Throughout this post I’ll be using the words “municipality” and “town” interchangeably but they have the same relative meaning

The community work I’ve been engaged in this summer, and the general new pools of people I’ve met, have excitedly allowed me to broaden my research interests.  I’m looking more into how capital investments work in the city and how they can be improved based on theoretical analysis and data collection.  I’m fascinated with local housing markets connected to property taxes – intrinsically tied to public education in the State – and how to improve the quality of values and understanding homeownership.  And I’ve also become particularly intrigued by municipal “states” here in New Jersey. 

There are twenty-one (21) counties and five hundred and sixty-six (566) municipalities in the State (much of the data from this post is drawn from the New Jersey League of Municipalities).  They’ve existed in their current boundaries for the last fifty to seventy years or so and it’s become increasingly difficult to understand their origin and genuinely ask if we have too much of a “good thing.”  I started a new book last week by Alan Karcher, a former State Assembly Speaker and current municipal lawyer in Middlesex County, called “New Jersey’s Multiple Municipal Madness.”  This book details the history and origins as well as developing mentalities throughout New Jersey that led this State to arrive at its current 560+ towns and 600+ school districts (I don’t touch on the school district piece but feel free to reach out with responses about how they tie in).

I’ve been following the State Senate race of Democrat Vin Gopal closely in the last few weeks and a big issue on his policy platform is focused on the exorbitant number of towns in New Jersey.  Vin is running against incumbent Republican Jennifer Beck in the 11^th Legislative District which represents towns exclusively within the boundaries of Monmouth County.   He’s running on a promise to consolidate New Jersey’s 100 smallest towns as an effort to alleviate state economic burden through shared services and monitored consolidation efforts and this piqued my interest for one major reason: too many towns in one state is not a state issue, it’s a county one. 

I religiously watch the Late Show with Stephen Colbert – mainly for his alter ego comedy routines – and he made a joke on his show a little over a week about how America always compares things to the size of Delaware.  In this particular show, he was talking about Hurricane Irma, connected to an article that accounted the natural disaster was the size of France.  Looking at the relative size of New Jersey, I wanted to see whether I could attempt the same analysis.

New Jersey ranks 11^th in the country for largest population with a number just shy of 8.9 million people.  Delaware, on the other hand, ranks 44^th with a population of over 925,000 (this ranking includes the District of Columbia as a ‘state’).  This means that New Jersey, based on population is about 9.6 Delawares [8.9 million/925,000 = 9.6] – I hope Colbert would be proud with that assessment.

Now before I digress too strongly, all of this is to hone in on that one issue mentioned earlier.  Delaware, a state nine and a half times smaller in population size than New Jersey, has approximately 54 towns spread out across only three counties¹.  Comparing this to New Jersey, it would make sense that we have over 500 towns (54*9.6 = 518) and it looks even better that we only have 21 counties (3*9.6 = 28.8).  However, looking at this statistic that would mean that the ratio between towns to counties should be 18:1, and in New Jersey it’s actually 27:1 on average.  566 towns in New Jersey doesn’t necessarily stretch the state thin so much as it does the county – too many towns aren’t a state issue, they’re a county issue. 

Here in Camden County, there are thirty-seven municipalities.  What makes things even more complicated is that not all 37 towns are designated the same.  In fact, throughout the state there five different forms of municipal designation: town, township, borough (or the Americanized ‘boro’), city, and village.  There aren’t too many “village” designations in New Jersey but they still exist as their own municipal entity.  Under each of these designations there are certain codes and regulations by which that town must abide, along with independent and scarce opportunities and resources.  Camden County has about ten municipalities designated as “townships” and the rest are variously compromised as the other four designations. 

Imagine then, as a Freeholder for Camden County, essentially dealing with almost forty separate and independent constituent bodies – all who find themselves falling under strict yet distinct sets of rules and regulations.  Politics aside, as a future public administrator, the dealings of each of these municipalities must be strenuous beyond belief, and I give our County Freeholders so much credit for the many balls they juggle in that role.  And yet, this is where the solution ensues: counties have the ability to establish shared services agreements between towns, to consolidate and merge for the more efficient use of resources and establishment of continuity of government administration.  Again, with my public administrator hat on tightly and a strong normative view of focusing on what the practical and technical aspects of municipal consolidation should look like, I still realize that there are greater powers at play not allowing such ease of administration; then again, I’ve always been a firm believer in fixing the problem where the problem starts and not where it ends.

Yes, while consolidating towns throughout the state will necessitate leadership from Trenton, it’s all too important for the work to actually begin in counties, and even more so in county seats – including Camden City.  A pointed quote from Karcher’s book discusses how we should move forward:

Times change.  Circumstances change.  Attitudes change.  Problems change.  Solutions change.  Institutions should have the ability to change as well, for without it a dangerous and expensive situation arises.  A syndrome of inflexibility, rigidity, and public paralysis leads to the ultimate public surrender to foolishness and excess…Is there an ideal-sized municipality or administrative unit that might be replicated in a cookie-cutter fashion?  I doubt that such an ideal organization exists even in theory.  The goal should be to create a political framework that is responsive to change and challenge.

Jared Hunter is a current student at Rutgers-Camden pursuing his Masters in Public Administration in the community development track. His research focus includes disparities between marginalized communities and local governments as well as community development centers and anchor institutions.

References: Karcher, Alan J. New Jersey’s Multiple Municipal Madness. Piscataway, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 1998. [Pages 17, 18]

¹ http://www.ipa.udel.edu/directory/links/muni-sites.asp