BORO . groups . Mayor North reaffirms Merchantville's solvency
Mayor North reaffirms Merchantville's solvency

frankIn a series of short interviews recently conducted by NJ Public Media TV, Mayor North addressed questions raised by the petition group regarding solvency and services in the Borough. North reports that the Borough is in sound shape and "feels we are strong".

  Elaborating on these concerns North said that in spite of a 36% reduction in state aid over the past four years Merchantville still has a surplus and does not have a deficit. And, while unable to predict the future, North sees nothing on the horizon that signals the iminent or future demise of Merchantville in coming years. Mayor North refuted reported claims that Merchantville may be "hurling over the cliff" noting that Merchantville, like many NJ towns, has had to tighten their belt but is "a lot better than a lot of the towns that surround us, financially". Cherry Hill Mayor Cahn was unavailable to comment for the segment.

 


Greg LaVardera, a spokesmen for the group, feels that "the services they (Cherry Hill) would need to extend to our township end up being rather insignificant compared to what they're already mustering and so it becomes easy for them to manage this". In reality, Merchantville's has tow shared services with Cherry Hill. They are part of a trash and recycling cooperative with the towns of Gloucester, Collingswood, Voorhees, Haddon, Winslow, Somerdale and Gibbsboro and also a data collection cooperative. Their shared services agreement for fuel purchasing expired in 2011.


The petition group, who has actively sought this merger wants the municipality to consolidate with much larger Cherry Hill. If a merger were to go forward Cherry Hill would receive all the revenue from Merchantville's tax base. In 2011, the average homeowner in Cherry Hill with a home assessed at $140,000 paid approximately $8,717.80 per year in total property taxes and a Merchantville homeowner paid about $6,000.

 

Related articles.

Transparency missing before and during merger meeting

First meeting yields sparse audience, no-show chairman

Ad for merge consultant gets just three responses

The Petition to Consider Consolidation with Cherry Hil

 

Merchantville budgets.

 

Cherry Hill budgets.

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