By: centraljersey.com
A second public information session was held by the Joint Shared Services/Consolidation Commission on Tuesday to update the study progress, review the baseline report, review the next steps and the timeline and engage members of the public in a dialogue.
The first phase of the work done by the commission was a clinical, objective look and documentation of all the services, staff and services in each municipality. The baseline report has been viewed 3,800 times and downloaded 400 times since it was uploaded about a month and a half ago to the website of the Rochester-based Center for Governmental Research, the independent consultant hired by the two municipalities to guide the study.
"The goal is to build a knowledge base before we go forward," said Joseph Stefko, director of public finance for the center. "And document key differences that may lead to different expectations."
Princeton Borough and Princeton Township are examining the possibility of sharing additional services, mainly police and public works or total municipal consolidation. They commission will have questions on the ballot this November so residents can vote on the issue.
In some ways the Princetons are ahead of the game, said Mr. Stefko.
"In all the communities we’ve worked in, there’s more sharing going on in the Princetons than anywhere else … it does demonstrate a certain trust across the municipal boundaries and takes it a step further and demonstrates a willingness on the part of both to look for opportunities to provide services and work collaboratively to provide services to the larger community."
The baseline report explains all municipal staffing, responsibilities and related costs details financial information such as budget, income, debt. It explains functional services provided by the municipalities individually, jointly and jointly funded by a third party.
Most important part of the evening was the commission’s chance to hear from the public. They took comments and questions for about 40 minutes from the about 30 in attendance.
Sandra Persichetti, a township resident who read the full report and stood at the microphone with a copy in her hand and talked about what she thought was an "excessive" number of staff members within both municipalities. She said there are 294 people on staff in both municipalities and divided it by the number of residents.
"It turns out we have one staff person per 97 people using the 2010 populations; if you then add the elected officials and the appointed board and commission members it comes down to one staff/elected/appointed per 53 people. That seems excessive to me, I don’t know what the norm is, all I know is I went to Catholic school all my life and had more kids in the classroom than that and one nun, and points to the need for consolidation."
There may be additional opportunities for shared services with the recreation department and the schools.
William Wolf, a borough resident who said he did not read the full report, offered the suggestion to include a study of the school board and the recreation department within the consolidation.
"Not only is a lot of property in town administered by the school board, a lot of property is administered by the school board and they do not allow shared use," he said. "So for example, the recreation department has soccer programs largely on weekends and they are not allowed to use school grounds. The recreation department is always lobbying for more facilities. I would suggest the commission should look for opportunities for shared services with a third party."
He also talked about the pools in the area, with a newer pool in the John Witherspoon Middle School that the public was promised access to, even though public tax dollars are supporting it and the fact that the recreation department is looking to expand its pool facilities.
Ratables, revaluation and debt levels all were inquired about from residents.
"The report misses it does not go into the allocation of valuation between commercial, residential and exempt (properties)," said Scott Sellers, a township resident. "It also does not try to ferret out population based on work force, the amount of the work force that is in the borough or the township every day."
Sheldon Sturgis, a borough resident and managing director and co-founder of Princeton Future, asked how the commission will forecast the revenue from new residences and ratables coming online in the borough in 2012.
Ratables and debt are being examined by the finance subcommittee of the commission.
Ordinances and codes caught the attention of Marvin Reed, a borough resident and former mayor. He liked the idea that upon consolidation individual ordinances could be continued and municipalities would not need to be re-coded all at one time and the new government would continue to operate under existing ordinances.
"It’s comforting to know that if we don’t get it all done in time we will continue to operate under our prior ordinances, that in and of itself gives us a little comfort to trust the system and say we can work some of these things out over time."
Other departments should not have any problem working under two sets of ordinances because the regional planning board functions under two sets of ordinances and manages to get things done, said William Sutphin, a township resident. He also expressed concern about the voter turnout for this November election, which is not a "major" election year with no presidential or governor election.
The timeline for the rest of the commission’s work was laid out.
This month and next they will begin identifying options preliminary impact analysis.
In April there will be discussion of what’s feasible, appropriate and implementable; options report containing full menu of options with an accompanying Division of Community Affairs report will be issued and public meeting number three will be held.
In May the commission will begin to select from among options, develop a formal plan and commendations.
In June and July the governing bodies will view reports and additional public hearings will be held.
In August the referendum for the November election will be crafted.
September and October will bring additional public hearings.
And the issue will be on the election ballot in November.

