Zellman discusses shared services with Andover

Andover — On Monday evening, freeholder director Susan Zellman presented a progress report on the state of shared county services to the Andover Township Committee. Shared county services consist of various services and interests that serve both the 24 municipalities and the county itself. In some cases, municipalities contract with the county and in others, several municipalities work together. Zellman began her report by informing the committee of the upcoming county budget hearings that commenced on Wednesday. “We believe at this point that the impact on existing taxpayers will be about 3.3 percent,” she said. Those tax dollars pay for a number of services that are coordinated by the county for various municipalities. Although the county has recently separated from the state health plan to a private insurer, Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, township administrator Steven Padula is still concerned about local insurance costs. He raised the question of high costs for Andover Township. “A large part of our budget, approximately $500,000, goes towards medical. Is there any talk on the county level of how we can reduce these costs and still get great coverage for the municipalities?” he asked. Zellman responded, “We are moving towards a self insurance plan. We will continue to work collectively towards the option of being self-insured.” Mayor Tom Walsh had another financial concern: waste management. “The area of waste management costs us $582,000 in fees,” said Walsh. He urged Zellman to have the county consider an alternative plan of possibly combining the municipalities to achieve better waste management contracts. Currently, each municipality negotiates for its own waste services or has its own employees handle solid waste. Other shared services that are being explored are a housing rehab program and a coop dispatch service, the freeholder noted. Zellman concluded her presentation by stating that the county is looking to get a grant to fund a county wide coordinator of shared services. “This person would help monitor all the municipalities to see if services can be shared,” she said. The freeholder, who is a member of the Strategic Growth Advisory Committee, also reported to the township that after eight years of work and state review, the county’s plan was approved by the state Department of Community Services. Once the county courthouse work is completed, sometime in February of 2008, the surrogate’s office will be able to move from the Hall of Records, allowing the county to sell that building. “There will be a savings of $3 million for the county because a new building will not have to be constructed,” said Zellman.