They also have realistic expectations about the results and problems of implementing shared services. Shared services offer the greatest potential for smaller, geographically compact communties. Municipalities with greater land area and fewer population centers tend to benefit less. This is particularly true of smaller communities with resource limitations, such as those in the Pinelands region. County government should play a greater role in shared services.
Many municipalities look to the county to take the lead in organizing and operating shared services.
A number of comments and suggestions were offered about the State's role in intermunicipal efforts. While some concern was expressed about the possibility of intrusion or State mandates in developing shared service programs, there was universal recognition that the State is the natural party to provide assistance needed by local officials. This report and the survey on which it is based were prepared by the Rutgers Graduate Program in Public Administration under a grant from the Legislature. The survey's results reflect the large number and diversity of operating shared service programs and the constructive role the State could play as outlined above. While generally acknowledged that shared services can save money and improve efficiency, local officials have been equally open about the problematic aspects of sharing services.