Consolidation - the Back Story

This Thursday, Oct 28 at 7pm, Princetonians have a chance to weigh in on an issue that has literally divided the town for decades:  consolidation.

For Princeton Township and Princeton Borough, the issue of consolidation—merging not just services and schools, but also local governments—has been a hot topic since the 1950s. Like several New Jersey communities, the two towns are independently run, though the borough is completely surrounded by the township.

Many officials say that merging such municipalities could lower New Jersey’s infamously high property taxes and increase overall efficiency. As state budget cuts cut services, the proposition is looking increasingly attractive to some.

So consolidation is once again on the table, with a public meeting on Thursday at John Witherspoon Middle School, for residents to provide feedback on a new township-borough study of consolidation and shared services.

The two municipalities have voted on three unsuccessful referenda to consolidate in the past. But this is the first time that they have considered the idea since the approval of the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act of 2007, which addresses several contentious issues around consolidation. It guards against property tax increases for residents, for example, by having the state pay the difference until they move. The act also permits apportionment of debt, which means that taxpayers of each town would only be responsible for their own pre-consolidation debts.

A joint Consolidation/Shared Services Study Commission of Township and Borough representatives was formed in August to evaluate consolidation.  If the joint commission ultimately chooses to recommend that the township and borough merge, a referendum could appear on the ballot in November 2011. The commission, whose voting members consist of five representatives from the township and five from the borough, was formed in August. Both Princeton Borough mayor Mildred Trotman and Princeton Township mayor Bernard Miller are on the commission.

Commission chair Anton Lahnston said that the members were approaching the issue with an open mind. Besides working with an independent consultant, the Center for Governmental Research, on feasibility studies for consolidation, the group will also look at shared services, especially of the police and public works departments. Many who have voiced opposition to completely combining the township and borough see sharing services as a cost-saving compromise.

The two municipalities are already intensely linked when it comes to service provision, partnering with each other to deliver 17 different services, including fire and first aid, recreation services, and an environmental commission. The public library is also shared, and children in the borough and the township fall into the same regional school district.

But although several elements of the borough and township have combined—the two even share a planning board—many residents remain hesitant or opposed to the idea of one Princeton, especially in the borough. Part of the resistance comes from concern over losing the smaller borough’s unique identity if it is incorporated into a larger entity. The sentiment is not unique to Princeton — many consolidation efforts have failed because voters prefer greater local autonomy.

“We currently have a lot of shared services in our community,” said Lahnston, a resident of the borough. “Is the emotion still there? I’m sure it is — people have spoken to me about it. They like the idea of the borough being small, manageable and independent of the township.”

Borough Councilman David Goldfarb, a member of the commission, told the Princeton Packet in June that he opposed consolidation in 1996, the last time voters considered a referendum, because he was concerned that the quality of life in downtown Princeton Borough would be threatened if under the control of a joint government. The Township Committee at the time had expressed interest in moving the Princeton Public Library out of the area.

While voters in the township approved the 1996 proposal to merge, borough residents rejected it by a narrow margin, even though at the time, consolidation would have lowered their property taxes.

With a weaker economy, however, the possibility of lower taxes may prove to be a more powerful incentive this time around. Rising property taxes and budget cuts have led representatives from the Borough Council, the Township Committee and the school board to ask Princeton University to increase its financial contributions to the municipalities within the last year.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation, with residents paying on average almost 12 percent of their income on state and local taxes. In part, this can be attributed in some part to its dense network of local governments — at 566, the state has the most municipalities per square mile, many with their own police departments, schools, public officials and other services, funded by property taxes. Nearly 60 percent of these towns have fewer than 10,000 residents.

As New Jersey towns developed in the 19th century, more populous or developed areas often broke off to create their own municipalities. Until almost 1900, a borough was able to incorporate with only a majority vote of its citizens, allowing many small communities to break off from larger ones, forming “hole and doughnut” municipalities like Princeton.

New Jersey has been active in promoting consolidation of its many towns for some time, funding studies like the one in Princeton. Both former Governor Jon Corzine and Governor Chris Christie have called for municipal consolidation as one way to combat high property taxes and make the state more competitive with its neighbors — as well as streamline New Jersey’s local governments. In 2008, Corzine proposed financial incentives — limiting state aid for towns under 10,000 residents — to encourage smaller towns to merge. Governor Chris Christie instead supports a strict property tax cap that would tighten local tax revenue, which he has said would encourage residents and local governments to move toward consolidation and shared services without state mandates. The 2 percent cap will go into effect on Jan. 1.

The argument for consolidation holds that larger municipalities benefit from economies of scale and are more efficient, as redundant services — two fire departments, for example — are eliminated. Combining them would go far in helping to bring down property taxes, supporters say, easing a financial burden on residents.

Opponents to consolidation, however, say that bringing the two communities together could create a bigger, more cumbersome bureaucracy, with few cost benefits. “I think one of the issues people keep raising is that when towns consolidate, they don’t save a lot of money initially, because there are costs to the process of consolidation. One of the issues that might be present is that we’re kidding ourselves if we think that consolidation is going to save money,” Lahnston said. “I think over the long haul, there should be some savings that we realize through efficiencies and reductions in redundancies.”

According to the state Municipal Consolidation Act, if the commission ultimately decides to recommend consolidation, voters in both municipalities will vote on a referendum. The two would merge only if a majority of voters in both the township and borough are in favor of consolidation.

But the study is still in the beginning stages, Lahnston said, and a conclusion is “at least six to nine months in the making.” For now, the committee is opening up discussion to local residents. “It becomes somewhat of a personal issue,” he said. “For thousands of individuals, the question is, how is it going to affect me?”

The public forum will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 28, at the John Witherspoon Middle School Auditorium, at 217 Walnut Lane.

About the Author

Angela Wu

Angela Wu '12 is a student at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. Her work has appeared in publications including Newsweek, Marie Claire and the Newark Star-Ledger, and she is a columnist for the Princeton Alumni Weekly.