Commission Recommends Consolidation for Princeton

The Princeton Consolidation and Shared Services Study Commission voted 9-1 on Wednesday to recommend that Princeton Borough and Princeton Township consolidate into a single entity.

The new entity, called Princeton, would operate under a borough form of government with an elected mayor and six at-large council members to hold staggered terms.

“We really do have a fabulous opportunity for a stronger, more unified, more efficient, more harmonious community,” said commission Chairman Anton Lahnston.

Borough Councilor and mayoral candidate David Goldfarb voted no, saying he would prefer to see both consolidation and shared services options on the ballot.

But attorneys for both municipalities have said doing so is not allowed under state law, Township Mayor Chad Goerner said.

After the meeting, Goldfarb said he believes the commission should have taken a more advisory role and not gone so far as to recommend consolidation.

“I think the commission has become and advocacy group for consolidation,” Goldfarb said.

Next, it will be up to Borough Council and the Township Committee whether to put the consolidation question on the ballot, Lahnston said.

The commission estimates consolidation could save $3.1 million in staff costs and redundancies.

According to the commission’s analysis, the average 2011 borough tax bill is $3,222. Calculating both direct and indirect consolidation savings, the average borough tax bill would decline by $591.

The average 2011 township tax bill is $3,596. Calculating both direct and indirect consolidation savings, the average township tax bill would decline by $416.

“For anyone who is interested – and you should be interested – the report will be posted on the CGR website by tomorrow morning,” Lahnston told residents.

It’s impossible to estimate exactly what borough and township residents would actually save under consolidation – if voters choose to approve such a measure- because Princeton’s municipal finances and equalization rates can change yearly.

Should voters approve consolidation, it would not take effect until 2012, Goerner said.

The commission will submit its draft report to the state in June and request for funding for consolidation transition costs, which, although tentative and ever-changing, are currently estimated at $1.3 million.

Mark Pfeiffer, deputy director of the division of Local Government Services, who has been working with the commission, said there’s no guarantee for a state-funded transition, but that a request should be made as soon as possible.

Borough resident Anne Neumann said everyone she admires supports consolidation, but she believes there some differences between the borough and the township residents run deep, including an active walking and bicycling culture in the borough, an issue that became clear in the discussions over the library’s location and the Dinky train.

“I find myself as borough resident who will always been outnumbered 2-1, who would like to have an option for either shared services or consolidation on the ballot,” she said.

Goerner said the borough and township have a joint sidewalk and bicycle committee and that a majority of residents live in an area that includes Princeton Borough and the neighborhoods split by the borough and the township border.

Former borough Mayor Marvin Reed, who said he was involved in discussions over whether to keep the library downtown or relocate it to the Princeton Shopping Center, disputed Neumann’s comments.

“The debate over the library wasn’t a debate between borough and township residents,” Reed said.