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LONGPORT With shared services for local governments being pushed by state officials, Longport is considering consolidating its court with neighboring Margate.
The state is encouraging court systems with less than 3,000 case filings since 2013 to consolidate with nearby communities, Mayor Nicholas Russo said at the Board of Commissioners workshop meeting Thursday, Dec. 12.
(The state) could very easily in the coming months say we have to go with another court, Commissioner Dan Lawler said.
Mayor Nicholas Russo said the borough should be pro-active in finding a court partner.
The borough was considering consolidating with the City of Linwood, which was also seeking a partner. The move across the Longport bridge could have saved the borough 50% of the $260,000 it costs to run its court, Administrator Scott Porter said.
However, Northfield City Council took action Wednesday evening to rejoin Linwood's court system. Northfield, which previously had a 10-year relationship with Linwood, had considered merging with Egg Harbor Township starting Jan. 1, 2020, but instead agreed to rejoin Linwood for the next three years.
A three-way merger would increase personnel costs and borough officials said it would be inconvenient for police and residents.
According to Porter, a three-way agreement with Linwood and Northfield could result in Longport incurring a third of the cost, despite the borough having a much smaller case load.
Margate is drawing up a proposal for us to review that Margate and Longport would have a consolidated court, Russo said. The original proposal was for a Downbeach court.
Downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport had discussed merging their court systems, but Ventnor's case load is so much greater than the remaining towns combined that it was decided Ventnor should maintain its own court.
According to Russo, Longport would only have 12% of cases in the Downbeach combined system and 22% if it merged with Margate alone, he said. Ventnor has the ninth busiest court of 21 Atlantic County municipalities, he said.
The good thing about Margate is they have a state-of-the-art courtroom. It's a stand-alone court that does not interfere with other functions, Russo said. If we go off the island, it would present challenges for the Police Department and is an inconvenience for residents.
If Margate's willing, it would be easier for us to go to Margate, Lawler said.
Margate Commissioner of Public Safety John Amodeo said the issue has been discussed in general terms but no decision to merge has been made.
Ventnor Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Kriebel said Ventnor never fully presented its offer for Longport's consideration in time for this year's consolidation.
We hope to keep the conversation going in the future for any efficiency or savings for Ventnor's and all the Downbeach taxpayers, Kriebel said.
Let's see what (Margate Administrator) Rich Deaney comes up with, Russo said.
I think it's good that we pursue it, Commissioner Jim Leeds said.
