Bill Text: NJ A4099 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Increases flexibility, clarity, and available tools of optional municipal consolidation process.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-06 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee [A4099 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A4099-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman TIMOTHY J. EUSTACE
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman CONNIE WAGNER
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Increases flexibility, clarity, and available tools of optional municipal consolidation process.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning municipal consolidation and amending P.L.2007, c.63.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 25 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-25) is amended to read as follows:
25. a. The Legislature finds and declares that in order to encourage municipalities to increase efficiency through municipal consolidation for the purpose of reducing expenses borne by their property taxpayers, more flexible options need to be available to the elected municipal officials and voters than are available through the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et al.).
b. (1) In lieu of the procedures set forth in the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et al.), the governing bodies from two or more contiguous municipalities may apply to the board for either:
(a) approval of a plan to consolidate their municipalities; or
(b) creation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission, as described in subsection c. of this section.
(2) A representative committee of registered voters from two or more contiguous municipalities may petition the board for the creation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission, as described in subsection c. of this section. The petition, or each petition paper, as the case may be, shall state the purpose of the petition, and shall name the municipalities for which a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission is proposed. The petition, to be sufficient, shall be signed by the registered and qualified voters of the municipalities in a number at least equal to 10% of the total votes cast in those municipalities at the last preceding general election at which members of the General Assembly were elected. The petition shall be filed with the board. The board shall also accept a combination of applications from [local] municipal governing bodies, pursuant to subparagraph (b) of paragraph (1) of this subsection, and petitions from representative committees of registered voters, pursuant to this paragraph, from two or more contiguous municipalities, requesting the creation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission [; however, if each municipality submits an application from its governing body, any proposed consolidation plan shall be approved by voter referendum in each of the municipalities] . After a petition is filed, the board shall arrange for the clerk of the county in which the municipalities named in the petition are located to ascertain and certify the number and validity of the signatures affixed thereto. If the petition is determined to be sufficient, the county clerk shall so certify, and shall forthwith transmit certified copies to the board, the governing bodies of the municipalities, and the clerks of the municipalities.
(3) The board shall provide application forms and technical assistance to any governing bodies or voters desiring to apply to the board for approval of a consolidation plan or the creation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission.
(4) A consolidation commission established pursuant to P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et seq.) in the year prior to enactment of sections 1 [to] through 37 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et al.) may apply to the Local Finance Board for approval to use the provisions of sections 25 through 29 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-25 through C.40A:65-29).
c. An application to create a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission shall propose a process to study the feasibility of consolidating the participating municipalities into a single new municipality or merging one into the other. The application shall include provisions for:
(1) the means of selection and qualifications of study commissioners;
(2) the timeframe for the study, which shall be no more than three years, along with key events and deadlines, including time for review of the report by State agencies, which review shall be no less than three months;
(3) whether a preliminary report shall be issued in addition to the final report;
(4) whether the development of a consolidation implementation plan will be a part of the study;
(5) the means for any proposed consolidation plan to be approved; either by voter referendum, by the governing bodies, or both; [and]
(6) if proposed by a representative group of voters, justification of that group's standing to serve as the community advocate for the consolidation proposal; and
(7) the designation of an administrative support entity.
At any time, the board may require the submission of any other information that it may deem helpful to its review of an application to create a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission.
For the purposes of this subsection, "administrative support entity" means a government, not-for-profit, or for-profit entity that will provide funds or other resources and administer contracts and finances for a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission. An administrative support entity shall be subject to the government records provisions of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.).
d. (1) An application to the board for consideration of a consolidation plan or to create a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission shall be subject to a public hearing within each municipality to be studied, and a joint public hearing in a place that is easily accessible to the residents of both or all of the municipalities. The joint public hearing may be held in conjunction with one of the public hearings required to be held within one of the municipalities to be studied.
(2) The public hearings shall be facilitated by the board and conducted in accordance with the provisions of the "Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.).
