I. State Issues
a. CY 2019/SFY 2020 Best Practices Inventory Deadline October 30
As a reminder, the deadline for the CY2019/SFY2020 Best Practice Inventory is October 30 for all municipalities. For more on the Inventory, the process and changes please read our September 10 blog post.
Contact: Lori Buckelew, Senior Legislative Analyst, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.
b. Clean Water Council to Host Hearing and Information Session on Stormwater Utilities
The New Jersey Clean Water Council will be sponsoring a public hearing and seeking public testimony on the practices and approaches of stormwater utilities and how they may be used to help address local flooding, stormwater management and water quality concerns. NJ Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe will be the keynote speaker, joined by a host of other professionals to discuss how to determine if a stormwater utility is right for your community and how to develop one.
The meeting will be held on October 25 from 1 pm to 4:30 pm in Trenton at the NJDEP public hearing room. If you cannot attend but would like to comment, the Clean Water Council will be accepting written comments until November 29, 2019.
Please see the announcement from the Clean Water Council for more information on this event including a complete list of speakers and instructions on how to submit written comments.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., League Staff Attorney, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x137.
c. Governor Announces Local Assistance Bureau
Earlier this week Governor Murphy announced that the Division of Local Government Services has a new bureau to provide “on-site, hands-on technical assistance in a wide variety of areas to local government at no cost.” The Local Assistance Bureau (LAB) will be able to assist with, among other areas, administrative, finance, purchasing, human resources, labor negotiations, public safety, public works, risk management and insurance. Governor Murphy stated that “the goal of the bureau is to cultivate best practices in local government and to link local agencies that might be facing challenges to the State’s comprehensive network of resources.” LAB can be contacted by email at LocalAssistance@dca.nj.gov.
Contact: Lori Buckelew, Senior Legislative Analyst, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.
d. Governor Announces $10 Million for New Local Efficiency Achievement Program
Earlier this week, Governor Murphy announced a new grant program to assist municipalities in promoting and supporting local shared services and school consolidation studies. The Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) has been allocated $10 million for the following three initiatives:
- Challenge Grants, $150,000 per county, will allocate funds for compelling projects in each county that support efficiency-generating shared services. Grants will be awarded based on the scope of impact, breadth of collaboration and efficiencies generated.
- Implementation Grants, $5,800,000, will support the cost associated with shared services project completion or transition support. Eligible expenses will be for one-time reimbursable costs. Funding will be set-aside to partially support district and county-wide school consolidation studies.
- Shared Service Coordinator, $50,000 per county, to hire young professionals to work as full-time Shared Service Coordinator Fellow within the county to identify shared services opportunities. The county will be responsible for the employee’s benefits.
The Local Assistance Bureau (LAB) will be operating LEAP.
Contact: Lori Buckelew, Senior Legislative Analyst, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.
e. Looking Ahead to Lame Duck: Path to Progress’ Pension Hybrid Plan
In every year, for the past dozen years, the State of New Jersey has grabbed $331 million - money that is supposed to come back to municipalities for property tax relief – and spent that money on State-level programs and services. But even before that, for years and years, State budgets have been balanced with what are supposed to be municipal property tax relief dollars.
Earlier this year, legislation designed to address this long-time League priority took the first step toward enactment. S-51 has been released by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee. This bill, along with its companion measure, A-274, would require the State to begin a phased-in restitution of the $331 million, which has been annually diverted from dedicated municipal funding programs – the Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Relief Fund (ETR) and the Consolidated Municipal Property Tax Relief Aid (CMPTRA) – for the past twelve years. During every year since the 2008 Recession, this funding has been used to address State budget concerns. S-51/A274 would, incrementally, over the next five years, bring funding for all municipalities back to 2007 levels.
To learn more about this issue, refer to the League’s recent Town Crier Blog Post.
Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x121.
f. State DOT Receives $100 Million in Additional Federal Funding
Yesterday, Governor announced that the State Department of Transportation was awarded an additional $100 million from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) This additional funding will allow the Department to fund 28 projects in 19 counties. List of funded projects.
Contact: Michael Cerra, Assistant Executive Director, mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x120.
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