SENATE, No. 1890
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED MARCH 3, 1997
By Senator SCOTT
An Act concerning members of county and municipal governing bodies and supplementing chapter 9 to Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Uniform Compensation Act for County and Municipal Governing Bodies."
2. a. A county or municipal governing body shall not award longevity pay to a member of the governing body. For the purposes of this subsection, "longevity pay" means monies paid above a base salary, wage or compensation because of additional years of service; and "governing body" means, in the case of a municipality, the committee, council, commission, board or body having charge of the finances of the municipality, and in the case of a county, the board of chosen freeholders.
b. The salary, wage or compensation of members of a county or municipal governing body shall be increased only by adoption of an ordinance or resolution, as appropriate.
c. A county or municipal governing body shall not authorize the guaranteed payment of expenses or payments in lieu of expenses to members of the governing body. Expenses may be paid only after appropriate review of receipts and applications for reimbursements representing legitimate expenditures directly related to the conduct and performance of the county or municipal governing body member's duties.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would specifically prohibit counties and municipalities from awarding longevity pay to governing body members.
The bill would also provide that salaries of county and municipal governing body members could be increased only by adoption of an ordinance or resolution, as appropriate. This requirement would effectively prohibit county and municipal governing bodies from including an automatic cost of living adjustment to apply in perpetuity within one year's salary ordinance.
Finally, the bill would prohibit the practice of authorizing the prepayment of expenses or payments in lieu of expenses by a county or municipal governing body to its members.
Imposes certain salary and expense limitations on county and municipal governing body members.