Pascack Valley High School history teacher Jeff Jasper spits in to a tube for a COVID-19 test.
“I thought it was fantastic. I was so pleased. Quick. Efficient. These people are amazing and I feel great,” Jasper said.
There’s free saliva testing available at a mobile site in the parking lot of Northern Highlands Regional High School. Rutgers has partnered with the fourth biggest public hospital in America, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, allowing it to do saliva testing of all school employees in the county. It’s a shared services agreement among Bergen County government, the county Department of Education and the county superintendents’ association.
“Ultimately being able to test 100% of our teachers at no cost to our local taxpayer certainly is something wonderful to see,” said Superintendent of Northern Highlands Regional High School Dr. Scot Beckerman.
Bergen County got millions in federal CARES dollars — some of it for COVID-19 testing — but it did not have to share that with the school districts.
“I’m making sure the county is safe. We’re making sure that the school districts are safe,” said Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco.
Tedesco told a state Department of Community Affairs virtual symposium that he’s struck countless shared services agreements as Paramus mayor and now as county executive.
Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who leads the department, says COVID-19 shutdowns mandated that towns collaborate and take advantage of shared services.
“And I hope that we can build on those lessons that we’ve learned in times of a non-emergency,” she said.
The Department of Community Affairs scheduled the symposium to promote more sharing of services in the northeast part of the state after the virus ravaged local government finances.
Two years ago, Gov. Phil Murphy appointed two former mayors as shared services czars, giving them and the Division of Local Government Services, millions of dollars to help towns study sharing services, reach agreements and save taxpayers money.
“The one thing we don’t have in our toolbox is courage, and we believe elected officials need courage in order to do this,” said Shared Services Czar Jordan Glatt.
It took a little more than courage for Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo to partner with other county jails and the federal government to house inmates.
“So, it works out very, very well. That’s a great agreement that we have with them,” he said.
Logan Township and Woolwich have partnered on trash and recyclable pickups. And five towns now share one municipal court in Madison.
“That is something that Jordan and I will be working on feverishly,” said Shared Services Czar Nicolas Platt.
Not all agreements work out. Some need canceling, fine-tuning or re-assessing.
Melanie Walter, the head of Department of Community Affairs’ Local Government Services, advised how to find partners.
“When you have a large capital expenditure, that’s an opportunity to find a partner. Check beyond your borders before reaching for the checkbook,” Walter said.
She said the average shared services agreement last year cut cost by $66,000 and the overall cost savings in the state reached $35 million.
One czar said the pandemic has put local government in a crisis. Perhaps, that’s why talks are underway to share medical examiner services among Passaic, Hudson and Bergen Counties, and nine local districts are weighing whether to form one large school district in Salem County.
