Bill > S2392

Introduced Session

This bill would provide for local government flexibility with regard to various timeframes, deadlines, and other statutory requirements in order to help them continue to function and meet these obligations during times of emergencies. The bill provides expansive authority to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs to extend certain deadlines applicable to local government units of the State during periods of emergency declared by the Governor. The deadlines that the director may extend include, but are not limited to, deadlines for: a county's notification to the director of a county board of taxation's failure to receive a copy of a school or municipal budget; a county board of taxation's substitution of an adopted municipal budget for an amount certified by the director; a county board of taxation to complete a table of aggregates; the director to act as necessary in order to consolidate ballot questions and procedures when a governing body elects to hold certain referendums; the director to review and approve municipal budgets that are not subject to local review; a municipality to certify a preliminary tax levy; and a municipality to cause an annual audit of their books, accounts, and financial transactions. In addition, the bill provides the Director of the Division of Local Government Services the authority to permit municipalities to institute an extended grace period for quarterly property tax payments and other municipal charges notwithstanding the maximum number of days set forth in R.S.54:4-67. The bill also empowers the director to extend deadlines under the "Municipal Land Use Law," P.L.1975, c.291 (C.40:55D-1 et seq.). The bill extends certification renewal periods for various county and municipal officers, including finance officers, tax collectors, and tax assessors. The bill also permits various temporary or acting county and municipal officials to be reappointed on a temporary or acting basis for up to three subsequent one-year terms, if the person appointed on a temporary or acting basis is serving in that capacity as of the effective date of the bill. The bill authorizes local public bodies to hold public meetings remotely by electronic means during periods of emergency declared by the Governor so long as reasonable public notice and provision for public input is made under the circumstances. This provision of the bill is retroactive to March 9, 2020, when Executive Order No. 103 was issued, declaring a public health emergency and state of emergency in response to COVID-19. The bill requires the Director of the Division of Local Government Services to adopt regulations for the conduct of these remote meetings, which would later take effect and be followed upon their adoption. The bill also would clarify that local governments may accept specific types of electronic payments. Namely, this bill would allow local governments to accept payments through in-person-based electronic transfer services, such as a Western Union kiosk, as well as Internet-based electronic transfer systems, such as PayPal and Venmo. The enhanced flexibility provided by this bill to make remote, electronic payments to local governments is of particular importance in light of the social distancing required by the current COVID-19 crisis. This bill also would clarify the form and content of the notice required to be provided to property taxpayers when a municipality changes the rate of interest to be charged on delinquent property taxes. Under existing law, in any year when the governing body of a municipality changes the rate of interest to be charged for delinquent taxes, assessments or other municipal charges, or for the end of the year penalty, the governing body is required to provide a notice to all taxpayers, prior to the date taxes are next due or with the tax bill, of the new rate or rates to be charged and the date that the new rate or rates are to take effect. Under the bill, in addition to the new rate or rates of interest to be charged and the effective date of the change in the rate or rates, if the new rate or rates of interest will not be effective for the rest of the property tax year, the notice must specify the property tax quarter or quarters for which the change in the rate or rates shall apply. The bill further provides that the notice requirement may be satisfied by using either regular mail, or two of the following alternatives: electronic mail, a text messaging system, a telephonic system, or any other digital platform used by the municipality to disseminate information to municipal residents electronically. The bill, in addition to the similar authority provided to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, also would permit the governing body of a municipality to extend the 10-day grace period in which property taxes may be paid without accruing interest to a maximum of 30 days during a period in which a public health emergency or state of emergency has been declared by the Governor and is in effect. The bill also would permit a county to waive the six percent per year interest that a municipality is required to pay to a county when it does not turn over property tax revenue collected by the municipality on the county's behalf on the statutorily-required dates, if the municipality adopts the above extended grace period and a public health emergency or a state of emergency has been declared by the Governor and is in effect. Such a waiver would expire 30 days after the end of the municipality's extended grace period. Lastly, the bill would provide that if the full amount of the employer's contributions certified by the Police and Firemen's Retirement System or the Public Employees' Retirement System was not made within 30 days after the required due date when that due date occurred in the year 2020, the interest at the rate of 10 percent per year that is required to be assessed against the unpaid balance thereof on the first day after such 30th day not be assessed for an additional period of 30 days. If the full amount of the certified employer's contributions is not made within 60 days after the required due date, the interest would be assessed against any unpaid balance of that employer on the first day after that 60th day. This provision is also retroactive to March 9, 2020.

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Paul Sarlo (D)*,  Dawn Addiego (D),  Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D),  Bob Singer (R), 

Senate Budget and Appropriations Hearing (19:00 5/12/2020 Due to the public health emergency, the State House Annex remain) (on 05/12/2020)