(3) The board may, as a condition of approval, require that a consolidation implementation plan be amended. After approval of a plan by the board, it may be amended upon petition to the board by the applicant, subject to the approval of the board. Based on the nature of the amendment, the board may decide to hold a public hearing in any of the municipalities affected by the plan, or at a regular meeting, or both.
e. Every Municipal Consolidation Study Commission shall include a representative of the Department of Community Affairs as a non-voting representative on the commission. The representative shall not be a resident of a municipality participating in the study. The department [shall] may prepare an objective fiscal study of the fiscal aspects of a consolidation [and shall provide it] . Any such study shall be provided to the commission in a timely manner.
f. If the consolidation would include the consolidation of boards of education, a person appointed by the Commissioner of Education shall serve as a non-voting member of that Municipal Consolidation Study Commission. The representative of the Commissioner of Education shall not be a resident of a community participating in the study. The county superintendent of schools shall conduct a study on the impact of consolidation on the educational system and its finances. The report shall be provided to the commission in a timely manner.
g. There shall be no more than one of either a consolidation plan study, a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission, or a joint municipal consolidation created under the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et al.), active in a single municipality at the same time. In the event that more than one application is filed with the board or is being considered by the governing bodies while another action affecting the same municipality or municipalities is under consideration, the board shall consider the applications and shall join any proposed creation of a joint municipal consolidation together and approve only one action as the board deems to be in the public interest. Prior to approving a single action, the board shall hold a public hearing permitting all parties to present testimony on the merits of their action in relation to the other proposals. Once an action is approved by the board, another action from the same combination of municipalities shall not be approved for at least five years.
h. In considering its decisions under sections 1 [to] through 37 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et al.), the Local Finance Board and any other State agency [shall] may take into account local conditions, the reasonableness of proposed decisions, and the facilitation of the consolidation process in making decisions concerning consolidation.
(cf: P.L.2011, c.55, s.1)
2. Section 26 of P.L.2007, c. 63 (C.40A:65-26) is amended to read as follows:
26. a. A consolidation plan or report of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission shall include the provisions of sections 16 and 24 of P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.50 and 40:43-66.58), insofar as they are consistent with the provisions of sections 1 [to] through 37 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et al.). In addition, a consolidation plan shall address the following implementation issues:
(1) a timetable for implementing the consolidation plan;
(2) duplicate positions, including those held by tenured, certified officers, listing those positions proposed to be abolished for reasons of economy, efficiency or other good cause and listing those positions proposed to be merged; [and]
(3) applicability of the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes, if Title 11A has been adopted by one or more consolidating municipalities ; and
(4) a process for the efficient and economical equalization of the assessment on the properties of the new municipality for the apportionment of taxes in accordance with Article VIII, Section I, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution.
b. The following policies may be considered and implemented under an application for approval of a consolidation plan, and may be included as part of a study under the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et al.), or as part of a study conducted by a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission pursuant to sections 1 [to] through 37 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et al.):
(1) creation of a consolidation implementation plan to establish a timetable of significant events and goals to be achieved as part of a consolidation study;
(2) a phase-in of a consolidation over a fixed period of time. Such a plan shall be subject to review and approval of the Local Finance Board prior to it being approved by the governing bodies or subject to voter referendum;
(3) variations from existing State law or State department rules that may not have anticipated a phase-in or consolidation of services. [When] If variations are proposed, they shall be submitted to the board which shall refer it to the agency with oversight responsibility. After due consideration, the referee agency is empowered to waive such law or rules if a waiver is found reasonable to further the process of consolidation. [Where] If no such agency exists, the Commissioner of Community Affairs shall act on behalf of the State. These requests shall be acted on within 45 days of their receipt by an agency, and they shall be deemed approved, subject to approval of a consolidation proposal by the municipalities, by the end of that time unless the agency has responded with a denial, conditions that must be met in order for it to be approved, or an alternative approach to resolving the matter;
