FDU Poll: Most Voters Want Towns to Share Services

Warren Township and local school districts share a number of services, and a recent poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind center says most New Jersey voters say that's a good idea.

According to local administrators, there's a long list of services being shared, including some many might not realize are shared services.

The township participates in a joint insurance fund, regional health commission, regional municipal alliance, and joint purchasing cooperatives, according to Township Adminstrator Mark Krane. The township also has agreements with Somerset County for transportation services for seniors, and participates in the Somerset County Library System.  

"Some of the things we're most proud of are the things we've done with Somerset County for parks and recreation," Krane said. As an example, he said the township leases land in the East County Preserve, which is then sub-leased to recreational groups for use as playing fields for recreational sports like football and lacrosse.  "I know the committee is very proud of the fact we've been able to involve the public and the private groups for these projects —they're really for the benefit of residents."

In addition, he and Warren Township School District Business Administrator Peter Daquila note the agreement between the two entities provides the township Internet access and computer and technological support from the school district, while the district enjoys grounds maintenance by the township.

According to the poll, Republicans like the idea better than Democrats, and men like it better than women, according to the poll.

New Jersey has 566 municipalities, most of which are working to make sense of an ever-toughening budget climate. So PublicMind director Peter Woolley said he's not surprised by the results.

“Given every town’s problems with tight budgets, high property taxes, and pension contributions, perhaps sharing services is an idea whose time has finally come,” Woolley, a political scientist, said in a release from FDU. “It used to be that shared services were a good idea for someone else’s town. Now voters are suggesting it’s a good idea for their town too,” he added.

According to the poll, 71 percent say in order to save money, sharing services like police, fire and school administration is a good idea, while 19 percent say it’s a bad idea.  Three of four Republicans (76 percent) say it’s a good idea, and so do two of three Democrats (67 percent).

The statistics are similar when voters are asked about whether their own towns should be sharing services, but Krane notes Warren officials won't jump at any opportunity for sharing services.

"I think shared services must be looked at individually, and make economic (sense) on that shared service," he said. "You have got to look at each one."

But he added the township has looked to take advantage of as many agreements as possible, including a recently-purchased storm sewer cleaner purchased jointly with Watchung Borough.

"That's been the direction of the governing body, to look at (shared services)—and you can tell that by the number," he said.

Asked specifically about sharing their police services with a neighboring town, 64 percent of voters agree it’s a good idea, while 29 percent object, according to the poll. On that issue, 71 percent of men say sharing cops is a good idea, but only 58 percent of women agree, according to the poll.

The gender divide is seen on the issue of sharing school administration as well. Overall, 66 percent of polled voters said it was a good idea, while 25 percent were against it. But 71 percent of men were for sharing school administration, while only 61 percent of women liked the idea.

On sharing fire services with another town: 66 percent of those polled were for it, and 27 percent were against it. Seventy-one percent of men liked the idea; only 60 percent of women liked it.

“Of course, the devil is in the details when trying to merge services,” said Woolley. “The service providers themselves are often the first ones to object to a change in how things are administered.”

Somerset County is studying the potential benefits and drawbacks of consolidating municipal police departments in the county into three regional precincts. Warren officials are participating in the study, which is being led by Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano.

"At some point in the future, the governing bodies are going to be asked to make a decision (about consolidating police departments), but that's a long way down the road," Krane said.

The Fairleigh Dickinson University poll of 711 registered voters statewide was conducted by telephone using both landlines and cell phones from March 29 through April 4 and has a margin of error of  plus or minus 4 percentage points.