Bill Text: NJ S2969 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Provides counties discretion related to retirement of county debt service and amount that can be raised under property tax levy cap.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-04-11 - Approved P.L.2024, c.8. [S2969 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2969-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Senator PAUL A. SARLO
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Provides counties discretion related to retirement of county debt service and amount that can be raised under property tax levy cap.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on March 11, 2024, with amendments.
An Act concerning the effects of the debt service exclusion from the county property tax levy and amending P.L.1976, c.68.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.4) is amended to read as follows:
4. In the preparation of its budget, a county may not increase the county tax levy to be apportioned among its constituent municipalities in excess of 2.5% or the cost-of-living adjustment, whichever is less, of the previous year's county tax levy, subject to the following exceptions:
a. The amount of revenue generated by the increase in valuations within the county, based solely on applying the preceding year's county tax rate to the apportionment valuation of new construction or improvements within the county, and such increase shall be levied in direct proportion to said valuation;
b. Capital expenditures, including appropriations for current capital expenditures, whether in the capital improvement fund or as a component of a line item elsewhere in the budget, provided that any such current capital expenditures would be otherwise bondable under the requirements of N.J.S.40A:2-21 and 40A:2-22;
c. (1) An increase based upon emergency temporary appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-20 to meet an urgent situation or event which immediately endangers the health, safety or property of the residents of the county, and over which the governing body had no control and for which it could not plan and emergency appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-46. Emergency temporary appropriations and emergency appropriations shall be approved by at least two-thirds of the governing body and by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, and shall not exceed in the aggregate 3% of the previous year's final current operating appropriations.
(2) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
The approval procedure in this subsection shall not apply to appropriations adopted for a purpose referred to in subsection d. or f. below;
d. All debt service, except as otherwise provided in this section;
e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
f. Amounts required to be paid pursuant to (1) any contract with respect to use, service or provision of any project, facility or public improvement for water, sewerage, parking, senior citizen housing or any similar purpose, or payments on account of debt service therefor, between a county and any other county, municipality, school or other district, agency, authority, commission, instrumentality, public corporation, body corporate and politic or political subdivision of this State; and (2) any lease of a facility owned by a county improvement authority when the lease payment represents the proportionate amount necessary to amortize the debt incurred by the authority in providing the facility which is leased, in whole or in part;
g. That portion of the county tax levy which represents funding to participate in any federal or State aid program and amounts received or to be received from federal, State or other funds in reimbursement for local expenditures. If a county provides matching funds in order to receive the federal or State or other funds, only the amount of the match which is required by law or agreement to be provided by the county shall be excepted;
h. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1987, c.74.)
i. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
j. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
k. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
l. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2004, c.74.)
m. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
n. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
o. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89.)
p. Extraordinary expenses, approved by the Local Finance Board, required for the implementation of an interlocal services agreement;
q. Any expenditure mandated as a result of a natural disaster, civil disturbance or other emergency that is specifically authorized pursuant to a declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or by the Governor;
r. Expenditures for the cost of services mandated by any order of court, by any federal or State statute, or by administrative rule, directive, order, or other legally binding device issued by a State agency which has identified such cost as mandated expenditures on certification to the Local Finance Board by the State agency;
s. That portion of the county tax levy which represents funding to a county college in excess of the county tax levy required to fund the county college in local budget year 1992;
t. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2004, c.74.)
u. Expenditures for the administration of general public assistance pursuant to P.L.1995, c.259 (C.40A:4-6.1 et al.);
v. Amounts in a separate line item of a county budget that are expended on tick-borne disease vector management activities undertaken pursuant to P.L.1997, c.52 (C.26:2P-7 et al.);
w. Amounts expended by a county under an interlocal services agreement entered into pursuant to the "Interlocal Services Act," P.L.1973, c.208 (C.40:8A-1 et al.) entered into after the effective date of P.L.2000, c.126 (C.52:13H-21 et al.) or amounts expended under a joint contract pursuant to the "Consolidated Municipal Service Act," P.L.1952, c.72 (C.40:48B-1 et seq.) entered into after the effective date of P.L.2000, c.126 (C.52:13H-21 et al.);
x. Amounts appropriated in the first three years after the effective date of P.L.2003, c.92 (C.18A:7F-5b et al.) for liability insurance, workers' compensation insurance and employee group insurance;
y. Amounts appropriated in the first three years after the effective date of P.L.2003, c.92 (C.18A:7F-5b et al.) for costs of domestic security preparedness and responses to incidents and threats to domestic security;
z. Expenditures of amounts received pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-96).
In the first full year where an existing appropriation or expenditure that is subject to budget limitations is made an exception to budget limitations, a county shall deduct from its final appropriations upon which its permissible expenditures are calculated pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.2) the amount which the county expended for that purpose during the last full budget year, or portion thereof, in which the purpose so excepted was funded from appropriations in the county budget.
In the first full year where an existing appropriation or expenditure that is not subject to budget limitations is made subject to budget limitations, a county shall add to its final appropriations upon which its permissible expenditures are calculated pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.2) the amount which the county expended for that purpose during the last full budget year, or portion thereof, in which the purpose so excepted was funded from appropriations in the county budget.
1[In] Notwithstanding the provisions of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45) to the contrary, after a county has made the determination to prepare its budget under the property taxation limitations of section 4 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.4), pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45), then in1 any 1such1 local budget year 1[in which] , if1 a county's appropriations for debt service are less than the prior year's appropriations for debt service, which amounts are exceptions to the 2.5% county tax levy increase limitation pursuant to this section, 1then1 the county's maximum permissible tax levy 1for that local budget year1 shall be increased by the amount of the difference in appropriations for debt service between the two local budget years, plus that amount multiplied by the average predominant prime rate, as determined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, quoted by commercial banks to large businesses as of the first business day of the calendar quarter within which the local budget is finalized, which amount may be designated for other purposes.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.311, s.18)
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any local budget year beginning on or after January 1, 2024.
