ASSEMBLY, No. 1687

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED MARCH 4, 1996

By Assemblywomen FARRAGHER and ALLEN

An Act providing for compensation to municipalities wherein county property is situated for the loss of tax revenue by reason of the exemption of those facilities from taxation and supplementing Title 54 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. As used in this act:

    “County property” means lands and improvements owned by a county and includes, but is not limited to, county offices, garages, warehouses, jails, parks, hospitals, institutions, schools, and colleges, together with abutting vacant land held for future development for those purposes, located within the taxing districts comprising the county. It shall not include property used or held by the county for future use for highways, bridges or tunnels.

    “Director” means the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.

    2. Commencing with the tax year 1996, each assessor annually on or before September 15 shall prepare and send to the director, on a form prescribed by the director, statements of the taxable value assessments of county property situated in the municipality for the ensuing tax year.

    3. Upon the receipt of the assessments of county property, the director shall review and revise the list and the assessment of any parcel of county property, and annually on or before November 15 the director shall notify the county board of taxation and the taxing district affected by such change, addition or revision. The determination by the director shall be final and there shall be no appeal taken with respect thereto, except to correct typographical and mathematical errors.

    4. After completion of the review of the assessments of county property and on or before December 30 of each year, the director shall compute the county’s liability for in lieu of tax payments in each municipality affected. The in lieu of tax payment shall be calculated by applying the local purpose tax rate of the municipality for the tax year 1996 and each year thereafter to the aggregate assessed value of county property in each municipality within the county for the tax year 1996 and each year thereafter, and the sum of such municipal calculations shall constitute the county’s in lieu of tax payment liability for each tax year.

    5. The county treasurer of each county, annually on or before June 1, shall pay over to each municipality within that county for which a county in lieu of tax payment is owed the appropriate sum as calculated by the director pursuant to section 3 of this act. Municipalities may anticipate county in lieu of tax payment sums in their current year budget.

    6. County in lieu of tax payments shall be used by municipal governing bodies to reduce the property tax requirement of their current year budget so as to provide property tax relief. The director shall not approve any municipal budget wherein a county in lieu of tax payment was not fully utilized for the purpose of providing property tax relief.

    7. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would require counties to make in lieu of tax payments to municipalities for county property situated within municipal boundaries. The purpose of this bill is to compensate municipalities for the loss of ratables realized because of the tax exempt status of county property.

Requires county payments in lieu of taxes to municipalities for county property.