Bill Text: NJ S4420 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority to determine county proportional share assessment for budget purposes.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-08 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S4420 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S4420-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JAMES BEACH
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority to determine county proportional share assessment for budget purposes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning a regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority proportional share assessment and amending P.L.2023, c.346 and P.L.1976, c.68.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 6 of P.L.2023, c.346 (C.40A:67-6) is amended to read as follows:
6. An authority shall be a public body politic and corporate, established as an instrumentality exercising public and essential governmental functions to provide for the public health and welfare. The authority shall have the duties, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities, and disabilities of a public body politic and corporate and shall have taxing power. The authority shall be a "contracting unit" for purposes of the "Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.), shall have perpetual succession until termination or dissolution in accordance with the agreement, and shall have the powers to:
a. adopt and have a common seal and to alter the same at pleasure;
b. sue and be sued;
c. acquire, own, rent, hold, lease, as lessor or lessee, use and sell or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security in, any real or personal property, commodity, or service or interest therein;
d. plan, develop, acquire, construct, reconstruct, operate, manage, dispose of, participate in, maintain, repair, extend, or improve a center or satellite facility, and act as agent, or designate one or more other persons employed by or contracting with the center to act as its agent, in connection with the planning, acquisition, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, extension, or improvement of the center, and provision to the members of rehabilitation and reentry services, to meet the needs of the members and the State, which shall include the hiring of experts to perform a population review and projected bed needs;
e. make and execute additional contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers;
f. employ correctional police officers and other employees, without regard to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes, but does not preclude employees from entering or becoming party to a collective bargaining agreement;
g. contract with any person, entity, or public agency within or outside the State of New Jersey for the construction or operation of the center, or for any interest or share therein, on terms and for a period of time as its board shall determine;
h. incur indebtedness through the issuance of bonds, provide for and secure the payment of any bonds and the rights of the holders thereof, and to purchase, hold, and dispose of any bonds;
i. accept gifts or grants of real or personal property, money, material, labor, or supplies solely for the purposes and exclusive use and benefit of the authority, and to make and perform those agreements and contracts as may be necessary or convenient in connection with the procuring, acceptance, or disposition of the gifts or grants;
j. make and enforce bylaws or rules and regulations for the management and regulation of its business and affairs and for the use, maintenance, and operation of its properties and to amend its bylaws;
k. do and perform any acts and things authorized by P.L.2023, c.346 (C.40A:67-1 et seq.), through or by means of its own officers, agents, and employees, or by contract with any person;
l. enter into contracts, execute instruments, and do and perform all things necessary, convenient, or desirable for the purposes of the authority, or to carry out any power expressly authorized under P.L.2023, c.346 (C.40A:67-1 et seq.);
m. join organizations, including private or trade organizations, which the board has deemed to be beneficial to the accomplishment of the authority's purposes;
n. invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, including the proceeds from the sale of any bonds, in those obligations, securities, and other investments as the authority deems to be proper and are authorized pursuant to law; and
o. establish procedures for budget introduction and adoption, which shall be made pursuant to the "Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law," P.L.1983, c.313 (C.40A:5A-1 et seq.), and which shall be subject to the cap on calculation of adjusted tax levy by local units pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-45.45, and shall include the following:
(1) [an amount to be raised by taxation, which shall be conveyed to the Board of Taxation in each participation county within 15 days of the adoption of the budget;] (Deleted by amendment, P.L. , c. )
(2) the chief financial officer of the authority shall certify the Average Daily Population (ADP) of the inmates from each participating county, for the previous year, by February 1st of each year;
[(3)] (a) based on the ADP [and, if determined by a separate formula, the apportionment of any debt service pursuant to the inter-county agreement], the chief financial officer of the authority shall certify each county's proportional share of inmates for the previous year. The proportional share of the inmates for each county shall be applied to the total revenue needs in the authority's budget, as introduced by January 26th of each year, to determine the annual proportional share assessment for each county. The chief financial officer of the authority shall certify the proportional share for each county concerning what portion is for general operations and what portion is to support debt service. By February 15th of each year, [the proportional share for each county shall be conveyed to the appropriate County Board of Taxation, to be used to calculate the amount of taxes to be levied in each of the participating counties. These taxes shall be assessed, levied, and collected within the respective taxing districts in the manner prescribed by law] each portion of the total proportional share assessment for each participating county shall be conveyed to the respective county chief financial officer for inclusion in the county's annual budget; [and]
(b) the portion of the proportional share assessment for each county pertaining to debt service shall be an eligible cap exception pursuant to subsection aa. of section 4 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.4) for each participating county; and
(4) [in each local budget year in which the function of a county jail is transferred from the county government to the authority, the county shall deduct from its final appropriations upon which its permissible county tax levy is calculated, the amount which the county expended for that function during the last full budget year it was included in the county budget] the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall certify that the amount of the proportional share assessment is included as an appropriation in each participating county's annual operation budget, as a condition of State approval for budget adoption, pursuant to the "Local Budget Law," N.J.S.40A:4-1 et seq.
(cf: P.L.2025, c.253, s.4)
2. Section 4 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.4) is amended to read as follows:
4. In the preparation of its budget, a county may not increase the county tax levy to be apportioned among its constituent municipalities in excess of 2.5[%] percent or the cost-of-living adjustment, whichever is less, of the previous year's county tax levy, subject to the following exceptions:
a. The amount of revenue generated by the increase in valuations within the county, based solely on applying the preceding year's county tax rate to the apportionment valuation of new construction or improvements within the county, and such increase shall be levied in direct proportion to said valuation;
b. Capital expenditures, including appropriations for current capital expenditures, whether in the capital improvement fund or as a component of a line item elsewhere in the budget, provided that any such current capital expenditures would be otherwise bondable under the requirements of N.J.S.40A:2-21 and 40A:2-22;
c. (1) An increase based upon emergency temporary appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-20 to meet an urgent situation or event which immediately endangers the health, safety or property of the residents of the county, and over which the governing body had no control and for which it could not plan and emergency appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-46. Emergency temporary appropriations and emergency appropriations shall be approved by at least two-thirds of the governing body and by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, and shall not exceed in the aggregate 3% of the previous year's final current operating appropriations.
