A4769

An Act concerning the annual budget requests of certain county entities, amending N.J.S.2A:158-7 and P.L.2007, c.62, and supplementing various parts of the statutory law.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. N.J.S.2A:158-7 is amended to read as follows:

2A:158-7. All necessary expenses incurred by the prosecutor for each county in the detection, arrest, indictment and conviction of offenders against the laws shall, upon being certified to by the prosecutor and approved, under his hand, by a judge of the Superior Court, be paid by the county treasurer whenever the same shall be approved by the board of chosen freeholders of such county. The amount or amounts to be expended shall not exceed the amount fixed by the board of chosen freeholders in its regular or emergency appropriation, unless such expenditure is specifically authorized by order of the assignment judge of the Superior Court for such county; however, the assignment judge shall consider the financial impact of such an order on the governing body of the county, its residents, the limitations imposed upon the local unit's property tax levy pursuant to section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45), and county taxpayers.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.91, s.126)

2. Section 9 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.44) is amended to read as follows:

9. For the purposes of sections 9 through 13 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.44 through C.40A:4-45.47 and C.40A:4-45.3e):

"Adjusted tax levy" means an amount not greater than the amount to be raised by taxation of the previous fiscal year, less any waivers from a prior fiscal year required to be deducted by the Local Finance Board pursuant to section 11 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.46), that result multiplied by 1.02, to which the sum of exclusions defined in subsection b. of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45) shall be added.

"Amount to be raised by taxation" means the property tax levy set in the annual budget of a local unit.

"Local unit" means a municipality, county, fire district, or solid waste collection district, but shall not include a municipality that had a municipal purposes tax rate of $0.10 or less per $100 for the previous tax year.

"New ratables" means the product of the taxable value of any new construction or improvements times the tax rate of a local unit for its previous tax year.

“County entity budget authority” means the county tax administrator, county superintendent of election, county board of election, county register of deeds and mortgages, county clerk, county surrogate, county prosecutor, and county sheriff, in their role as the appointing authority of their respective offices.

“County entity” means a county board of taxation, office of the county superintendent of election, office of the county board of election, office of the county register of deeds and mortgages, office of the county clerk, office of the county surrogate, office of the county prosecutor, and county sheriff’s department.

(cf: P.L.2010, c.44, s.8)

3. (New section) a. A budget request submitted to the county governing body by a county entity budget authority on behalf of a county entity shall be comprised of two parts: the amount to be raised by property taxation, and the amount to be funded wholly through federal or State funds, fees raised by the county entity, or other sources.

b. In the preparation of the portion of its budget request to be raised by property taxation, a county entity budget authority shall limit any increase in that portion of its budget request to 2.0% of the previous year’s budget request, or the cost of living adjustment, whichever is less, subject to the exceptions set forth in law.

4. (New section) A county tax administrator shall prepare the annual budget request for the county board of taxation pursuant to the requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

5. (New section) A county superintendent of election shall prepare the annual budget request for the office of the county superintendent of election pursuant to the requirements of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

6. (New section) A county register of deeds and mortgages shall prepare the annual budget request for the office of the county register of deeds and mortgages pursuant to the requirements of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

7. (New section) A county clerk shall prepare the annual budget request for the office of the county clerk pursuant to the requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

8. (New section) A county surrogate shall prepare the annual budget request for the office of the county surrogate pursuant to the requirements of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

9. (New section) A county sheriff shall prepare the annual budget request for the county sheriff’s department pursuant to the requirements of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

10. (New section) A county prosecutor shall prepare the annual budget request for the county prosecutor’s office pursuant to the requirements of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

11. (New section) A county board of election shall prepare the annual budget request for the office of county board of election pursuant to the requirements of section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

12. The Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall promulgate rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act.

13. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the county budget year next following enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill would impose a 2% limit on annual increases in the portion of the budget of a county board of taxation, office of the county superintendent of election, office of the county board of election, office of the county register of deeds and mortgages, office of the county clerk, office of the county surrogate, office of the county prosecutor, and county sheriff’s department, that is paid for out of the county property tax levy.

The bill would require that in the preparation of the portion of the budget request to be raised by property taxation, these county entity budget authorities limit any increase in that portion of its budget request to 2.0% of the previous year’s budget request or the cost of living adjustment, whichever is less, subject to the exceptions set forth in law. Under the bill, a budget request submitted to a county governing body must be broken down into two parts: the amount to be raised by property taxation, and the amount to be funded wholly through federal or State funds, or fees raised by the county entity.

In addition, since the county prosecutor can request additional funding through the county assignment judge, the bill amends N.J.S.2A:158-7 to require the judge to take the county’s property tax levy cap into consideration.