a state with 566 municipalities and a long tradition of home rule,

"You simply can't ignore 200 years of history," he said.

William G. Dressell Jr., executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said Gusciora's proposal would undermine the efforts of a state commission created by the Legislature to study the issue of municipal reorganization and consolidation.

"There is no evidence to support this radical approach," he said. "In fact, some evidence suggests smaller municipalities cost less to operate than larger municipalities.

Michael Cerra, the league's senior legislative analyst, said the issue of municipal consolidation should be left to the local electorate, as it is now. Municipalities now can merge only if voters in both towns approve the union in a referendum.

"If two communities want to merge, God bless them. Go for it," he said. "But you need the will of the voters in each of the two communities."

In 2001, there was a failed attempt in the Legislature to provide local governments and taxpayers in doughnut towns with a financial incentive to merge. The towns would have been given state aid and the measure also provided annual tax relief to residents whose property taxes rose as a result of consolidation.

The state's history of municipal mergers has not been good. Over the past five decades, only Vineland and Landis Township in Cumberland County and Pahaquarry and Hardwick townships in Warren County have consolidated.

Gusciora said he recognizes the uphill climb he faces in pushing such a controversial proposal as forced municipal mergers or shared services through the Legislature in a year with all 80 Assembly members up for re-election.

"Certainly a lot of legislators around here would like to avoid unpleasantries during an election year," he said.

"But I think we've reached a tipping point in New Jersey where we have to really start drastically thinking about property taxes," he said, "because people are just moving out of here in droves."

www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/bill_calling_for_merger_of_dou.html

[richardkelsey]

Feb 10, 2009 9:29:21 GMT -5 novillero said:

why not??? Home rule??? How many people vote in local elections? And how many times have local votes been overturned??? (think board of education).

Consolidation of services makes a lot of sense... However, small town mayors fighting for their jobs think otherwise. (Keep that in mind when you read their responses)

Bill calling for merger of 'doughnut' towns' gets cool reception
by Rudy Larini/The Star-Ledger
Monday February 09, 2009, 4:38 PM

A measure that would compel some two dozen of the state's so-called "doughnut" municipalities to merge or share major services with the larger municipalities that wholly surround them was rolled out for discussion today before the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.

It was not warmly received. A handful of local officials and municipal advocates said communities and voters need to make their own decisions on consolidation.

Some smaller towns forced to merge with larger ones actually could face higher taxes, they argued, because their salaries and other expenses already are lower than those of their larger counterparts.

"If you sit down and look at the facts, it will actually cost us more," said Councilman Peter Cammarano of Metuchen, a borough of 13,000 surrounded by the township of Edison, with a population of more than 100,000.

The bill sponsored by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) would force Metuchen and 21 other doughnut towns and the larger municipalities in which they are located to merge or enter into shared service agreements within a decade.

"We've all talked about consolidating communities for a number of years, but no one seems to get it done. No one seems to bring people to the altar," the assemblyman said. "I think we need to have some shotgun weddings."

Assemblyman Patrick Carroll (R-Morris), a member of the committee, said the state's municipal map might very well look different if communities were being designed from scratch. But he said Gusciora's proposal would be tough to sell in a state with 566 municipalities and a long tradition of home rule,

"You simply can't ignore 200 years of history," he said.

William G. Dressell Jr., executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said Gusciora's proposal would undermine the efforts of a state commission created by the Legislature to study the issue of municipal reorganization and consolidation.

"There is no evidence to support this radical approach," he said. "In fact, some evidence suggests smaller municipalities cost less to operate than larger municipalities.

Michael Cerra, the league's senior legislative analyst, said the issue of municipal consolidation should be left to the local electorate, as it is now. Municipalities now can merge only if voters in both towns approve the union in a referendum.

"If two communities want to merge, God bless them. Go for it," he said. "But you need the will of the voters in each of the two communities."

In 2001, there was a failed attempt in the Legislature to provide local governments and taxpayers in doughnut towns with a financial incentive to merge. The towns would have been given state aid and the measure also provided annual tax relief to residents whose property taxes rose as a result of consolidation.

The state's history of municipal mergers has not been good. Over the past five decades, only Vineland and Landis Township in Cumberland County and Pahaquarry and Hardwick townships in Warren County have consolidated.

Gusciora said he recognizes the uphill climb he faces in pushing such a controversial proposal as forced municipal mergers or shared services through the Legislature in a year with all 80 Assembly members up for re-election.

