Gloucester County Freeholder Director Robert M. Damminger was named Freeholder of the Year by the New Jersey Conference of Mayors (NJCM) at the group’s annual conference in Atlantic City Thursday.

Damminger, a Democrat from West Deptford and a member of the freeholder board since 1997, called the honor flattering, and touted the county’s record of shared services, to the tune of $24 million saved between things like emergency medical services, tax assessment and 9-1-1 dispatch, as part of what got him the honor.

“We live in an age where all governments must pull together and knock down imaginary boundaries to deliver the best services to our taxpayers at the lowest possible cost,” Damminger said.

The freeholder director also pointed to long-term planning and finding ways to cut spending and taxes as key, including five-year budget plans that allowed the county to slash $3.2 million in spending this year, leading to a reduction in the county tax rate of $4.1 million.

“We do things with an eye on the future,” Damminger said.

Damminger makes it back-to-back South Jersey Freeholders of the Year, after Camden County’s Lou Capelli won the distinction last year.

The NJCM, founded in 1963, represents the interests of mayors to state and federal government.