Gov. Chris Christie says he's finally found the secret formula to lower property taxes in the Garden State -- although it's not really a secret at all.

(David Matthau, Townsquare Media NJ)
Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a town hall meeting in Flemington on March 20.
(David Matthau, Townsquare Media NJ)
Gov. Chris Christie speaks during a town hall meeting in Flemington on March 20.
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During his latest town hall meeting in Flemington Thursday, the governor told an overflow crowd of more than 500 people "we have to start sharing services among these like towns, and I think we should do much more of what Princeton just did, which was to merge the two towns."

Christie said it makes no sense that neighboring towns have two schools, libraries, police departments and two of everything else that doubles the cost for taxpayers.

"Does the book in the Mendham Township library read differently than the book in the Mendham Borough library?" Christie asked. "It's the same damn book, everybody. We're paying over and over and over again for this stuff."

He said most New Jersey residents seem to love the idea of sharing, but when push comes to shove, they wind up insisting "my town of course is unique and special and different, and has a historical significance that is a part of the woven fabric of New Jersey, and we couldn't be compromised in any way to merge our planning, our libraries, our police departments, our fire departments, or anything else, because we are just so unique."

His response to that was, "You're not! Every town is special!"

 

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