"Certainly a lot of legislators around here would like to avoid unpleasantries during an election year," he said.

"But I think we've reached a tipping point in New Jersey where we have to really start drastically thinking about property taxes," he said, "because people are just moving out of here in droves."

www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/bill_calling_for_merger_of_dou.html

I have said it before -- and I will say it again -- provide economic and tax incentives to municipalities and they will voluntarily combine to maximize their benefit. Such incentives will help ease the political burnden and opposition, and smooth the economic transition to providing lower cost services.

[admin]

www.app.com/article/20090323/NEWS/903230318

A bill introduced by Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (below), D-Mercer, would affect 12 towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties: Freehold and Freehold Township, Farmingdale and Howell, Englishtown and Manalapan, Lakehurst and Manchester, Tuckerton and Little Egg Harbor, and Lavallette and Toms River. The bill, introduced Feb. 5, would require "doughnut-hole" municipalities either to consolidate with the towns that surround them or enter into shared services agreements for all their major municipal services and functions. Towns would have to comply within 10 years after the bill takes effect.



Ask Carol Piatkowski-Perger what she thinks of Howell and Farmingdale merging, and the answer comes immediately.

"No!" said the proud Farmingdale resident.

"Farmingdale is a great little town. . . . Bigger is not better," Piatkowski-Perger, 61, said on a recent afternoon, as she finished errands in the tiny municipality's downtown.

But Piatkowski-Perger might have to get used to bigger, if a bill introduced last month becomes law.

Farmingdale is one of 29 municipalities statewide that would be affected by the bill that calls for either the merger of "doughnut-hole" municipalities and the townships that surround them or the sharing of the towns' major municipal services and functions, within 10 years after the bill goes into effect. The goal, according to the bill's sponsor, is to lower property taxes.

The bill comes at a critical time in the state's economic history: New Jersey's current budget deficit has climbed to $3.6 billion amid the recession. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has proposed furloughs and a wage freeze for state employees, and billions of dollars in cuts were included in the budget put forward by the governor on Tuesday.

For the first time in decades, municipalities have begun slashing work forces, and extended furloughs have roiled towns such as Howell.

Shared services are becoming a more popular option for local towns, as expenses like pension payments skyrocket and taxation caps force local officials to do more with less.

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Corzine tried to prod small towns last year into either merging or sharing services by threatening to slash their municipal aid. Last week, he again urged towns to share or consolidate services to help rein in the state's rising property taxes.



Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, is taking his own a run at the issue with his bill that would force the consolidation of small boroughs like Farmingdale and Freehold into the much larger townships that encircle them.

"It (consolidation) may not work in every doughnut hole, but I don't think the status quo is acceptable," Gusciora said.

But the bill has split local officials and residents, with arguments over self-determination, town identity and high property taxes dominating the debate.

Government has to get smaller, Howell Mayor Bob Walsh said, if there is to be property tax relief.

"Our system's broken," Walsh said.

But in a state with a small-town history going back to Colonial days, and home rule embedded in the laws and tradition, plenty of critics say the decision to consolidate should be left up to the towns themselves, not the state.

"We believe the taxpayers and citizens should have the right to decide," said William G. Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

The bill is inappropriate, anyway, Dressel says, because a state commission is reviewing consolidation and other alternatives to make local governments more efficient. That commission should be allowed to continue its work on the issue, Dressel says.

The Freehold Township Committee echoed those sentiments last month, when members passed a resolution "vehemently" opposing Gusciora's bill.

Consolidation should only take place if the towns' residents vote to accept the change, Freehold Township Mayor Raymond Kershaw said.

But Gusciora said municipalities had their shot at consolidation, and they failed to act. Now the state has to take charge.

Representatives of the affected towns, however, worry that mergers would cause complications and hurt towns financially. For example, what happens if one town has a higher tax rate than the other?

"Nobody should be financially penalized for doing it (consolidation)," Kershaw said.

If doughnut towns balk at merging, they could share major services such as law enforcement and administrative operations instead, Gusciora said. He would also seek financial assistance for towns that are affected by the law.

But residents such as Juan George, who lives in Farmingdale, aren't convinced yet.

"I think Farmingdale should stay exactly like it is," said George, 55.

"It (Farmingdale) has got a small-town feel. That's something that's just getting lost," George said.