The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff if the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, did you know that Bergen County, New Jersey, is home to a staggering 70 municipalities? Among them, there are 56 boroughs, three cities, two villages, and nine townships, making it the county with the most municipalities in the entire state. But why does one of New Jersey’s 21 counties house about 12% of the state’s total municipalities?
file photo by Boyd Loving
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is supporting bill S-1 today, which promotes shared services and potential cost savings for local and county governments.
from the Bergen County Historical Society
Continue reading Bergen County Home Rule: Political Legacy or Luxury?
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Mayors for “Main Street” sent a letter to the Governor’s Office, Legislative Leaders, Legislative District Representatives and County Officials to outline a list of actions needed to help reopen and lift restrictions on businesses in their communities and help to alleviate the struggles that many residents are facing.
The letter lays out the following points that the Mayors believe appropriate and necessary steps:
Continue reading Mayors for “Main Street” Outline a list of Actions Needed to Help Reopen New Jersey
Richard F. Keevey | September 13, 2017
A series that details the fundamentals of New Jersey’s budget, as well as its current budget woes
Richard F. Keevey
This is the first in a multipart series outlining New Jersey’s fiscal fundamentals, written by Richard F. Keevey, the former budget director and comptroller for New Jersey and currently a senior policy fellow at the School of Planning and Policy at Rutgers University. The idea behind this series is to demystify some of the state’s financial challenges, and put them in context of the broader issues New Jersey faces. It’s also intended as a way to underscore the importance of state government in a year that will see a new governor and a new Legislature chosen by voters.
New Jersey has a strong central government. The governor has potent appointment and financial powers. New Jersey’s local governments like to tout their home-rule powers — and they’re correct in certain circumstances — but when it comes to municipal, county, and school finance the state’s powers and oversight are quite significant.
The office of the governor is viewed as the strongest in the country. Unlike many states, New Jersey’s governor (and lieutenant governor) are the only officers elected statewide, and all cabinet officers and principal state officials are appointed by the governor — unlike Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York, for example, where several cabinet officials are elected.
https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/09/12/budget-basics-how-new-jersey-spends-your-money/
Updated on September 3, 2017 at 8:02 AM Posted on September 3, 2017 at 6:30 AM
With an election coming up, we’re hearing a lot about consolidating towns and school districts as a means of solving our property-tax problem.
Before this goes any further, let me warn all involved about the nature of such transactions.
Consolidations are like weddings. There are two types: weddings of attraction, into which both partners enter willingly; and shotgun weddings, in which one party takes part only because of compulsion.
The latter describes one Monmouth County town that I covered in the waning days of the Corzine administration, Loch Arbour.
The elected officials of this charming little town by the sea entered into a mutually beneficial pact with nearby Ocean Township when they set up a shared-services agreement. They would send their kids to Ocean schools in return for a per-pupil payment of about $15,000 per year.
Updated on August 6, 2017 at 8:46 AMPosted on August 6, 2017 at 8:45 AM
By South Jersey Times Editorial Board
Please, someone, bottle whatever is in the drinking water in Elmer borough and Pittsgrove Township, and feed it regularly to residents and officials in at least 100 of New Jersey’s smaller towns.
Whatever is in the water of the two Salem County municipalities has given them immunity against a lack of common sense. As of Aug. 1, the Elmer school district is no more, having been integrated into Pittsgrove’s public school district.
This merger of not-quite-equals gives New Jersey one fewer school district, and it was accomplished without all the Sturm und Drang that usually accompanies even whispers about district combinations.
Pittsgrove and Elmer officials who drink the water have, thankfully, refused to drink the Kool-Aid that suggests New Jersey requires every school district and municipal government it now has. Vast quantities of this punch are usually served by teachers’ unions and municipal lobbying groups.
