Officials Address Consolidation Concerns at Wednesday's Forum

The cost of solid waste collection, leaf and yard waste pickup, as well as ratables and transition costs were among the biggest concerns at a consolidation meeting Wednesday.

About 50 people attended the joint community meeting with Princeton Borough Council and the Township Committee.

On Nov. 8, residents will decide whether or not to consolidate the two municipalities into a combined entity known as Princeton.

The Princeton Consolidation and Shared Services Study Commission recommended consolidation with a 9-1 vote, and estimates that upon full implementation, Princeton would save about $3.16 million annually.

Some have questioned the accuracy of those savings with the additional cost to extend the borough’s solid waste pickup throughout the township.

Consultant Joe Stefko, director of finance for the Center for Governmental Research, said the $3.1 savings estimate is the sum of the staff savings once municipal departments are combined.

“A portion of $3.1 million in efficiency savings is offset by the additional cost of building in town-wide solid waste collection which was a recommendation the commission made in its final plan,” Stefko said.

David Goldfarb, a member of Borough Council and the lone dissenting vote on the Consolidation Commission, countered that argument.

“From the borough’s point of view, the $3.1 million is essentially meaningless because the borough gets no benefit whatsoever out of extending garbage collection into the township,” he said.

Another area of concern is the schedule of leaf and yard waste pick up in a consolidated Princeton. Currently, the borough service is every other week and the township is more infrequent.

Consolidation Study Commission Member Alice Small said the issue is a concern, but suggested that a merged Princeton could offer more frequent service to residents who live in the densely populated borough.

Some residents worry that borough residents will lose profitable ratables that are coming onto the tax rolls, including new units at Hullfish North and future units at Merwick and the hospital site.

Trotman explained there are 562 estimated new residential units in the borough and 801 in the township. Non-residential development is 37,500 square feet in the borough, 148,000 feet in the township.

Commission Member Patrick Simon said the 100 units at Hullfish North are already on the 2011 tax rolls, are under tax appeal and more than half are rental units, which bring in less tax revenue than a condo unit. He cautioned anyone from drawing conclusions from the numbers.

“When you look at all the number and put them all together, it’s very hard to make a rational case of any kind that says either town gains or loses when it comes to new development,” Simon said.

If Princeton were to consolidate, it would incur an estimated $1.7 million in transition costs. 

Gov. Chris Christie recently announced that the state will provide grants for 20 percent of one-time consolidation costs, the first year of expenses, and that he is proposing legislation to allow merging municipalities to amortize one-time consolidation costs over five years.

Kate Warren and Alexi Assmus, members of the anti-consolidation group Preserve Our Historic Borough, said Wednesday that public documents show most department transition costs were reduced significantly prior to submission to the state. IT costs, for example, were requested at more than $2 million, but that amount was ultimately reduced to less than $200,000.

Township Mayor Chad Goerner, who headed the consolidation commission’s finance committee, said many of the IT requests were already paid for or included elsewhere in the transition costs. He said state officials asked for a best guess estimate, not a wish list.

Consolidation in Princeton isn’t a new idea and has been discussed at least half a dozen times in the past 60 years.

Tony Cline, a former borough and current township resident, is an adjunct professor in sociology and education at Teacher’s College at Columbia University.

 “The fact that this is the third time since I’ve lived in this community that this issue is up and still generating some enormous amount discussion and some intense opposition is something as a social scientist I find quite remarkable and some of the things I’d expect maybe I would find in Medici in ancient Florence,” Cline said.

“I think it’s time for us to move ahead, face the future. There are problems that will occur with this. But if we take a longer-range view- don’t worry about collecting your leaves n fall, or the following spring, let’s think five to 10 years ahead. Had we consolidated 10 years ago, we’d be in a much better place than we are today."

Borough resident Phyllis Teitelbaum disagrees and addressed her comments to Princeton’s undecided voters.

She believes taxes will go up, not down, under consolidation, police services will decline and borough voters will lose guaranteed representation on the school board, planning board, zoning board and the recreation board.