Book Review - NJ's Multiple Municipal Madness

Here is a brief book review of the book "New Jersey's Municipal Madness by Alan J. Karcher. This book explains the various reasons for New Jersey's many municipalities.

Alan Karcher never shied away from controversy while he was the Speaker of the NJ General Assembly. He was one of the more outspoken politicians ever in the state. That comes out clearly in his book about how and why New Jersey became a state with 566 municipalities. There are far too many and they are far too small for New Jersey to be a place that is governed efficiently. One of the results is that in return for our penchant for "home rule" we pay the highest local property taxes in the US. Karcher's look into the history of how this happened is enchanting. He tells us that the boundaries were drawn by people long dead for reasons no longer valid. Here are the main reasons outlined in his book:

1. Ambition manifested as avarice or self-aggrandizement- often both.
2. Economic conditions unique to time place and circumstance.
3. The actions of an individual or small group for narrow agenda.
4. Attempts to control sale of alcohol.
5. For creating tax advantages.
6. Control of expenditures for areas near rail commuter lines.
7. The old political maxim - divide and conquer.
8. The use of the Municipal Corporation to exclude certain groups based on race, ethnic or socio-economic lines.

Before reading this book I had thought that the number one reason for all of New Jersey's Municipalities was political patronage. Mr. Karcher's book explains that the history of this development is much more involved. His chapters on Newark and Jersey City are very telling as to why NJ's cities never reached the stature of New York City. He offers a bold plan to get New Jersey out of this mess but I think that will be politically difficult to say the least.

I recommend this book for any would be policy wonks that want to better understand why New Jersey is structured the way it is today.

Here is the link on Amazon to see the book and more reviews:

New-Jerseys-Multiple-Municipal-Madness on Amazon.com ◦

Book Review - NJ's Multiple Municipal Madness