Bob Ingle explains it all:

With 566 municipalities in New Jersey (California has only 480), 603 school districts (more than the states of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia combined), 187 fire districts, 486 local authorities, 92 special taxing districts, and 21 county governments, which tend to be units controlled by entrenched political bosses, there’s a lot of opportunity to cheat, steal and corrupt the system.