Princeton Residents Debate Consolidation

Sunday night’s debate on the merits on consolidating Princeton Borough and Princeton Township brought out well over 100 residents and highlighted the issues between consolidation proponents and those who oppose the effort.

The panel included consolidation opponents Kate Warren and Alexi Assmus of Preserve Our Historic Borough and Claire Jacobus and Patrick Simon of Unite Princeton, who spoke in favor of the proposal. All panelists were borough residents.

Each side gave an opening argument, closing argument and time in between to answer questions submitted by residents.

At moments the debate highlighted the strong emotions this issue elicits. Simon accused Assmus of fabricating consolidation costs and Warren later objected when Simon spoke out of turn, saying “are you the moderator?”

The event, sponsored by the Princeton Community Democratic Organization, was held at the Suzanne Patterson Center behind Boro Hall. David Cohen moderated.

“The commission concluded that municipal consolidation was the best option available for this community, that it was in the best interest of each community separately,” said Simon, a member of the Consolidation and Shared Services Study Commission.

This is Princeton’s seventh look at municipal consolidation and November will mark the fifth time the question has been put to voters as a ballot referendum, Warren said.

There is no compelling reason to consolidate, she said.

Rather than push for real property tax relief, the state advocates municipal consolidation, she said. Officials dangle the possibility of reimbursement of transition costs, but make no promises.

Cost savings are only a projection, Warren and Assumus said. Costs could rise, taxes could rise if officials don’t make recommended staff cuts, implementation is costly and there is little evidence of consolidation’s benefits.

“To start over and redo the government and reelect a new council, I don’t see any reason for that,” Assmus said. “I think you need to have clear and tangible reasons to do this…the savings aren’t there.”

Simon cited three benefits to merging the two Princetons. Consolidation could lower property taxes and provide for $3.2 million in annual recurring savings, a conservative number which doesn’t include savings in expanded police services, garbage collection, cost savings for sewer customers or capital cost savings.

Services will either remain the same or be improved under consolidation, Simon said. And Princeton will have better emergency preparedness under a combined municipality, he said.

Warren said there could be property tax relief, but the projections only show 2.2%. In exchange, there’s a dilution of voting power, in both the township and the borough.

Borough residents have consistently noted that under consolidation, former borough residents would be outvoted by 2-1. And because the commission has recommended an at-large system of elected officials, borough interests could be regularly ignored.

But Simon was quick to rebut that assertion.

“Arguments against consolidation require an assumption that borough residents will lose representation, but 60 percent of the population is in the town center is in a ring just outside the borough,” he said.

Warren questioned the 60 percent statistic. After the debate, Simon said the number came from the number of active Princeton voters.

Simon said issues about the future of the Dinky, an issue about which borough residents are passionate, will ultimately be decided by the township, adding to a confusing government structure where one municipality makes decisions affecting people in another municipality.

A united Princeton would remove boundaries that often slice directly through neighborhoods, consolidation advocates said.

“We mix all the time,” said Jacobus, who served on a previous effort to consolidate Princeton. “Township students go to the high school, everyone goes to the pool. It seems like an utterly artificial thing to do. It’s a dichotomy that should not exist.”

Assmus said she never thought of Princeton as two separate municipalities until the issue of consolidation came up.

She worries that the commission was advocating consolidation from the start, rather than listening to residents debate the pros and cons during community outreach sessions.

One resident asked what Princeton will loe under consolidation.

“Inefficiency and headaches, artificial boundaries, the demonization of the other,” Jacobus said.

Simon said Princeton will lose staff due to proposed cuts, but said officials have had to cut staff before in order to meet budget constraints.

Warren said the borough will lose its autonomy.

Assmus said Princeton will no longer have different political officials representing different interests.

“That’s a very democratic thing and it doesn’t mean people don’t like each other,” she said.