ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

ASSEMBLY, No. 2777

 

with Assembly committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: DECEMBER 18, 1997

 

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports without recommendation Assembly Bill No. 2777 with committee amendments.

      Assembly Bill No. 2777 ACS, as amended, revises, reforms and repeals certain mandates, requirements and procedures that are burdensome on counties, municipalities and school districts. The bill also resolves certain administrative ambiguities and encourages more business-like practices on the part of local units in order to effectuate cost savings that will benefit property taxpayers.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill affects mandates on local governments and school districts; the bill will not have an impact on State revenues or expenditures.

 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments delete from the bill sections 6, 21, 22, 32, 34, 36, 37, 55 and 62. Section 6 would have required that a solid waste registration statement filed by a public entity with the DEP after the bill's effective date are to be valid for a period of five years, and froze the registration fee at that fee in effect as of March 1, 1997 for the one-year registration.

      Section 21 would have permitted a municipal governing body to enter into a contract with a private agency or firm for the purpose of collecting delinquent fines, costs, surcharges and other penalties that are owed to, or required to be collected by, the municipality as a result of any municipal court matter, including motor vehicle violation fees. This section has been deleted because the changes made to the section of law, N.J.S.A.40:48-5a, by P.L.1997, c.212 address the problem.

      Section 22 would have changed the current 6-year requirement for the reexamination of a municipal master plan to 10 years.

      Section 32 would have required that the first 12 months of any initial term of a municipal chief financial officer would be a probationary period during which that person may be removed from office for unsatisfactory performance, or for any other reason by the governing body.

      Section 34 would have permitted the appointment of a temporary municipal tax collector for a period of six months from occurence of a vacancy in that office.

      Sections 36 would have required that the first 12 months of any initial term of a municipal tax assessor or deputy tax assessor would be a probationary period during which that person may be removed from office for unsatisfactory performance, or for any other reason by the governing body.

      Section 37 would have provided that a tax assessor, chief financial officer, tax collector or municipal clerk would not be automatically given a pay raise equal to that given to all other municipal employees.

      Section 55 would have permitted municipalities to disclose on their tax bills as separate items the portion of property taxes related to the collection and disposal of solid waste and recyclables.

      Section 62 would have permitted a local contracting unit to enter into a contract as a participant in a cooperative pricing system with a board of education for materials, supplies or services not listed in section 15 of P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-15) and that are required on a recurring basis from year to year for up to a two-year term.

      The amendments add two new sections to the bill, numbered 48 and 49. Section 48 requires that notwithstanding sections 4 and 5 of P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-4 and C.13:1E-5) and any regulations thereunder, the registration renewal of solid waste collection and disposal vehicles operated by a public entity will be valid for a five-year period and the registration fee for the public entity will not be greater than the fee in effect as of March 1, 1997 for the one-year registration. This section effectively replaces section 6 of the bill, which was deleted by these amendments.

      Section 49 allows the governing body of Monmouth county, as a pilot program, to establish by resolution a "Solid Waste Disposal Stabilization Tax" and have that governing body report back to the Legislature as to whether the county tax is in the best interests of the county residents. The tax is to be assessed and collected in the same manner as the county purposes tax on real property, and must appear and be identified as a county surcharge on the property tax bills. Funds collected from this tax must be used exclusively to reduce tipping fees for the disposal of solid waste in the county landfill within the county budget year.

      The amendments also make technical changes to legal references required by the amendments already noted.