Bill Text: NJ A4746 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishes pilot program to help certain municipalities participate in countywide enhanced 9-1-1 systems; makes appropriation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-12-03 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee [A4746 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2018-A4746-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 4746

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED DECEMBER 3, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE

District 37 (Bergen)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes pilot program to help certain municipalities participate in countywide enhanced 9-1-1 systems; makes appropriation.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

 


An Act concerning countywide enhanced 9-1-1 systems, supplementing P.L.1989, c.3 (C.52:17C-1 et seq.), and making an appropriation.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    The Legislature finds and declares that:

     a.     The efficient, reliable, and cost-effective provision of emergency response services is a fundamental public policy concern of the Legislature. 

     b.    Historically, the State's 9-1-1 emergency response system operated through a decentralized network of local public safety answering points in which each local unit dispatched the appropriate emergency responders throughout its own jurisdiction. 

     c.     To consolidate and improve the provision of emergency response services, some counties now operate countywide public safety answering point systems in which a county facility receives all emergency calls on behalf of participating municipalities within the county. 

     d.    The Legislature finds that countywide public safety answering point systems reduce municipal expenses and increase the efficiency and reliability of emergency response services among participating municipalities. 

     e.     However, the up-front costs to municipalities associated with integrating into an existing countywide system may deter some municipalities from investing in the equipment and expertise required to participate in the system. 

     f.     The Legislature declares that it is in the public interest to encourage municipal participation in countywide 9-1-1 systems by alleviating the financial deterrents experienced by municipalities.  The Legislature, therefore, further declares that a two-year pilot program should be established to assess whether providing zero interest State financing to prospective municipalities is an effective means to encourage increased municipal participation in existing countywide systems.

 

     2.    a.   As used in this section:

     "Pilot municipality" means a municipality located within a pilot county that does not participate in the pilot county's countywide public safety answering point system prior to the effective date of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). 

     "Pilot county" means any county of the fifth class with a population of over 600,000 and a population density of less than 2,000 persons per square mile according to the 2010 federal decennial census.

     "Pilot program means the "Countywide 9-1-1 System Integration Pilot Program" established pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

     b.    There is established the "Countywide 9-1-1 System Integration Pilot Program" to provide financial assistance to pilot municipalities that apply to participate in the countywide public safety answering point system of a pilot county.  The financial assistance shall be used to defray the up-front costs associated with the pilot municipality's integration into the countywide public safety answering point system, including, but not limited to, the acquisition of necessary equipment and technical expertise.  Any municipality located within a pilot county that participates in the countywide public safety answering point system prior to the effective date of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not be eligible for financial assistance.

     c.     The pilot program shall provide financial assistance to selected pilot municipalities for a period not to exceed 24 months, after which the pilot program shall be terminated.  The financial assistance provided through the pilot program shall be in the form of zero interest loans.  Each loan shall be in an amount that is not greater than $500,000.  The State Treasurer shall approve a uniform repayment plan that sets forth the time period and payment intervals in which each pilot municipality shall repay all loan monies, except that a loan shall be repaid by the municipality no later than five years after the issuance of the loan.  All loan monies paid pursuant to a repayment plan shall be deposited in the "9-1-1 System and Emergency Response Trust Fund Account" established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2004, c.48 (C.52:17C-19).

     d.    (1)     The pilot program shall be administered by the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1989, c.3 (C.52:17C-3) and the Statewide Public Safety Communications Commission established pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2011, c.4 (C.52:17C-3.2). 

     (2)   The State Treasurer, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1989, c.3 (C.52:17C-3) and the Statewide Public Safety Communications Commission established pursuant to section 5 of P.L.2011, c.4 (C.52:17C-3.2), shall promulgate rules and regulations, on or before the first day of the third month next following the enactment of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), to effectuate the purposes of the pilot program.  The rules and regulations shall, at minimum, set forth the requirements for application submissions, the criteria for application selections, and the maximum amount of financial assistance provided to each pilot municipality.

 

     3.    There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of the Treasury the amounts necessary to defray the costs associated with implementing the "Countywide 9-1-1 System Integration Pilot Program" established pursuant to section 1 of P.L.    , c.    (C.        ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

 

     4.    This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill establishes the "Countywide 9-1-1 System Integration Pilot Program" to provide financial assistance to certain municipalities in a pilot county that apply to participate in the countywide enhanced 9-1-1 system. 

     Under current law, counties may adopt a countywide public safety answering point system ("countywide system") in which all or most emergency calls are routed to a single network of facilities which dispatches emergency responders throughout the county.  However, municipalities located in these counties are not required to participate in the countywide system.  Those municipalities which do not participate in the system are required to provide emergency dispatch services individually, or in conjunction with other municipalities.

     Under the bill, the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services and Statewide Public Safety Communications Commission in the Office of Information Technology, would establish and administer the "Countywide 9-1-1 System Integration Pilot Program" to assist certain municipalities in a pilot county that apply to participate in the countywide system.  However, municipalities in a pilot county that participate in the countywide system prior to the effective date of the bill would not be eligible for assistance under the pilot program.

     Under the bill, a pilot county is defined as any county of the fifth class with a population of over 600,000 and a population density of less than 2,000 persons per square mile according to the 2010 federal decennial census.  Only Monmouth County meets this definition.

     The pilot program would provide financial assistance to selected municipalities in the form of zero interest loans for a period not to exceed 24 months, after which it would be terminated.  The amount of a loan may not exceed $500,000.  Loan monies are required to be used to support the up-front costs incurred as a result of the municipality's integration into the countywide system.  The bill also requires the State Treasurer to approve a uniform repayment plan that sets forth the period of time and payment intervals in which a participating municipality is to repay all loan monies; provided, however, that all loans are required to be repaid no later than five years after issuance. 

     The bill directs the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services and the Statewide Public Safety Communications Commission in the Office of Information Technology, to promulgate rules and regulations, on or before the first day of the third month following the enactment of the bill, to effectuate the purposes of the pilot program.  At minimum, the rules and regulations would set forth the requirements for application submissions, the criteria for application selections, and the maximum amount of financial assistance provided to each pilot municipality.

     The bill also appropriates from the General Fund to the Department of the Treasury the amounts necessary to defray the costs associated with implementing the pilot program.

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