From the Star Ledger:
Consolidation of New Jersey municipalities — especially as it relates to school districts – can result in significant long-term savings and at the same time it can lead to better planning and responsiveness in local government.
As the former and last mayor of Princeton Township and the lead architect of Princeton’s successful consolidation, I’d like to draw attention to some important considerations concerning consolidation and shared services that are often left out of the conversation.
For instance, one community of 1,500 residents could have an average cost-per-capita of $1,500 and a large community of 10,000 residents could have the same per capita cost. With no thorough analysis of actual services provided to residents, it does not prove that a town is equally efficient. If one community offers superior services, a police department and/or a library for the same cost, which one is more efficient?
The fact is that consolidation has worked and we need to stop being afraid of it. It is no longer a mythical unicorn in dealing with inefficient home rule.
Princeton blazed the trail with millions in annual budgetary savings and the lowest municipal tax growth rate post-consolidation than any neighboring municipality. Others have begun to realize some clear benefits of considering its application. The successful school merger in Hunterdon County is a prime example and others are in the works, including Mount Arlington and Roxbury which have great savings potential as the consolidation would include both school districts and municipal governments.
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In the recent Star-Ledger article, “Merging 191 towns won’t fix crushing taxes, these experts say,” one of the experts is Marc Pfeiffer and his colleague Raphael Caprio, who wrote for Rutgers’ Bloustein School a white paper called “Size May Not Be The Issue: An Analysis of The Cost of Local Government and Municipal Size in New Jersey.”While one can applaud the authors of the analysis in their attempt to make sense of New Jersey’s municipal madness, the unfortunate result of the white paper was misguided headlines about consolidation at a time when New Jersey municipalities and school districts should be considering all options to garner efficiencies in service delivery and control costs.
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The reality is that without consolidation added to the “municipal toolkit”, large savings in shared services will continue to remain elusive. Shared services for small departments often have negligible savings while large departments with savings potential: police and public works – often are not considered by ‘home rule’ mayors for fear of losing control.Consolidation brings some unique benefits above and beyond cost savings that cannot be achieved just by sharing services. A single, consolidated Princeton has a much improved level of responsiveness in times of crisis as it can better marshal its resources without the intervening power struggles of two separate governments.
In addition, it has avoided significant capital costs as it now shares real estate and avoided having to build or renovate a new facility for a non-profit that it houses.
New Jersey needs to stop the debate of whether or not consolidation or shared services works — they both do.
Good morning New Jersey
https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/the_61_nj_fire_chiefs_who_make_at_least_175k.html
Five Hudson County fire departments merged in 1999, which makes sense operationally when looking at a map. But is it saving money? North Hudson Regional brass are the highest paid in the state, and with N.J. firefighters the highest paid in the country, North Hudson Regional firefighters could have the highest compensation any department in the country and maybe the world. That is type of deal that has to be struck to get union support for consolidation.
Plus, Connecticut abolished county governments, transferring responsibilities like prisons to the state, but the fiscal situation there just gets worse and worse.
I just want to merge with the closest Abbott dist …
I keep telling you guys this. Our public workers (teachers too, though not quite as bad as the uniformed) are paid king’s ransoms in these parts. All you need to do is pick out any random position from any government website and you’ll find any where from a 20% to sometimes 400% differences (when you look at the chiefs) for the same roles.
“the highest paid in the country, North Hudson Regional firefighters could have the highest compensation any department in the country and maybe the world.”
So, we had family over this weekend and one of my cousins is a Director at a hospital in the NY/NJ area. He said hospitals are struggling financially and a lot are approaching the brink of bankruptcy. The biggest issue? Immigration. They know they’re entitled and must be treated and most supply the arrogance and audacity because of the sensitivity and backlash created by the media and the fake sympathy crowd. My cousin was a hardcore democrat. Not anymore.
Bergen county towns will fight consolidation tooth and nail!!
MSM out hawking Kavanaugh and Hardiman. Kethledge and Barret barely exist….
Guess the NYT and CBS have thrown in the towel and decided to go for the ‘best of the worst’ from their perspectives…
Hope it’s not Kavanaugh…sheep in wolf’s clothing…potential to get Soutered there….
