Bill Text: NJ A5277 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires annual State aid payments to certain municipalities in which significant portions of State-owned and county-owned property is located.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A5277 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5277-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Inganamort
SYNOPSIS
Requires annual State aid payments to certain municipalities in which significant portions of State-owned and county-owned property is located.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring annual State aid payments to municipalities in which certain State-owned and county-owned property is located and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"County-owned property" means land and improvements owned by a county, including, but not limited to, county offices, hospitals, institutions, schools, colleges, universities, garages, warehouses, barracks and armories together with abutting vacant land held for future development for the same purposes, which is property tax-exempt. "County-owned property" shall not include any real property that is used or held for future use for highway, bridge, or tunnel purposes, or any real property that is subject to payments in lieu of taxes.
"Eligible municipality" means a municipality having a population that does not exceed 30,000 persons, according to the most recent federal decennial census, within which the total acreage of State-owned real property and county-owned real property is equal to, or greater than, 10 percent of the municipality's total acreage.
"State-owned property" means land and improvements owned by the State, including, but not limited to, State offices, hospitals, institutions, schools, colleges, universities, garages, inspection stations, warehouses, barracks and armories together with abutting vacant land held for future development for the same purposes, which is property tax-exempt. "State-owned property" shall not include any real property that is used or held for future use for highway, bridge, or tunnel purposes, or any real property that is subject to payments in lieu of taxes.
b. To compensate municipalities for the cost of municipal services provided at State-owned property and county-owned property, the State shall provide annual State aid payments to each eligible municipality, as provided in this section, in an amount equal to $500 per acre of State-owned property and county-owned property located in the municipality.
c. On or before the January 1 next following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and each year thereafter, the assessor of an eligible municipality shall submit a statement to the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, on a form prescribed by the director, indicating the total acres of all State-owned property and county-owned property located in the municipality.
d. Upon review and approval of the statements submitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the director shall calculate the amount of State aid due to each eligible municipality. On or before February 1 of each year, the director shall provide written notice to the assessor of each eligible municipality certifying the amount of the State aid payment to be provided to the municipality in that year.
e. On or before August 1 of each year, the State Treasurer shall distribute the State aid payment to each eligible municipality from the Property Tax Relief Fund, subject to the appropriation of funds by the Legislature.
f. An eligible municipality may anticipate the amount of the payments certified by the director pursuant to subsection d. of this section as revenue in preparing its annual budget.
g. In the event that an appropriation made for any State fiscal year is less than the amount required for full payments pursuant to this section, the amount otherwise payable to each eligible municipality shall be reduced in the same proportion as the appropriation made is to the amount required for full funding.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the State to provide annual State aid payments to certain municipalities in which a significant portion of land is State-owned or county-owned property.
Specifically, the bill would require State aid payments to be given to municipalities having a population that does not exceed 30,000 persons, within which the total acreage of State-owned property and county-owned property is equal to, or greater than, 10 percent of the municipality's total acreage. Under the bill, the State would be required to provide an annual payment of $500 per acre of such land to eligible municipalities.
The bill would require the assessor of an eligible municipality to submit an annual statement to the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury indicating the number of acres of all State-owned and county-owned property located in the municipality. The bill directs the director to calculate the amount of State aid due to each eligible municipality and provide notice of the approved aid payment, which amount is to be included as revenue in the municipality's annual budget.
The bill requires the State Treasurer to pay to each eligible municipality the amount approved by the director no later than August 1 annually, from moneys appropriated by the Legislature from the Property Tax Relief Fund.
