As reported by nj.com, a Senate panel today approved a bill to give voters in New Jersey towns a stark option: either share the services the state has recommended for you and your neighbor, or lose state aid equivalent to what you would have saved. 

It was an idea born out of Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s frustration that the state’s 566 municipalities were not doing enough to share services or merge with the aim of reducing property taxes. “We collect more than enough money to run government in the state. Probably too much,” said Sweeney. “But we have too much government.”

According to the bill, the Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization, and Consolidation Commission would conduct a study as to whether towns should share services, consolidate agencies, or even merge. The commission would estimate how much the towns would save, then ask the State Treasurer to certify the figure. The town could either adopt the legislation, or put it up as referendum. If voters reject it, they’ll lose state aid equivalent to what the state estimated they would have saved.

The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee approved the bill 3-2. The bill will be heard again in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee before it heads to the full Senate.

The bill also eliminates civil service protections for workers whose jobs are made redundant by sharing services, which drew opposition from public workers unions. “S2 is a veiled attempt to remove civil service regulations and tenure rights granted through collective bargaining,” said Rex Reid, political action director for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 1.

League of Municipalities Executive Director Bill Dressel said he’s happy Sweeney worked to address his organization’s concerns, but he still opposes the bill because it punishes towns that refuse to share services. “Voters should hold elected officials accountable, not the other way around,” he said.

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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.