12TH District Assembly candidate Declan O’Scanlon, a Little Silver councilman, is a leader of the groundbreaking effort to share police services mentioned below.

 Merger study gets a boost

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/21/07

A proposal to merge at least three Monmouth County police departments moved forward last week with a $40,950 state grant to fund a study of the plan. Residents of the towns involved — Rumson, Fair Haven and Little Silver — should encourage the potential cost savings.

A consulting firm will study the results of a police department merger in Morris County and see what similar consolidations and savings could be found in merging the three departments, with the possible addition of Shrewsbury and Oceanport, into one Two Rivers department.

Public officials in those towns are doing right by their taxpayers by looking into streamlined municipal services. With the state's continued failure to mandate consolidation of such services and school districts, we're glad to see towns moving forward on their own.

Times are changing. A decade ago, Sen. Leonard T. Connors Jr., R-Ocean, asked all the residents of Surf City, where he is mayor, if they'd like to see consolidation of police services on Long Beach Island and the response was 18-to-1 against it. He might have a different response today, with property taxes soaring. Last month, Point Pleasant Beach officials hosted a forum on consolidating police and other services.

Eight other Monmouth towns are studying a proposal similar to the Two Rivers plan. Belmar police and administrators are looking at merging into a South Monmouth Regional Police Department. Area towns of comparable size should begin their own talks on consolidation, and see if information from the Two Rivers and South Monmouth studies could be applied to their own situations.

The study for the proposed Two Rivers police department should be completed in nine months to a year. Local officials should ask for regular updates and provide reports at town meetings to keep taxpayers on top of what's happening.

The towns also should consider further consolidations, such as administrative, code enforcement and road maintenance functions. If savings are found, their shared services could be a model for the state.New Jersey's 566 municipalities and 615 school districts have ignored the potential savings of merged services for far too long, fearing loss of "home rule." But there are plenty of savings to be found in merging administrative and purchasing services without giving up home town individuality.

A merger of fire and rescue services in five Hudson County towns saved $40 million in seven years. With the state's residents bearing the burden of the highest property taxes in the nation, this type of consolidation should be a no-brainer. "Home rule" isn't worth the price if you can't afford to live in your home.