Home rule has a price, especially when you have 500 plus municipalities. Cops per capita and classroom sizes are not outrageous or out of the ordinary. The administrative overlay is. How many chiefs of police compared to NYC which has a similar population to the garden state. School administration duplication is also over the top because of home rule. Unfortunately merging and regionalizing has been an ugly process here. Look at the games when Wallington and Carlstadt were discussing regionalizing with East Rutherford. It’s still about who is the king dog and who is willing to give up on some levers of power.
file photo by Boyd Loving
511 municipalities. Home rule isn’t cheap. Delayering administration and management would yield tons. How many police chiefs in NJ vs. NYC, which have about the same population? How many superintendents? rationalize pay scales too. Unfortunately, it’s all aspirational…if you look at some of the school regionalizations that did not take place, a big reason was proportionate representation and cost allocation. It’s easy to sloganeer, it’s tough to end local rule.
file photo by Boyd Loving
Good luck – this hurts union jobs and so those thugs and their toadies in Trenton will say anything and everything to oppose municipal consolidation. Home rule allows for about 70% more police than we actually need, etc. But the unions lackeys will lie till their Pinocchio noses reach Pennsylvania telling us all how our safety is at risk without home rule. Look at Waldwick, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ridgewood, Glen rock and Midland Park: one police dept with one chief would suffice, but instead we have five chiefs and top heavy brass. Great for the unions, outright theft of taxpayers. It’s blue collar crime.
By CURTIS LEEDS
May 3, 2017 at 11:29 AM
FLEMINGTON, NJ – The state’s property taxes are the highest in the nation, and they were also the target of the gubernatorial candidates who gathered here last week in a forum to discuss the issues facing Garden State voters.
The forum sponsored by Progressive Hunterdon Democrats featured three Democratic gubernatorial candidates and spokespersons for two others.
Debbie Wisniewski spoke on behalf of her husband Assemblyman John Wisniewski.
“There are nearly 1,400 different forms off government all with the authority to tax,” she said. “If we truly serious about property tax reform, then we need to get serious about … consolidation.”
…this has been a problem for almost 4 decades. I wish there was a magic solution. Sen Moynihan was trying to figure this out and commented how convoluted and arcane the process was. I would think holding our washington reps accountable and stop re-electing them unless they work to divert more money home would be a start. Our current congressman mentioned this in his campaign and is working to get some more money home…. the other part is home rule, which is our problem to fix. No one wants to regionalize so we have 500 plus municipalities of overlapping services. Yes the pension system needs to be fixed but people have to make our reps accountable, which except in rare instances like our district, is not happening today.
By Michael Symons March 27, 2017 9:58 PM
Ten years ago this month, a state law was enacted encouraging more municipal consolidations as a method for saving money and reducing property taxes.
In the decade since, there’s been just one merger – the combining of Princeton borough and township.
Now a less ambitious update to the effort is on Gov. Chris Christie’s desk. It seeks to clarify some of the rules and tools though does include a few wrinkles – such as allowing towns to merge that are near each other but aren’t directly neighbors.
Sen. Bob Gordon, D-Bergen, said he doesn’t foresee a surge of municipal consolidations because of the bill – though he does think local voters will look at the prospects more willingly as costs keep rising.
“There’s no reason why two small towns next to each other or close to each other shouldn’t get together and try to save some money,” Gordon said.
Read More: Bill aims to merge NJ towns — even when they aren’t neighbors | https://nj1015.com/bill-aims-to-promote-municipal-mergers-even-if-towns-arent-neighbors/?trackback=tsmclip
April 1, 2016
STATEMENT FROM PETITIONERS
Dear Village Council of Ridgewood-
From our attorneys regarding the referendum petition to repeal Ordinance #3521:
“We are confident that the bond counsel is wrong. Bond ordinances are NOT controlled by the Faulkner Act or Walsh Act
or any other general act that gives NJ residents the right of referendum. The right to repeal a bond is a right shared by ALL
New Jersey residents under the Local Home Rule Act, not just Faulkner Act towns.”
New Jersey Statutes Annotated. N.J.S.A. 40A:49-10 reads as follows:“Any proposition submitted to the voters of any municipality under the provisions of section 40:49-9 or of section 40:49-27 of this title shall be voted upon at the next general election held in
If a special election is called, and $40-45,000.00 of municipal funds are used, that will be a choice that the Council alone makes, and for which
the Council alone will be held accountable.
Thank you.
Gail McCarthy & Lorraine Reynolds
