Residents of two New Jersey towns approved a merger last November, and a task force is proceeding with plans to combine Princeton Township with Princeton Borough.

Some expenses of the consolidation are higher than anticipated.

More jobs than originally projected are being cut and that boosting the cost of severance packages.

Princeton Township Mayor Chad Goerner says savings from the merger should help control the expense.

 “We did have some unexpected voluntary contributions from Princeton University that amount to approximately $500,000, $250,000 per municipality, to help offset transition costs.”

Goerner also anticipates additional savings from combining the Township and Borough operating budgets.

“We will not need two municipal audits. We will not need two municipal attorneys and we will not need duplicative equipment such as copiers and things like that.”

The merger will take effect in January.

The group Courage to Connect New Jersey has been pushing for years to get more of the state’s 566 municipalities to consolidate. Executive director Gina Genovese hopes what’s happening in Princeton encourages more towns to merge.

“With the economic times and the two percent cap and the either flattening of municipal aid or if it lessens in the future they’re going to have to look for other ways that they can become solvent in the 21st century.”