2 N.J. towns vote to sell their water utilities — while another decides to keep control

Voters in Manalapan Township and the Village of South Orange on Tuesday agreed to sell their aging, debt-ridden water utilities, as they embraced a promise of short-term tax relief over the long-term risk of higher rate charges levied under corporate ownership.
But voters in Gloucester Township in Camden County overwhelmingly rejected a bid by New Jersey American Water to buy its municipal sewer system for $143 million. The vote was 4,945 in favor and 21,532 against, according the latest election results.
In Manalapan and South Orange, voters chose to unload their aging municipal water systems to the big utilities.