August 23, 2019 Edition Vote-by-Mail On September 23rd, the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates will hear NJAC’s complaint that the 2018 vote-by-mail law imposes an unfunded mandate on county governments and is unconstitutional as it requires county clerks to add to the list of registered voters receiving mail-in ballots in all future elections: all voters who requested and received mail-in ballots for the 2016 general (presidential) election. Last month, NJAC prevailed over the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the matter before the Council; and, we’re optimistic that the Council wil...

July 19, 2019 Edition Interest Arbitration NJAC, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJLM), the New Jersey Municipal Managers Association (NJMMA), and the Government Finance Officers Association of New Jersey (GFOA)  have joined forces to assemble an outstanding panel of finance officers, labor attorneys, and local governing body administrators that will provide management with effective strategies and recommended best practices on how to navigate the unlevel playing field created by the failure of State leaders to permanently extend the 2% cap on binding interest arbitration a...

June 28, 2019 Edition Statute of Limitations As you may recall, on May 13th, Governor Murphy signed into law Senate, No. 477 (Vitale D-19/Scutari D-22), which eliminates the statute of limitations in certain civil actions for sexual abuse and expands the categories of defendants liable in such actions effective December 1, 2019. In light of the concerns expressed by NJAC, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJLM), and the New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) that this new law would eliminate the safeguards provided local governing bodies under the New Jersey Tort C...

June 14, 2019 Edition Binding Interest Arbitration The failure of State leaders to permanently extend the 2% cap on binding interest arbitration awards in December of 2017 has inequitably altered the collective bargaining process in favor of labor and at the expense of property taxpayers.  With this in mind, NJAC and our partners plan to hold strategy sessions and develop best practices for local governing bodies on how to effectively navigate the unlevel playing field.  Some initial recommendations include: Make sure to utilize general counsel and an experienced labor attorney to ...

May 17, 2019 Edition Binding Interest Arbitration As predicted, the failure to permanently extend the 2% cap on binding interest arbitration awards in December of 2017 has inequitably altered the collective bargaining process in favor of labor and at the expense of property taxpayers. In fact, county and municipal officials from across the State, and on both sides of the aisle, are once again urging State leaders to permanently extend the 2% cap on binding interest arbitration awards as police and fire unions have been aggressively leveraging its expiration to win contracts in excess of ...

March 15, 2019 Edition 911 Fee Diversion On March 5th, Governor Phil Murphy unveiled his $38.6 billion dollar spending plan for State Fiscal Year 2020.  Although we’re still in the process of reviewing the annual budget, it unfortunately does not include any new funding for county and municipal 911 centers as recommended by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Despite our meetings with State leaders, op-ed pieces, press conferences, media coverage, and resolutions from nearly every county, the State will once again divert an estimated 89.0% of the $120.0 million in surcharges it ...

February 21, 2019 Edition STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS On March 7th, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider SENATE, NO. 477 (Vitale D-19/Scutari D-22), which would eliminate the statute of limitations in certain civil actions for sexual abuse, expand the categories of defendants liable in such actions, and remove the safeguards provided local governing bodies under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act (TCA).    NJAC commends senators Vitale and Scutari for their efforts to provide the victims of sexual abuse with additional remedies against the person and entities guilty of committin...

January 30, 2019 Edition Minimum Wage On January 28th, NJAC, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJLM), the New Jersey School Boards Association, and the Government Finance Officers Association of New Jersey (GFOA) testified before the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Assembly, No. 15/Senate, No. 15 (Coughlin D/ Tucker D)(Sweeney D-3), which would increase the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour over time.  Our collective organizations testified that this legislation, may ultimately, force certain loc...

December 21, 2018 Edition Electronic Procurement        On December 17th, Governor Murphy signed into law one of NJAC’s top legislative priorities in Assembly, No. 3112 (Benson D-14/Mukerhi D-33)(Beach D-6/Oroho R-24), which now authorizes local governing bodies to use electronic procurement technologies. In summary, this new law permits local governing bodies to use electronic procurement for the receipt of proposals and quotations, competitive contracting, reverse auctions, the purchase of goods and services, the sale of personal property, and ot...