Shared services bill passes state Senate

TRENTON — Legislation sponsored by Senator Steve Oroho to encourage cost-saving shared services agreements between New Jersey’s military installations and neighboring governments was passed by the New Jersey Senate.
“Forging a strong bond between municipalities and adjacent military bases is so important,” Senator Oroho said. “With this measure, these entities can save a lot of money by working together on things like redevelopment, brownfield remediation and infrastructure expansion.”
The bill revises The “Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act” so that federal military bases are able to participate in a shared services agreement with other local units of government. The act was put in place to provide greater flexibility to local governments to enter into these kinds of agreements, as well as streamline municipal consolidation efforts.
The recommendation to include military bases in this process came from the 2015 report issued by the NJ Military Installation Growth and Development Task Force. The task force was created in 2014 to explore ways to preserve, enhance and strengthen the state’s military bases.
“There are already examples of this kind of agreement working in New Jersey,” Senator Oroho said. “Rockaway Township and Picatinny Arsenal have a long-standing relationship to share police and fire protection, as well as recreation space. This measure will help more communities and bases benefit from this kind of relationship and ultimately save money for taxpayers.”