Princeton NJ Local Government Press Releases

Newly Released Survey Data Show Mercer County Residents Open to Municipal Consolidation & Shared Services; Pessimistic Outlook on Local Economy

In fall 2011, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School conducted a large-scale mail and web survey of Mercer County residents.  The survey focused on social and economic issues facing residents, including their views on municipal consolidation and shared services as well as the economy. 

The results showed that while Mercer County residents were generally open to the idea of municipal consolidation, they were more supportive of sharing municipal services.  Furthermore, the results showed that while Mercer County residents had generally mixed views on the local economy, they had a pessimistic outlook on economic conditions in the county over the next year.

Highlights of the survey include:

• Forty-two percent of Mercer County residents favored their municipality consolidating with a neighboring municipality, while 29% opposed consolidation, and 28% reported they were “not sure.”  This was largely driven by economic considerations, with those favoring consolidation also having more confidence that it would both reduce costs of providing government services and reduce taxes. 

• Residents had more support for shared municipal services compared to consolidation.  In general, 59% of residents favored sharing at least one local government service with a neighboring New Jersey municipality, while 20% of residents were opposed to sharing any services, and 21% of residents indicated that they were “not sure.”  The same economic considerations – reduced costs and tax savings -- that influenced consolidation influenced these answers as well.

• Overall, residents had mixed views of economic conditions in Mercer County.  Half of the residents rated conditions as “only fair,” while 16% of residents rated conditions as “poor,” and 29% of residents rated conditions as either “excellent” or “good.”  Residents’ views for the future were not as optimistic, with a vast majority believing that over the next year economic conditions would worsen or stay the same, unemployment would increase or stay the same, and property values would either decrease or stay the same.  Not surprisingly, these views were influenced by household income, with those with lower incomes having a much more pessimistic outlook than those at the higher end of the income scale. 

Noting the importance of this type of survey, Christina Paxson, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School, said “I believe it is very helpful to capture the views of Mercer County residents on important issues that affect their daily lives.  We hope to continue these types of surveys, perhaps broadening our reach to other parts of New Jersey.”