“I keep telling you guys this. Our public workers (teachers too, though not quite as bad as the uniformed) are paid king’s ransoms in these parts.”
Agree. There is the quantity issue as well, but that won’t get solved by consolidation. Your biggest line items in these towns are the most entrenched and powerful interests.
My town long ago consolidated schools with the neighboring municipality. Both towns’ officials are volunteers. As is each town’s FD. Recreation depts were consolidated. The neighboring municipality merged health departments with a third municipality. Four towns came together for a common municipal court.
Really, the only thing left is the PD….
Consolidation is a chimera except for the large municipalities rife with abuses. Yet somehow the focus is on the tiny towns, most of whom have residents happy with the current state of affairs. This being NJ, however, I don’t expect logic to prevail.
Questions for the board today:
Health care problem:
What do you think is the psychological tipping point were illegals won’t risk crossing the border?
Public sector greed:
When in history have people been able to get politicians to change an entrenched system so that they don’t continue enriching themselves while extorting their constituents?
My answer to both is civil unrest with significant bloodshed. It is not something I wish upon this country nor the answer I propose but news articles and blog rants won’t change a thing.
I would merge with Charlotte McKinney
10:37 ….never underestimate desperation
Most teachers are not paid king’s ransoms. They are trying to get by on a 60k a year, which doesn’t go far after paying into the pension and getting nailed 33% on health care costs. This problem I believe may just solve itself. With people have less kids, less teachers will be needed and money should free up for increasing salaries and taxpayer relief….theoretically.
Knowing the school system, they might just create a bunch of new admin positions.
Loving this market Rally.. thanks President Teewump
The population of under 10 is declining in the northeast. People waiting to have kids and then one and done. Kids are expensive and so is the northeast.
Bystander, to answer your question.
They’ll cross the border, because is worse at home. We have killed off (except Nicaragua & Cuba) every grassroot some contaminated by KGB in the cold war attempt to alleviate social issues. Those countries are controlled by few families and the church. They are truly hell on earth, only worse places are the muslim fanatic -stan countries.
Private sector greed is worse than any so called public sector greed. Just look at the banking cartel that got bailed out, look at the Koch brothers stealth coal bail-out going on.
For all you dreamers of new civil war, read http://observer.com/2018/07/second-civil-war-in-trumps-divided-america/
snippet
A repeat of that conflict would be a very bad idea indeed, and the good news is that, strictly speaking, it can’t repeat. The reason the Confederate rebellion against the federal government metastasized into a full-fledged civil war was because the standing U.S. Army in 1861 was so small, just 16,000 soldiers who were mostly spread out in garrisons on the Western frontier, that Washington, D.C. lacked the power to put down the rebels quickly. For want of military force and speed, the rebellion spread across the South, with 11 states eventually seceding from the Union.
Things are vastly different today. Anybody unwise enough to seriously take up arms against Uncle Sam on home turf would be crushed overnight by the full might of our armed forces, which have 1.3 million men and women on active duty. Unlike in 1861, our states lack their own freestanding militias—despite lip service to state authority, our National Guard is fully integrated into the U.S. military—so there’s no force to even rebel against Washington. The notion that anybody could get even a brigade’s worth of organized troops to rebel against the Feds is an online hothouse fantasy, not political or military reality.
Not to mention that Americans currently fretting over an imminent second civil war possess limited (if any) historical memory. You don’t need to refer to the 1860s here, since the 1960s were bad enough. Millennials, who are apparently rent asunder with worries for a divided America in 2018, don’t seem to be aware that in the late 1960s, with the country increasingly torn apart by Vietnam and civil rights, Washington had to deploy tens of thousands of federal troops on the home front to control urban rioting.
I know a few thing about North Hudson Fire & Rescue. You got to understand that all highly paid towns ARE political patronage machines.
The power there is Jeff Weltz and Weehawken Mayor Turner, and North Bergen Mayor Sacco. The regionalization opened up the department to more average non-connected people and pay has decreased since regionalization.
