Hopatcong, Stanhope to Share Municipal Court

Hopatcong stands to make between $20,000 and $25,000 a year off a shared municipal court agreement with Stanhope, which will take effect on July 1, Borough Administrator Bob Elia said Tuesday.

Stanhope will pay Hopatcong $70,000 for the first two years of the five-year deal, with each following year including 2 percent increases.

"We're looking forward to it," Elia said. "It's the trend of the future. Services will need to be consolidated to keep the tax expense down. I mean, that's the whole goal, to keep taxes down while still providing services to residents. It might not sound like a lot (of money). But if you combined that and something else and something else, that's the goal. To share and combine anything you can."

Elia said negotiations between the municipalities to share municipal court began about two years ago. He said Stanhope realized it was outgrowing its current municipal court.

Elia also said the deal means longer court sessions. Hopatcong, which holds municipal court each Monday, will start at 7 p.m.—a half-hour earlier than it's current time. Sessions on the month's fourth Monday, which used to begin at 2:30 p.m., will now begin at 2 p.m.

Elia said most of Stanhope's cases are traffic-related and won't tie up too much time. "They're not really courtroom cases," Elia said. "They're cases that are mostly handled through violations."

"It just works out."

Elia said Hopatcong's municipal court costs about $200,000 a year to run, factoring in employee salaries. He also said the $25,000 donation Hopatcong received from Hudson Farms will be used to renovate the courtroom and that he borough is currently looking into contractors for the job.