(2) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
The approval procedure in this subsection shall not apply to appropriations adopted for a purpose referred to in subsection d. or f. below;
d. All debt service, except as otherwise provided in this section;
e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
f. Amounts required to be paid pursuant to (1) any contract with respect to use, service or provision of any project, facility or public improvement for water, sewerage, parking, senior citizen housing or any similar purpose, or payments on account of debt service therefor, between a county and any other county, municipality, school or other district, agency, authority, commission, instrumentality, public corporation, body corporate and politic or political subdivision of this State; and (2) any lease of a facility owned by a county improvement authority when the lease payment represents the proportionate amount necessary to amortize the debt incurred by the authority in providing the facility which is leased, in whole or in part;
g. That portion of the county tax levy which represents funding to participate in any federal or State aid program and amounts received or to be received from federal, State or other funds in reimbursement for local expenditures. If a county provides matching funds in order to receive the federal or State or other funds, only the amount of the match which is required by law or agreement to be provided by the county shall be excepted;
h. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1987, c.74[.])
i. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
j. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
k. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
l. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2004, c.74[.])
m. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
n. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
o. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])
p. Extraordinary expenses, approved by the Local Finance Board, required for the implementation of an interlocal services agreement;
q. Any expenditure mandated as a result of a natural disaster, civil disturbance or other emergency that is specifically authorized pursuant to a declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or by the Governor;
r. Expenditures for the cost of services mandated by any order of court, by any federal or State statute, or by administrative rule, directive, order, or other legally binding device issued by a State agency which has identified such cost as mandated expenditures on certification to the Local Finance Board by the State agency;
s. That portion of the county tax levy which represents funding to a county college in excess of the county tax levy required to fund the county college in local budget year 1992;
t. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2004, c.74.)
u. Expenditures for the administration of general public assistance pursuant to P.L.1995, c.259 (C.40A:4-6.1 et al.);
v. Amounts in a separate line item of a county budget that are expended on tick-borne disease vector management activities undertaken pursuant to P.L.1997, c.52 (C.26:2P-7 et al.);
w. Amounts expended by a county under an interlocal services agreement entered into pursuant to the "Interlocal Services Act," P.L.1973, c.208 (C.40:8A-1 et al.) entered into after the effective date of P.L.2000, c.126 (C.52:13H-21 et al.) or amounts expended under a joint contract pursuant to the "Consolidated Municipal Service Act," P.L.1952, c.72 (C.40:48B-1 et seq.) entered into after the effective date of P.L.2000, c.126 (C.52:13H-21 et al.);
x. Amounts appropriated in the first three years after the effective date of P.L.2003, c.92 (C.18A:7F-5b et al.) for liability insurance, workers' compensation insurance and employee group insurance;
y. Amounts appropriated in the first three years after the effective date of P.L.2003, c.92 (C.18A:7F-5b et al.) for costs of domestic security preparedness and responses to incidents and threats to domestic security;
z. Expenditures of amounts received pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-96);
aa. Amounts certified by the chief financial officer of a regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority as the county's share of the proportional share assessment for the authority, as specified pursuant to subsection o. of section 6 of P.L.2023, c.346 (C.40A:67-6).
In the first full year where an existing appropriation or expenditure that is subject to budget limitations is made an exception to budget limitations, a county shall deduct from its final appropriations upon which its permissible expenditures are calculated pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.2) the amount which the county expended for that purpose during the last full budget year, or portion thereof, in which the purpose so excepted was funded from appropriations in the county budget.
In the first full year where an existing appropriation or expenditure that is not subject to budget limitations is made subject to budget limitations, a county shall add to its final appropriations upon which its permissible expenditures are calculated pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.2) the amount which the county expended for that purpose during the last full budget year, or portion thereof, in which the purpose so excepted was funded from appropriations in the county budget.
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45) to the contrary, after a county has made the determination to prepare its budget under the property taxation limitations of section 4 of P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.4), pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45), then in any such local budget year, if a county's appropriations for debt service are less than the prior year's appropriations for debt service, which amounts are exceptions to the 2.5[%] percent county tax levy increase limitation pursuant to this section, then the county's maximum permissible tax levy for that local budget year shall not be reduced by the amount of the difference in appropriations for debt service between the two local budget years.
(cf: P.L.2024, c.8, s.1)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill amends the "Regional Rehabilitation and Reentry Center Authority Act" to remove a regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority's (authority) power to place an assessment on the property taxes paid by each resident of a participating county and to instead require participating counties to pay an assessment directly to the authority. The assessment authorized by the bill is to be determined by the average daily population of the inmates from each county, as certified by the chief financial officer of the authority, which is to be applied to the total revenue needs in the authority's budget. The chief financial officer of the authority is to certify the proportional share for each county concerning what the portion is for general operations and what portion is to support debt service.
Each proportional share of each participating county is to be conveyed to the respective county chief financial officer for inclusion in the county's annual budget. The portion of the proportional share assessment for each county pertaining to debt service is to be an eligible cap exception pursuant to P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.1 et seq.). The Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs is to certify that the amount of the proportional share assessment is included as an appropriation in each participating county's annual operation budget, as a condition of State approval for budget adoption, pursuant to the "Local Budget Law."