Pay was high because it was a political patronage mill. You got in, you got way higher than average pay and moved (originally Bergen County/than the Shore), but you have to buy political fundraiser tickets and work elections.
It’s one of those agencies like The Port Authority, those Sewerage and Parking Authorities, and those apprenticeship trade jobs. No one gets in without knowing someone, except by odd serendipity.
Too bad no one understands this on this board, or in the general public. Private sector corruption is the source of all corruption including public. Corruption starts with the richest and most powerful, and I’m sorry, that is located in the private sector.
“Private sector greed is worse than any so called public sector greed. Just look at the banking cartel that got bailed out, look at the Koch brothers stealth coal bail-out going on.”
Private sector greed is worse than any so called public sector greed.
Want to buy a bridge?
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
No, blumpkin. A CEO has obligation to the executive owners and shareholders. A public official takes oath to protect its constituents. Politicians can decide to vote for something or not. It can be to restrict corp interests or not. Corruption in public sector feeds corruption in private. Without politicians, admin and their staff, taking “donations” (ie bribes) to enact favorable laws then corp corruption is contained. We have reached the tipping point where no law can be enacted which has a negative impact on businesses great or small. Immigration is tied to this problem as attacking businesses who hire illegals is hardly discussed as option by politicians. It should be.
Eddie, Pumkinpotatohead is right on this one.
See private corruption, using public corruption or scrath that – aka the marketplace according to citizens united ruling, to ensure you buy corn syrup and make the cuban fanjul brothers-owners of dominos sugar wealthier and at the same time polluting and getting public funds abatement for doing the pollution of the dlorida everglades.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2017/01/18/if-us-sugar-tariffs-make-americans-poorer-then-donald-trumps-tariffs-will-make-americans-what/#7ae443b82ec4
snippet
In fiscal year (FY) 2013, Americans consumed 12 million tons of refined sugar, with the average price for raw sugar 6 cents per pound higher than the average world price. That means, based on 24 billion pounds of refined sugar use at a 6-cents-per-pound U.S. premium, Americans paid an unnecessary $1.4 billion extra for sugar. That is equivalent to more than $310,000 per sugar farm in the United States.
I’m no Trump supporter, but I’ve been repulsed by the political and cultural left’s hatred, demonization and mistreatment of the president.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/e337b3f8-b871-32ad-99fd-bf83d9ada365/ss_the-democratic-party-left-me.html
When a student asks me to raise a grade just to make it higher, if I did, who’s fault would it be? The answer is to severly restrict the government and outtlaw subsidies and special tax breaks. But that would also require an across the board decrease in taxes just to allow all businesses to function
Not Bystander 10:50,
I agree with article. The power given to Homeland security dept was the final kill shot to any freedom that Americans had left in terms of protecting themselves from a tyrannous govt. Still, one state succession and there will be chaos. With chaos, you have no idea how things will play out. Can you imagine a state guard being slaughtered by national guard forces? It would start a ball rolling with direction no one can predict.
Garbage, Eddie. Trump loves to be hated. He relishes in finding people to hate him then pushing their noses into it further. The media is just giving him what he wants. Show me the times where Trump ever operated differently. Jesus, the game did Celebrity Apprentice for years.
RE Question for the board, looking at real estate investments along the near shore (think Belford, Atl Highlands, etc.). Want to invest in places where the ferry impacts the area and the rent rolls are strong. There seem to be a decent amount of property with good CAP rates along that stretch. Obviously I am keen to stay out of flood zones and the like but would love to hear any feedback if someone has any.
Government’s interference in the economy, and ability to favor some over others is the starting point for corruption and cronyism. Look around the world and you’ll see a high correlation between government involvement in the economy and levels of business corruption. Because if govt. influence is up for sale, companies will be forced to compete for govt backing rather than competing in the free market.
But of course a pumpkinhead will never get this concept through his rind and pulp.
Saritha Prabhu, only the third Democrat I know who GETS IT. At this pace, I fear another four years of Trump and worse. Another four years of unhinged lefty followers who can’t help but to continue to take his bait.
Mike. Just be aware that the Summer rental market vs. the rest of the year are two starkly different things. Probably 98% of Summer rentals sit vacant the rest of the year.
