ASSEMBLY, No. 174

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblymen GIBSON and ASSELTA

An Act concerning the effect of seasonal population on crime reporting, amending P.L.1966, c.37 and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. Section 4 of P.L.1966, c.37 (C.52:17B-5.4) is amended to read as follows:

    4. a. Upon receipt of such information the Attorney General shall have such data collated and formulated and shall compile such statistics as he may deem necessary in order to present a proper classification and analysis of the volume and nature of crime and the administration of criminal justice within this State.

    b. The classification and analysis presented in accordance with subsection a. shall include a section on the per capita crime statistics for a resort municipality as defined in section 3 of P.L. , c. (C.   ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill), or the county wherein that municipality is located, and that section shall be based upon the annual mean population of that municipality as estimated by the Department of Labor pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf: P.L.1966, c.37, s.4)

    2. (New section) The Department of Labor shall annually determine and certify the annual mean population of resort municipalities. This information shall be transmitted to the Office of the Attorney General for use in the preparation of per capita crime statistics, pertaining to adults and juveniles, pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1966, c.37 (C.52:17B-5.4). The first determination shall be made as soon as practicable but no later than one year after the effective date of this act.

    3. (New section) As used in this act:

    "Annual mean population" means for each resort municipality the following:

                                    12P + 3SP

                        AMP =

                                          12

where AMP equals Annual Mean Population

    P equals Population

    SP equals Seasonal Population.

    "Population" means the population of the resort municipality shown in the most recent State population estimates published by the Department of Labor, except that in the year of promulgation of a Federal decennial census, the census figures shall be used.

    "Resort municipality" means a municipality which, because of its recreational, entertainment, or amusement characteristics or facilities or its close proximity to such characteristics or facilities, experiences a total increase during the seasonal period in the number of persons temporarily resident therein of 25% or more of its population.

    "Seasonal population" means the average of the total number of persons temporarily resident in the municipality during the three consecutive months when the temporary population is greatest.

    "Temporarily resident" means the occupying for any period of time during the seasonal period by any person not counted as a resident of the municipality for population purposes of an accommodation in a hotel, motel, boarding house or guest house, or of a rented residential unit, or of a vacation home.

    4. (New section) a. The seasonal population of each resort municipality shall be estimated by the Department of Labor, by taking into account such factors as it deems advisable and appropriate to determine such estimates including, but not limited to, any of the following: hotel, motel, boarding house and guest house occupancy; vacation home occupancy; real estate agency rental records; family rental records; seasonal certificates of occupancy; police reports; police department surveys; sale of beach badges; campsite and campground occupancy; garbage and trash collections; sewerage flow; water pumping records; sales and use tax receipts; luxury tax receipts; use of beaches and other public and private recreational areas and facilities; post office deliveries; aerial surveillances; and beach, boardwalk and other recreational area or facility population counts.

    b. The department may call for and obtain any records and assistance of the several departments and divisions of the State and of the respective municipalities as it deems necessary or helpful in carrying out the purposes of this act.

    5. (New section) The Commissioner of Labor may adopt and promulgate, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act as he shall deem necessary.

    6. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill addresses distortions in reported crime rates for resort municipalities which result from a failure to include seasonal population data when calculating these rates. Consequently, the per capita crime in resort municipalities may appear to be inordinately higher than that in non-resort municipalities with comparable permanent populations.

    The bill requires the Attorney General to include a section in the annual Uniform Crime Report that accounts for seasonal visitors in the compilation of uniform crime rates for resort municipalities. This would be done by using the annual mean population of a resort municipality, the annualized average of its permanent and seasonal populations. Crime statistics would be provided for both adults and juveniles in these municipalities.

    The Department of Labor would be required to estimate the annual mean population of resort municipalities. The department also would be required to calculate the total seasonal populations of these municipalities based on such factors as seasonal rentals and occupancies, sales of beach badges, water usage, postal deliveries, and sales and tax receipts.

Requires total seasonal population of resort municipalities to be included in Uniform Crime Report.