Cherry Hill Leads Way In Services Consolidation

In October, Cherry Hill (NJ) put a landmark joint-purchasing agreement out into the marketplace that included five separate government entities and encompassed more than 45,000 homes. Now, the results are in, and the Township, Gloucester Township, Merchantville Borough, the Cherry Hill School District and the Cherry Hill Fire Department have realized a savings of about 10 percent across the board on their trash services – a clear victory for shared-services and for the taxpayer.
“Our message was clear: We went out to the marketplace and told these contractors to sharpen their pencils to get our collective business,” Mayor Bernie Platt said. “Acting as a single entity, we were able to leverage economies of scale to realize a substantial savings over the course of this new contract.”
“There is no question in my mind that this shared-service experiment was a success; we’ve secured the absolute best price for the taxpayer,” Platt added.
This was the largest residential solid waste and recyclable materials collection pickup and disposal bid in South Jersey, and just the latest example of Cherry Hill working with other government agencies to share services and consolidate costs. Currently, the Township has existing shared service agreements with Merchantville, Haddonfield, Gloucester Township, the Cherry Hill Schools, and Camden County.