Originally published June 21, 2018

Spring Girt? Tetermoon? Frelingmuchy?

If a group of tax experts and lawmakers get their way, nearly 200 of New Jersey's 565 towns could be slammed together as a potential cost-cutting measure to help ease the state's crushing tax burden.

It's one of the more than 60 ideas being floated by a high-powered panel led by state Senate President Steve Sweeney and dubbed the Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group.

The collective is working on measures that could ease the burden facing state residents after federal tax reforms limited property tax breaks used by many in the state.

One of the more dramatic proposals being discussed by the group would be to force towns with populations of less than 5,000 people to merge with an adjacent town.

In the map below, the towns colored teal would be forced to merge under the proposal.

If such a policy were enacted, it would have a monumental impact on some of the state's counties. About 80 percent of Salem County's municipalities would be forced to merge. Only Passaic County would be unaffected.

Realistically, it's a pipe dream.

The only thing New Jersey hates more than property taxes is the idea of giving up any kind of local control that causes them to be so high in the first place.

Still, consolidation on a less grand scale is floated annually as a means of cutting down on the cost of government and, in turn, taxes. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, is a big supporter.

And, occasionally, it does happens.

Princeton Borough and Princeton Township merged in 2012 to form the unified Princeton Borough. But whether or not it actually helped matters is open for debate.

While the proportion of Princeton's property taxes derived from municipal government is considerably lower than the state average, the amount of money being spent on government has still increased by about 10 percent since the merger.

On average, municipal government accounts for less than 30 percent of state residents' property tax bills. The real tax titan is the school system, which more than half of the state's average property tax bill is tied to.

But hey, in Jersey, you never know what might happen. If the state Legislature barrels ahead with the proposal, here are the towns that should ready their torches and pitchforks:

Stephen Stirling may be reached at sstirling@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @sstirling. Find him on Facebook.