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April 3, 2008 - 8:22am

Does size really matter?

By Debbie Holtz
Tags: Jon CorzineTop Story: Opinion

Apparently size matters where the Governor’s concerned. He’s proposed reducing aid to local towns less than 10,000 residents and slashing it completely for communities smaller than 5,000.

As reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer this week: ”The governor says that governments for small municipalities are among the root causes of New Jersey's property taxes, which are the highest in the nation. He has suggested that some towns merge.”

But here’s where a bit more analysis or fact checking would go a long way toward helping readers better understand the budget debate…the kind recently offered by The Record’s James Ahearn’s in his column: “Real help from Trenton, not talk”.

Consider these facts easily found with a few clicks of the mouse from a recent 2005 Local Public Finance Database prepared by the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers:


  • The average municipal expenditures per capita were $1,151 statewide.
  • Of the 323 communities with populations under 10,000, 60 % had municipal per capita budgets below the state average.
  • For the 243 larger towns and cities, 66% similarly had municipal per capita budgets below the state average.
  • The state’s ten lowest ranked municipal spenders per capita were all communities with less than 10,000 residents – in fact, spending in these towns averaged two-thirds lower than the state average.
  • The state’s ten highest ranked municipal spenders per capita all had populations greater than 10,000 residents, including Trenton, Newark, Camden and Atlantic City. On average, the top ten ranked 113% higher than the state average.

So where are the inefficiencies in smaller governments?

Send tips to debbie.holtz@politickernj.com
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Comments

Misreading statistics

posted by willmonk

It's too easy to say cities have a higher than average cost per capita, and small towns have a lower than average cost. This is either a deliberate or accidental distortion of statistics.

   Cities will always have a higher cost per capita because they get more vistors from outside their borders: the casinos in Atlantic City, or the colleges in Newark. Thus, they need more police, fire, sanitation etc., to cope with visitors who don't go to small towns.

     But the inefficiencies are clear: Eastampton, Hainesport, Lumberton, Mount Holly, and Westampton have six school districts and bureaucracies - but only one regional high school. Long Beach Island has six municipalities on a strip of sand one mile wide. Four towns called Wildwood could easily join together and cut public staff, but of course that is the whole point. Those in office do not really want to merge towns because it would layoff public employees. The democrats in Trenton have the power to unilaterally merge any town under 500 people, but none of these twelve towns are touched, because Governor Corzine and the legislative leadership are simply going through the motions.

 Just this week voters in Burlington will elect candidates to the Board of Island Managers, to "manage" an island that has had no buildings on it for seventy five years. Oh, yes. an election at taxpayer expense. The amount of money may be small, but the ludicrous idea itself proves that consolidation and elimination of unnecessary government entities is long overdo.

04/03/08 2:36 pm

Willmonk -- go to the beach???

posted by ImWithStupid

Willmonk sas:  Cities will always have a higher cost per capita because they get more vistors from outside their borders."

 There are probably around 100 towns up and down the shore.  The quadruple in population  or more in the summer.  Newark gets lots of visitors... but so does Belmar.  Maybe the lower costs in small towns is atributable to closer vigilance b y people in them who ae closer to the elected officials and town employees.  Maybe it has to do with te spirit of community involvement that translates into volunteer fire service.  Maybe it has to do wit small town elected officials rarely being paid more than $1,000 if anything while councils in Newark get $85,000 with aids, and expense accounts.  Maybe it has to do with the reality that urban areas pack more clout and get lots of aid that small towns dont get and then blow it on trips to rio for their Mayor.  Maybe it has to do with cities feeling they can charge whatever they want since their counterpart schoolbopards get paid for by the sate and don't pinch taxpayers.  Idiot.

04/04/08 7:34 am

Incentive needed

posted by Michael Bellew

I feel it is discriminatory to shut the aid pipeline completely to towns of a small size, however, we do need longer term fiscal encouragements to consolidate municipal units in the face of soaring costs. A state the size of ours, with 500+ towns/cities/boros each having governing bodies and administrative overheads is bound to strap the property owner with taxes.

04/05/08 2:12 pm

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