Even if you eliminated the govt, the people with the most money will corrupt whatever system is in place to make sure people play by the rules. The private sector power holders are your reasons for corruption in the world.
Bystander says:
July 9, 2018 at 11:28 am
No, blumpkin. A CEO has obligation to the executive owners and shareholders. A public official takes oath to protect its constituents. Politicians can decide to vote for something or not. It can be to restrict corp interests or not. Corruption in public sector feeds corruption in private. Without politicians, admin and their staff, taking “donations” (ie bribes) to enact favorable laws then corp corruption is contained. We have reached the tipping point where no law can be enacted which has a negative impact on businesses great or small. Immigration is tied to this problem as attacking businesses who hire illegals is hardly discussed as option by politicians. It should be.
“Still, one state succession and there will be chaos.”
The next succession will be cyber. Just as powerful as the first, but the ‘union’ may not even realize it occurred until it is done.
Why does citizenship or nationality need to be defined by physical presence?
By the time trump gets done pulling the strings of The democrat party it will be unrecognizable. He gamed them into making illegal immigrants their primary issue. They just elected a radical bartender in a primary against one of their most Influential Reps. Good luck with that.
Lib, thanks for the response. I plan on doing only full year rentals to mitigate this risk. Most of the units I am looking at are fully leased already.
Nwnj, yeah they are getting played pretty badly. With SCOTUS as well.
Roe v wade is going nowhere. And everyone knows it. Head fake. Occupied the left for a solid week or so though.
Mike,
Perhaps you are surprised by the hidden ghettos of Keansburg, Cliffwood Beach, Laurence Harb0ur and Un1on Beach. These areas offer some incredibly cheap real estate. I always wondered why, but it might have to do with the efluent runoff from the Arthur Kill? As a kid, those beaches were always closed and there were always warnings about eating the seafood from there.
That’s just gross….
Time to buy NJ shore was during/post Sandy – I feel most markets are at fair value now or over valued.
Of course the highlands is a different area (not really a beach town)
Go south, do not go west….. remember that the ferry is expensive, and the NJ Coast line is close. You need renters that are upscale enough to accept your stopgap rental……the ability to substitute for the train or bus (GSP) is extremely strong…… also target Bellworks and Red Bank techies….
Bad location, but correct concept….
https://livetheforge.com/
MikeNJ says:
July 9, 2018 at 12:41 pm
RE Question for the board, looking at real estate investments along the near shore (think Belford, Atl Highlands, etc.). Want to invest in places where the ferry impacts the area and the rent rolls are strong. There seem to be a decent amount of property with good CAP rates along that stretch. Obviously I am keen to stay out of flood zones and the like but would love to hear any feedback if someone has any.
You have to make a lot more than 60k to pay 33% of the HC premiums.
Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
July 9, 2018 at 10:48 am
Most teachers are not paid king’s ransoms. They are trying to get by on a 60k a year, which doesn’t go far after paying into the pension and getting nailed 33% on health care costs.
Eddie,
I liked the article you posted as it highlights the lack of though among the populace today as well as poor behavior and manners. Here is a link to check out. Mike Lofgrens served as an aide in DC for 28 years to John Kasich, basically he says both parties suck but since he knows the R party better, he is better able to comment on Rs.
Not quite sure why people have such strong loyalty to one party. Seems to me moderation on both sides combined with looking for real solutions to problems that can go beyond party lines is the answer. To some extent, people like their garanimals for politics too as they can’t or don’t want to think for themselves and its easier to just match up lions to lions, bears to bears or in the case of DC, elephants to elephants and donkeys to donkeys.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/2012/08/09/mike-lofgrens-lament/
Thanks all. Much appreciated. I am trying to steer clear of a “real” beach town but the proximity to the water and commutability is key (not to mention outside a flood zone). I am mostly concentrated on the Highlands/Atl highlands as I see lots of new/re construction as of late and have a local friend who can manage the property for me (I am in Morris county so too far). Chi, that property is exactly what I would market towards in a much smaller way. We will redo the properties to make them slightly them more upscale. This is my first time in regards to RE investment and after lurking here for years I figured it was time to sh-t or get off the pot so to speak. The caps look good and I want to diversify slightly away from my traditional stock investments. Offer went in today, fingers crossed.
