Wallflowers

One of the most frequently mentioned buzzwords in New Jersey politics is "shared services." Whether or not a program of consolidating resources and forming partnerships across town and county lines to save taxpayer money is the answer to all, or even a significant portion, of the state's fiscal problems remains to be seen. Nonetheless, most observers would allow that there are some relatively simple steps that could be taken to cut costs by joining forces with neighboring municipalities to eliminate redundant infrastructure or to secure discounts by purchasing supplies in bulk.

That said, we have heard relatively little about such initiatives in Teaneck. Given the fixation shared by Mayor Katz and the Council majority on finding ways to lower property tax bills, one would think this largely painless method of lowering expenditures would constantly be in the headlines. Instead, we have been occupied with ambitious development plans that are both contentious and, at least in the short term, unlikely to yield any real tax savings. The Mayor's suggestion to explore the use of shared services to combat the gang problem last week was one of the few times the concept has been invoked publicly over the past few months.

While we in Teaneck have battled over future direction, neighboring towns have already taken some tentative steps toward putting theory into practice. As the Record reported yesterday, "Hackensack and seven other towns -- Rochelle Park, Maywood, Elmwood Park, Saddle Brook, Garfield, Fair Lawn and Paramus -- formed the Central Bergen Consortium six months ago" to find ways to reduce costs through sharing as the Northwest Bergen Consortium of thirteen towns in our area has been doing for a while. As other towns pair off with their dance partners, we in Teaneck could be left standing alone with only our spiraling tax bills to keep us company.

Though it may not command a prominent place in the proceedings, the most important item up for discussion on tomorrow's Council agenda may be item #3 under "Old Business": Shared Services. There may be more glamor in talking up major new developments than implementing plans for joint bidding for road paving, but the only thing that really matters is the bottom line. Officials must remember that it's lower tax bills and not higher ratables or any other metric that is the ultimate objective here.