(4) the use of advisory planning districts [, comprised of residents living in the former territories of each former municipality] to provide advice to the planning board and the zoning board of adjustment on applications and master plan changes affecting those areas. A consolidation study plan shall specify the types and nature of the development and zoning applications that the advisory planning districts shall review and the official boards shall be required to respond, at a public meeting, to each suggestion made by an advisory planning district;
(5) the establishment of service districts [comprised of the boundaries of any or all of the former municipalities] which may be used to allocate resources and used for official geographic references in the new municipality;
(6) the continued use of boundary lines of any or all of the former municipalities to continue local ordinances that existed prior to consolidation or the establishment of special districts which may be subject to different ordinances than the remainder of the new municipality that the governing body deems necessary and appropriate. The need for any such differentiation shall be reviewed by the governing body at least every five years and shall only be continued upon the affirmative vote of the full membership of the governing body, and if such continuance fails, the governing body shall then adopt uniform policies for the entire area; [and]
(7) the apportionment of existing debt , or debt newly created in accordance with any financial arrangement between any or all of the former municipalities in furtherance of any aspect of a consolidation plan, between the taxpayers of the consolidating municipalities, including whether [existing] such debt should be apportioned [in the same manner as debt] within special taxing districts [so that the taxpayers of each consolidating municipality will continue to be responsible for their own pre-consolidation debts] ; and
(8) the authorization of severance pay for municipal employees who will be terminated by the new municipality.
c. [When] If one of the municipalities is subject to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes, the question of whether the new municipality shall be subject to the provisions of that Title shall be the subject of a public referendum before all of the voters of the consolidating municipalities. Upon the approval by a majority of those voting, regardless of their municipality of residence, the new municipality shall be subject to the provisions of that Title.
d. If one or more of the municipalities has adopted an annual levy pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1997, c.157 (C.40:12-15.7) and any of the other municipalities has not approved such levy or has approved such levy at a different amount or rate, the question of whether the new municipality shall impose such levy and the amount or rate of the levy shall be the subject of a public referendum before all the voters of the consolidating municipalities pursuant to subsection a. of section 7 of P.L.1997, c.157 (C.40:12-15.7), which shall be held at the same time of the first election of officers for the new municipality. If all the municipalities have approved identical annual levies pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1997, c.157 (C.40:12-15.7), the levy shall continue in the new municipality until modified pursuant to subsection d. or e. of section 7 of P.L.1997, c.157 (C.40:12-15.7).
e. A consolidation plan shall not be approved unless the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury has approved, in consultation with the assessors of the municipalities, the governing bodies of the municipalities, the Municipal Consolidation Study Commission, the county tax board, and the director, the process for the equalization of the assessment on the properties of the new municipality.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.63, s.26)
3. Section 27 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-27) is amended to read as follows:
27. a. Once a consolidation has been approved by the affected municipal governing bodies or voters, the division shall [create a task force of] coordinate State departments, offices , and agencies, as it deems appropriate, and representatives of affected collective negotiations units, to facilitate the consolidation and provide technical assistance. The consolidation shall be implemented under the oversight of the board in accordance with the consolidation plan approved by the board, unless an alternate plan is approved by the board.
b. [When] If a consolidation plan provides that the consolidated municipality will be subject to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes , the Civil Service Commission is specifically authorized to create a consolidation implementation plan to vest non-civil service employees, based on the education and experience of the individuals, in appropriate titles and tenure.
c. Whenever a referendum question to decide if a consolidated municipality shall be subject to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes fails, the employees of a municipality already subject to that Title shall be given non-civil service titles in the new entity and previously held tenure shall be vacated.
d. The Public Employment Relations Commission is authorized to provide technical advice, pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1968, c.303 (C.34:13A-8.3), to assist a new municipality and existing labor unions to integrate separate labor agreements into consolidated agreements and to adjust the structure of collective negotiations units, as the commission determines appropriate for the consolidated municipality.