This is what you get with extreme inequality. When I said it’s not good for anyone, this is why. Only a matter of time before these people start to rise up under these conditions.
nwnj says:
July 9, 2018 at 1:17 pm
By the time trump gets done pulling the strings of The democrat party it will be unrecognizable. He gamed them into making illegal immigrants their primary issue. They just elected a radical bartender in a primary against one of their most Influential Reps. Good luck with that.
Extreme inequality = extreme politics….period.
Nomad,
Thanks. Good article.
Two Wrights make an airplane…..
Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary’s Cankle fluid. says:
July 9, 2018 at 11:24 am
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Walking distance to these locations can help you identify appropriate hipster d-bags……
I think your target market may be kids who grew up in Rumson or Holmdel that want to be down in Monmouth County, but not with their parents…..
https://www.nicholascreamery.com/
MikeNJ says:
July 9, 2018 at 2:47 pm
Thanks all. Much appreciated. I am trying to steer clear of a “real” beach town but the proximity to the water and commutability is key (not to mention outside a flood zone). I am mostly concentrated on the Highlands/Atl highlands as I see lots of new/re construction as of late and have a local friend who can manage the property for me (I am in Morris county so too far). Chi, that property is exactly what I would market towards in a much smaller way. We will redo the properties to make them slightly them more upscale. This is my first time in regards to RE investment and after lurking here for years I figured it was time to sh-t or get off the pot so to speak. The caps look good and I want to diversify slightly away from my traditional stock investments. Offer went in today, fingers crossed.
also this place is close to the AH location of the ice cream place…… to be clear…. the ice cream is from the restaurant….
http://cartonbrewing.com/
Hillary wants to run again?
They really don’t learn.
You have to make a lot more than 60k to pay 33% of the HC premiums
You’re right, I think it’s 27%.
Want to see the future of primary Education …?
Look to California. Hollowed out – demoralized – and completely without caché.
Between 1997 and 2017, the gap between the rate of homeowners with a college degree and those without a high school diploma grew from 11.3% to 20.5%, according to First American’s analysis. While the homeownership rate for college-educated homeowners fluctuated over the two decades, it started at about 68.5% and was at that same level in 2017. The share of homeowners with no high school diploma, however, dropped just over 9%, from 57% to 48%, during the same time period.
Carton has a couple good ipas.
MikeNJ,
The top 5 single family rental companies own 10,000+ houses each. Zero of the houses are in New Jersey, New York, or New England and there are a few reasons.
When these companies got started, the easiest way to buy a lot of houses quickly was to buy int the Sunbelt, where foreclosures in decent suburbs were massive and the process moved quickly. Buying hundreds of houses at $200,000 each is easier in suburban Atlanta than in suburban New Jersey.
In addition, what drives demand for single family rentals is in-migration of middle income people. Monmouth doesn’t have this – the county’s population is shrinking for the first time since reliable data began in 1790 and perhaps it is the first decline in the history of human settlement in what is today Monmouth County which began thousands of years ago.
Forget about the going in cap rate. What drives returns in single family is 1) initial renovation cost, 2) market rent growth, 3) home price appreciation, 4) tenant turnover rate.
My advice – buy shares in INVH.
The deals my friend gets on rentals in north carolina vs what you can get in NJ is night & day. He buys $100K 2 families and rents each side 750 each.
Good luck getting similar rent ratios here. He has about 10-15 of em already.
I could never find anything with a cap rate that made sense.
According to the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the State of New Jersey lost a whopping 2 million residents between 2005 and 2014, earning a combined $18 billion in net adjusted gross income, i.e. income that would have been taxed by the state.
So it’s not just the masters of the universe that are tired of paying sky-high taxes. It’s also the regular wage earner and small business owner.
60% of these folks went to Florida, with a state income tax of zero.
So the message from New Jersey’s residents (well, now former residents) is pretty clear: taxes are too high.
Now, what do you think New Jersey is doing to solve this problem?