Be prepared. Municipal governments are wise to heed the Boy Scouts motto — particularly during eras of fiscal uncertainty when no program or service is safe from the budget chopping block.

That’s why we’re pleased to see several Atlantic County municipalities exploring alternatives for law enforcement coverage in case New Jersey’s government starts charging small and rural communities for state police protection.

Seventy-six New Jersey municipalities — including several in Atlantic County — receive free coverage from the state police. Another 13 communities enjoy free part-time state police assistance.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine wants to require those towns to pay for a portion of patrol services as one solution to the state’s budget crisis.

This idea has surfaced before without success. But officials in six Atlantic County communities — realizing that New Jersey’s financial difficulties make the threat more serious this time around — are preparing for a worst-case scenario.

The towns — Buena Vista Township, Egg Harbor City, Estell Manor, Folsom, Mullica Township and Weymouth Township — are examining possibilities for regional police protection.

One option is to expand the role of the county sheriff’s office. That is worth exploring, if safeguards are in place to ensure it wouldn’t create a tax burden for — or compromise the services provided to — municipalities that have their own police departments.

Hopefully no “Plan B” scenarios will be necessary this year.

We’ve seen other controversial cost-cutting ideas — such as threats to close state parks and eliminate the state Department of Agriculture — pulled off the table this spring, and we’d like to see the state police proposal suffer the same fate.

Even so, the days of free state police coverage appear numbered. If that’s true, we hope municipal and state officials could negotiate a phase-in strategy that would help the state begin to raise revenue without jeopardizing the safety of state residents and over-burdening municipalities that already face significant cuts in state aid.

But as municipal aid shrinks and program budgets are slashed to balance the bottom line, elected officials are smart to acknowledge there are no guarantees.