South Orange Aces Best Practices Survey

The Township of South Orange Village will be receiving 100 percent of its annual state aid, having received a high score on the municipal best practices checklist.

Each municipality in New Jersey is required to complete an annual checklist designed with the intention to help local governments plan and manage their budgets more efficiently without increasing burdens on taxpayers.

“The checklist is made up of a number of topics, including such issues as finances, administration, personnel, public safety, utilities and other,” Village officials said.

In order to receive 100 percent of promised final state aid payment, a municipality must answer “yes” to a certain percentage of the questions. Too few “yes” answers could result in a loss of state aid.

The questionnaires go out annually in August and are due back in October.

“South Orange scored 88 percent on its municipal best practices checklist, and is working on appropriate corrective actions plans to bring the number even higher,” said Village President Alex Torpey. “Six questions were answered with a 'no,’ even if some are in the planning phase but haven’t been completed, and officials are confident the number, which is already one of the higher filings in the state, is even further improved.”