October 27, 2017 2% Cap on Binding Interest Arbitration Awards NJAC is continuing to urge members of the State Legislature to permanently extend the 2% cap on binding interest arbitration awards before the law sunsets on December 31st. County and municipal officials from across the State, and on both sides of the aisle, hail the cap as a critical tool for controlling personnel costs; negotiating reasonable successor contracts; and, avoiding arbitration awards granted by third party administrators who are not accountable to taxpayers. For nearly a decade, the 2% cap on binding interest ar...

September 29, 2017 NJAC Goals and Objectives On September 22nd, NJAC’s Board of Directors adopted the following legislative goals for the 2016/17 lame-duck session, the 2018/19 legislative session, and a new Administration in January of 2018. Lame-Duck Goals Goals are realistic and achievable before the new Governor and Legislature take office in January of 2018. Extend the 2.0% cap on binding interest arbitration awards and reinstate the health benefit requirements under Chapter 78. Authorize counties to share county tax administrators. Equalize the bid, pay-to-play, and p...

August 4, 2017 NJAC Goals and Objectives NJAC’s Legislative Affairs Committee is meeting later this morning to discuss establishing the Association’s legislative goals for the fast approaching lame-duck session, the 2018/19 legislative session, and a new Governor set to take office in January of 2018.  If you can’t make the meeting, please share with us your thoughts and suggestions on potential goals as outlined below.  NJAC’s Board of Directors will consider and adopt our final objectives at its next meeting on September 22nd in Committee Room 4 of the State House Annex in Trenton.    ...

July 7, 2017   State Budget Snapshot On July 4th, the Legislature passed and Governor Chris Christie signed into law his final spending plan of $35.1 billion for State fiscal year 2018, which contains the following items pertinent to county government. Transportation Funding: $2.0 billion for the State’s Transportation Capital Program, which includes approximately $400.0 million  in Local Aid for counties and municipalities and a supplemental allocation of $26.0 million.  The table below provides an overview of Local Aid Allocations for State fiscal year 2018. ...

June 16, 2017 911 Fees As previously reported, NJAC is in the process of collecting and summarizing the data from all twenty-one counties concerning the costs associated with operating and maintaining county 9-1-1 centers. As of this writing, 15 counties have reported that they’ve spent over $219.0 million in capital improvements over the last five years.  These improvements may include facility upgrades; and, the purchase or lease of hardware and software such as telephone systems, computer aided dispatch, location mapping technology, voice recording technology, data analytics, and NextG...

May 26, 2017 Caps on Binding Interest Arbitration Awards NJAC plans on working with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJSLOM) and the New Jersey Conference of Mayors (NJCM) to urge members of State Legislature and Governor Chris Christie to enact legislation that would permanently extend the 2% cap on binding interest arbitration awards set to expire on December 31st of 2017.  The 2% cap on binding interest arbitration awards first enacted in 2010 and extended for an additional three years in 2014, enables county governments across the State to effectively control public saf...

April 21, 2017 Local Government Investment Pools    NJAC is urging the Legislature to pass Assembly, No. 4404/Senate, No.2978 (Greenwald D-6)(Beach D-6), which would permit local units and school districts to invest in local government investment pools managed in accordance with applicable Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) guidelines.  GASB is an independent private-sector organization that establishes accounting and financial reporting standards for national, state, and local governments that follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).  In 2014, the Securities an...

March 31, 2017 Police and Fire Pension On March 23rd, both houses passed Assembly No. 99/Senate, No. 3040 (Prieto D-32/Sumter D-35)(Sweeney D-3/Kean R-21), which would  transfer management of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) to the Board of Trustees of PFRS.  NJAC and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities (NJSLOM) oppose this legislation as the measure would inequitably vest the Board’s far-reaching power with labor by a 7-5 majority. As has been well documented, property taxpayers subsidize 70% of PFRS annual contributions while employees fund 30%; property taxp...

March 3, 2017 State Fiscal Year 2018 Budget On February 27th, Governing Chris Christie delivered his final budget address before the both houses of the State Legislature.  NJAC is in the process of analyzing the $35.5 billion spending plan, and you may review the Budget Summary on our website at www.njac.org.  Some highlights relevant to county government include:       Transportation Funding $2.0 billion for the State’s Transportation Capital Program, which includes $400.0 million in Local Aid for counties and municipalities. A $400.0 million supplemental budget appropriation...

February 10, 2017 Criminal Justice Reform At 10:30 a.m. on February 15th in Committee Room 16 of the State House Annex in Trenton, the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates will consider oral arguments on the State’s motion to dismiss NJAC’s complaint that Criminal Justice Reform imposes an unfunded State mandate on county governments. NJAC’s Labor Counsel Genova Burns will argue the case on our behalf. Separately, NJAC’s Board of Directors chose not to endorse recently introduced Senate, No. 2933 (Singer R-30), which would establish a one-year property tax cap levy exclusion for the cost...