FISCAL NOTE TO

SENATE, No. 764

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JULY 24, 1996

      Senate Bill No. 764 of 1996 would allow municipal courts to retain 50 percent of revenues from traffic tickets issued by the State Police, to defray court costs. Currently, these fines are forwarded to the State.

      In certain communities, especially those traversed by toll highways such as the Garden State Parkway, a high volume of summonses is issued by the State Police for violations of State traffic laws. These cases represent a major portion of the court calendars in these towns. Court costs that are now retained by local courts are often insufficient to offset their operating expenses.

      The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) states that while it does not maintain statistics on the number of citations written by the State Police, it does maintain data on the amount of money that is generated from those citations and forwarded to the State. Based on this information, the AOC estimates that during FY 1997, the municipalities would collect an additional $18.15 million, while the State would lose $18.15. During FY 1998, the municipalities would realize and the State would lose $18.97 million in revenue.

      In order to implement the bill, the AOC notes that the State would experience minor costs for reprogramming its Automated Traffic System (ATS) to properly account for the new distribution of monies. The AOC adds that with the exception of programming that would be necessary in those municipalities that are served by private vendor or in-house computer systems, or to reprogram cash registers to properly account for the new split in monies, there would be no costs to the municipalities.

      The Office of Legislative Services concurs.

This fiscal note has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67.