(cf: P.L.2008, c.29, s.103)
4. Section 28 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-28) is amended to read as follows:
28. a. [If a revaluation of property for the consolidated municipality is not implemented for the first local budget year of the consolidated municipality, then the assessments on the properties owned by the taxpayers of the former municipalities shall be equalized for the apportionment of taxes for the consolidated municipality, in the same manner as assessments are equalized for the apportionment of county taxes.] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. , c. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)
b. The owners of any residential property or residential tenants of any municipality consolidated under sections 1 [to] through 37 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et al.), or the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et al.), who experience a municipal or school district purposes real property tax increase in the first tax year following the municipal consolidation shall be entitled to annual property tax relief until such time as they sell or transfer their home or no longer reside as tenants in the rental unit they occupied just prior to the municipal consolidation. In the case of the owner of residential property, the property tax relief shall be reflected as a credit on the property tax bill equal to the difference between the municipal and school district purposes real property tax payable by the taxpayer for the tax year, subject to any adjustment as determined necessary by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs to reflect operating budgets for a normal pre-consolidated fiscal year, and the municipal and school district purposes real property tax billed to that taxpayer for the tax year during which the consolidation is effectuated, as may be adjusted by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs to reflect normal post-consolidation operating budgets for the municipalities and school districts. In the case of a residential tenant, the tax credit applied to an apartment property shall be distributed to eligible tenants pursuant to the provisions of the "Tenants' Property Tax Rebate Act," P.L.1976, c.63 (C.54:4-6.2 et seq.) and this section. The total of all such relief in the municipality shall be paid by the State to the municipality on a schedule determined by the Local Finance Board. For the purpose of this subsection, a "normal" budget year shall be one that, in the determination of the director, does not reflect expenses made in anticipation of, or in implementation of, a municipal consolidation.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.63, s.28)
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would promote municipal consolidation by increasing the flexibility, clarity, and available tools of sections 25 through 29 of the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act," P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-25 through C.40A:65-29). Although one of the primary purposes of this law is to promote consolidation by providing more procedural flexibility, to date, only one municipal consolidation has been effectuated since its enactment in 2007. This bill would increase the flexibility, clarity, and available tools of this law to encourage more municipal consolidations, and thereby help achieve greater efficiencies in municipal government to rein in property taxes.
The bill would create greater flexibility in the municipal consolidation process in a number of ways:
· The applicants for consolidation would be allowed to develop their own process for the equalization of property assessments in the new municipality, subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.
· Districts based on old or newly established boundaries with unique planning mechanisms, services, and ordinances would be permitted in the new municipality.
· Existing debt, or debt newly created by any financial arrangement between any or all of the former municipalities in furtherance of any aspect of a consolidation plan, may be apportioned among the taxpayers of the consolidating municipalities as debt within special taxing districts in any manner that the parties mutually agree upon in the consolidation plan.
· Severance pay would be authorized for employees of the consolidating municipalities if they are to be terminated by the new municipality to encourage them to stay in their positions until the consolidation is effectuated.
· The required joint public hearing on applications for consideration of a consolidation plan or to create a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission may be held at the same time as one of the individual municipal public hearings.
· The fiscal study of a consolidation currently required to be prepared by the Department of Community Affairs would be made discretionary.
· The voter referendum currently required for the approval of a proposed consolidation plan if each municipal governing body has applied for the creation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission would be made optional.
The bill would also provide greater clarity with respect to the petition process for the creation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission, by providing specifics as to the form of the petition, its filing, and verification, consistent with the requirements for a petition proposing the formation of a joint municipal consolidation study commission under the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et al.). The bill would also provide greater clarity to the consolidation process by providing that it shall be implemented in accordance with the consolidation plan under the oversight of the Local Finance Board.
This bill would also require the designation of an administrative support entity to handle the administrative affairs of the Municipal Consolidation Study Commission so that the commission can focus on its work in creating a consolidation plan. An administrative support entity would be subject to the provisions of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), more commonly known as the Open Public Records Act.
The bill would also authorize a referendum in a new municipality on whether to continue a municipal open space tax and to determine the amount or rate of the tax if one municipality has such tax and if one or more of the other municipalities either does not have such tax or has such tax, but at a different amount or rate or for different purposes. If all the consolidating municipalities have identical municipal open space taxes, the same tax would be continued in the new municipality.
