As property taxes increase and officials in Trenton do little more than propose newer taxes, taxpayers are contacting their local and county officials to suggest any and every way possible to save money.

Two of the most popular ideas being suggested are "interlocal agreements" and "shared services."

The idea of running a service with another municipality, either part-time interlocal agreements like tree-trimming trucks or a full-time shared service like the police, can make sense, but only where it doesn't reduce the service level. The borough of Tinton Falls has entered into many interlocal agreements with other towns, including storing and auctioning impounded vehicles, tree trimming, computer services, equipment and more.

These agreements save tax money for participants and can generate revenue at times.

We also work with Monmouth County in a cooperative buying agreement, reviewing pricing for commodities like fuel, copier paper and more. We choose which deal is the best and buy there.

The information exchange allows for new ways to provide the same materials for a lower price, benefiting everyone involved.

While this sounds like a simple, utopian approach to solving our operations and tax issues, a "let's do it all that way" idea, bigger is not always better. For example, we were part of the state's health-care cooperative because of the idea that "bigger businesses get better rates."

That was not the case with our town or many others. An audit from the state showed our health-care uses and costs, and then we shopped our plan and saved almost $1,000 per employee per year by going it alone. We saved money and reduced out-of-pocket expenses while picking up an out-of-network option we didn't have before.

Careful research showed that "bigger is better" isn't always true.

When the closure of Fort Monmouth was announced, letters were written to area media with the one-shot cure-all idea of merging Tinton Falls, Eatontown and Oceanport into one town. A similar idea was floated in Morris County, where three bordering towns were said to be "ideal" for merging in the hopes of saving as much as 25 percent on government costs.

Critics say that the debt volumes in the three municipalities vary so much that only one town would see a tax reduction. They claim the two other towns would see an increase of as much as 12 percent in property taxes based on the way costs are currently figured with the regional high school system, and the fact that one town has more than twice the long-term debt of another. Proponents of this plan said they could drop police and fire employees from 140 to 80 and save $15 million a year, but they did not report how this would affect services.

Every option needs to be reviewed in order to cut costs, but we need to review carefully to not make things worse.

Last election season, our state officials again promised to cut taxes, which means eliminating costs like several dozen school districts that don't have schools, but so far they've not cut spending where it's needed most.

Until they get serious about controlling spending, eliminating budget surplus rules that hurt towns, and other real changes, it is up to the local and county officials to examine each area of business we can control, see what makes sense, and share those services.

The Monmouth County Freeholders are proposing hiring a shared services director to guide the county and its 53 municipalities in this major step forward.

It is up to all of us elected officials to make sure that we continue in the right direction, cutting and sharing where we can, without making expensive mistakes or reducing essential services.

It won't be easy, but it will be well worth it. Taxpayers, too, can help themselves by offering well-thought-out ideas to their officials. It's up to all of us.

Brendan Tobin

President

Tinton Falls Borough Council