FDU Poll: Most Voters Want Towns to Share Services

Most New Jersey voters say sharing municipal services is a good idea, according to the most recent poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind center. But 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. 

Bridgewater Township Administrator Robert Bogart said the services shared through Bridgewater Township amount to a value of about $4 million, and include services shared with other towns, the county and the state in general.

"The shared services run the gamut," he said.

For example, Bogart said, the township shares the animal shelter with other towns, and is currently building a joint Public Works facility with the county. In addition, the county maintains all the traffic signals that are owned by the township itself, and Bridgewater shares costs of the North Branch library, he said.

The Public Works department in Bridgewater, Bogart said, shares equipment and training with other towns, while the police department shares certain services both within the county and with the state police.

Much of the services, Bogart said, are provided to the township, while other services are provided for the county by the township.

The Bridgewater-Raritan School District have the following shared-service agreements:

• Alliance for Competitive Telecommunications
• Alliance for Competitive Energy Services
• Middlesex Regional ESC Cooperative Pricing System
• Hunterdon County ESC Cooperative Pricing System
• Somerset County Cooperative Pricing System
• South Jersey Technology Partnership
• Somerset Medical Center for Athletic Trainer services
• NJ School Boards Association Insurance Group
• Student Transportation with local districts and ESC
• Vehicle fuel with Bridgewater Township
• School resource officers with Bridgewater Township
• Facility and field use with Raritan and Bridgewater municipalities
• Somerset County energy audits

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.”

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.