New report reaffirms the benefits of NJ towns sharing services

A report from Moody’s Investors Services reaffirms the idea that municipalities can save money and stem rising property taxes by pooling resources and sharing services.

According to Michael Darcy, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, shared services are a smart way for local governments and counties to save money.

“I think most people realize when you purchase in bulk you usually get better prices. Well, governments do that, too, by combining their purchasing," he said.

He said shared services can cover snow plowing, street reconstruction as well as police and fire service.

“The savings are not going to be necessarily changing the game but they are an ingredient that should be used with other things in order to control property taxes," he said.

Municipalities can share services in small ways, which can add up savings over time.

Darcy said that to save money in the future, the state will need to look at laws governing how municipalities enter into labor-based requirements.

“It would be where one town is a Civil Service town doing their labor agreements under Civil Service regulations and the next town over is non-Civil Service. If you want them to combine their labor, you’ve got to make it possible for the Civil Service town to drop its Civil Service requirements.”

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