Bill Text: NJ S653 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires municipalities to provide certain information to property owners served by municipal water systems.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S653 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S653-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Requires municipalities to provide certain information to property owners served by municipal water systems.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act requiring municipalities to provide information to property owners served by municipal water systems and amending R.S.40:62-101 and R.S.40:62-106.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.40:62-101 is amended to read as follows:
40:62-101. a. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, the cost of the creation and establishment of such water district or districts and the installation and construction of such water systems shall be assessed against the real estate benefited thereby in proportion to and not in excess of the benefits conferred, and such assessments shall bear interest and penalties from the same time and at the same rate as assessments for local improvements in the district or districts where they are imposed, and from the date of confirmation shall be a first and paramount lien upon the real estate assessed to the same extent, and be enforced and collected in the same manner, as assessments for local improvements.
No assessments shall be invalid by reason of failure to receive notice or any other infirmity.
b. Real estate in the water district shall be exempt from the assessment authorized by subsection a. of this section if:
(1) The water supplied by the water district is not reasonably available to the owner of the property; and
(2) Prior to each assessment, the governing body of the municipality where the water district is located determines that the exemption would not adversely affect the ability of the municipality to meet the principal reduction and interest payments on outstanding bonds issued by the municipality for the creation and establishment of the water district and installation and construction of the water system.
The governing body of the municipality shall provide to the property owner of each parcel of real property that is served by the water district or districts, written terms and conditions of receiving services from the water district or districts. The written terms and conditions shall be a separate document from any municipal ordinance, but may specify or refer to the ordinance in its text.
The written terms and conditions shall include, but shall not be limited to, the financial responsibility of the property owner for payment of services from the water district or districts, and the level of responsibility of the water district or districts, and the property owner, for the maintenance, repair, or installation of new or existing service lines, or any other physical connection to the real property for receiving services from the water district or districts.
The written terms and conditions shall be posted on the municipality's website, if one exists, and shall also be mailed to each property owner annually, together with the first billing statement of the year. Thereafter, when a property changes ownership, the written terms and conditions shall be mailed to the new owner or owners within 45 days of the date of the change in ownership.
(cf: P.L.1985, c.191, s.1)
2. R.S.40:62-106 is amended to read as follows:
40:62-106. Any municipality owning its water and sewer systems and operating the same as separate utilities may by ordinance consolidate said water and sewer systems and operate the same as one utility and under one head or body.
The governing body of the municipality shall provide to the property owner of each parcel of real property that is served by the utility, written terms and conditions of receiving services from the utility. The written terms and conditions shall be a separate document from any municipal ordinance, but may specify or refer to the ordinance in its text.
The written terms and conditions shall include, but shall not be limited to, the financial responsibility of the property owner for payment of services from the utility, and the level of responsibility of the utility, and the property owner, for the maintenance, repair, or installation of new or existing service lines, or any other physical connection to the real property for receiving services from the utility.
The written terms and conditions shall be posted on the municipality's website, if one exists, and shall also be mailed to each property owner annually, together with the first billing statement of the year. Thereafter, when a property changes ownership, the written terms and conditions shall be mailed to the new owner or owners within 45 days of the date of the change in ownership.
(cf: R.S.40:62-106)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require municipalities providing water services to property owners through either a water district or a municipal water or sewer utility, or water and sewer utility, to provide each property owner with written terms and conditions of receiving services from the water district or utility. The written terms and conditions shall include, but shall not be limited to, the financial responsibility of the property owner for payment of services from the water district or utility, and the level of responsibility of the water district or utility, and the property owner, for the maintenance, repair, or installation of new or existing service lines, or any other physical connection to the real property for receiving services from the water district or utility.
The bill requires that the written terms and conditions be posted on the municipality's website, if one exists, and also be mailed to each property owner annually, together with the first billing statement of the year. Thereafter, when a property changes ownership, the written terms and conditions are to be mailed to the new owner or owners within 45 days of the date of the change in ownership.
The purpose of this bill is to provide transparency for property owners in their dealings with water districts and municipal utilities. In many cases, property owners are presented with substantial bills for repairs to leaky pipes that connect their properties to these water systems and are not aware of their financial responsibility for these repairs. This bill is intended to rectify this problem through the requirement that all property owners be advised of the terms and conditions of receiving services from these municipal entities, and the financial responsibilities attendant to the receipt of these services.
