To force town mergers or not to force town mergers? That is the question facing New Jersey’s legislators this week. Whether to try and cut New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes by forcing towns to merge has become a contentious topic, and lawmakers will continue discussing the matter Wednesday as part of a bid to cut property taxes by year’s end. A special legislative committee discussing property tax reform has informally thrown its support behind legislation to create a special commission to decide which municipalities should be merged. The bill calls for the plan to get a single, up-or-down vote from legislators, though some lawmakers want voters to get final say. The state has 1,389 local governments, including 566 municipalities, but municipal officials oppose forced mergers. The same committee this week is expected to discuss a bill by Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. to create a single law outlining regionalization and shared services, compared to the 337 laws that now govern such moves. The New Jersey League of Municipalities has worked with Roberts on the bill, and its executive director, Bill Dressel, said it could become a “landmark piece of legislation.” Dressel and League adviser Gregory Fehrenbach said voluntary shared service agreements that already exist throughout the state have proved most effective and argued nobody has demonstrated forced mergers would save money. They said Roberts’ bill would promote more shared services. “Many smaller municipalities strive daily to provide services at a lower cost than some larger municipalities are able to do, and those smaller municipalities succeed,” Fehrenbach said. “They do without services. They use part-time employees and volunteers. They do not provide enviable salaries and benefits to their employees. They scavenge older vehicles for parts to keep better vehicles operating, forgoing the purchase of new vehicles and equipment. They take donations.” Lawmakers aren’t convinced, arguing that having less municipalities helps reduce property taxes by streamlining government. They also doubt municipal officials are willing to merge. “It needs to be mandated to those who oppose shattering the status quo,” said Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, R-Monmouth, author of the plan for a merger commission. Sen. Robert Smith, co-chairman of the special committee, agreed. “The problem with the voluntary consolidation model favored by the League of Municipalities and numerous municipal officials throughout the state is that they would have the option to consolidate considered by the very people who would be consolidated the mayors and municipal governments,” said Smith, D-Middlesex. “That sets up an inherent conflict of interest in which you ask people to voluntarily give up their own jobs for the greater good.” Smith wants voters to decide mergers. “Just as consolidation will not work without the consent of taxpayers, it cannot work if we leave it to local officials to abolish their own fiefdoms,” Smith said. Meanwhile, a special committee debating whether the state needs a new school funding formula to cut property taxes plans to hold a public hearing Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Ballroom and Theater at Collingswood. Another committee debating public worker benefits is slated to meet Thursday to mull measures to reduce state and local pension and health benefit costs. That same day, another committee mulling whether the constitution needs amending will discuss alternative revenue sources, including local taxes.