A1330

An Act requiring certain institutions of higher education to make annual payment to municipality and supplementing chapter 48J of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “University Host Community Services Act.”

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Host municipalities that are home to institutions of higher education incur substantial public safety, emergency medical, fire protection, and traffic management costs as a direct result of student populations, campus events, and institutional growth.

b. While institutions of higher education are generally exempt from local property taxation, they contribute to service demands that strain local budgets.

c. A uniform, Statewide contribution framework, modeled after the “community service contribution” for nonprofit hospitals, is necessary to ensure fairness, predictability, and transparency.

d. The Legislature, therefore, establishes a formula for institutions of higher education to provide community service contributions to host municipalities, with adjustments for institutions of higher education that provide certain services directly.

3. a. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

“Campus police department” means a sworn, law enforcement agency consisting of officers appointed pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1970, c.211 (C.18A:6-4.2).

“Community service contribution” means the payment from an institution of higher education to a host municipality required pursuant to this section.

“Full-time equivalent student” or “FTE” means the sum of full-time students and part-time students aggregated on a one-half basis.

“Host municipality” means a municipality in which the primary campus of an institution of higher education is located.

“Institution of higher education” means a public or independent institution of higher education with an enrollment greater than 2,000 full-time equivalent students.

b. Each institution of higher education shall make an annual community service contribution to its host municipality, to be paid in quarterly installments, in an amount calculated pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

c. Community service contributions received by a host municipality shall be deposited into a dedicated University Host Services Fund, established by a host municipality, to be used exclusively for police, fire, emergency medical services, dispatch, traffic control, and event management related to the financial impact of these services provided to an institution of higher education on the host municipality.

d. The base community service contribution (CSC) shall be calculated as follows:

CSC = (1 x R x FTE On Campus) + (.5 x R x FTE Commuter)

where

R is a per-student rate of $100 for the first fiscal year after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). Within 12 months after the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and every five years thereafter, the Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs and the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, shall conduct a fiscal and service impact study, and promulgate, by regulation, the value of R, to be annually adjusted in accordance with changes in the Consumer Price Index.

FTE On Campus is the number of full-time equivalent students that are on-campus student residents.

FTE Commuter is the number of full-time equivalent students that are commuter students registered for a campus parking permit.

e. An institution of higher education shall receive credit, in proportional dollar amounts, of up to 50 percent of the total required community service contribution, which shall be subject to annual reporting and certification as determined by the Department of the Treasury, for documented community benefits provided directly to the host municipality, including but not limited to:

(1) fire or emergency medical services staffing or equipment;

(2) direct funding of municipal public safety positions;

(3) scholarships restricted to residents of the host municipality; and

(4) documented joint public safety initiatives.

f. Where an institution of higher education maintains a campus police department:

(1) the portion of the community service contribution dedicated to law enforcement shall be reduced by 50 percent, unless otherwise adjusted by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection; and

(2) within 12 months after the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and every three years thereafter, the Department of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury and the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, shall review the division of law enforcement responsibilities between the campus police and municipal police, and may increase or decrease the reduction required pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection by up to 25 percentage points to reflect actual practice.

g. No reduction in a community service contribution pursuant to subsection f. of this section shall apply to the community service contribution portions dedicated to fire protection, emergency medical services, traffic control, or event management.

h. (1) A community service contribution not paid within 60 days of the close of each fiscal year shall accrue interest at a rate determined by the Department of the Treasury.

(2) A host municipality may bring an action against an institution of higher education for noncompliance with P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) in a court of competent jurisdiction.

i. Five percent of all community service contributions received by a host municipality shall be transferred by the host municipality to the county in which the institution of higher education is located.

4. The Department of the Treasury, in consultation with the Department of Community Affairs and the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, shall adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

5. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply beginning on July 1 next following enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires an institution of higher education with an enrollment greater than 2,000 full-time equivalent students, as that term is defined in the bill, to make an annual community service contribution to the municipality in which the institution of higher education is located. The purpose of a community service contribution is to cover the costs incurred by a municipality for police, fire, emergency medical services, dispatch, traffic control, and event management services provided to an institution of higher education by the municipality.

The bill provides that the base community service contribution is to be calculated using a per-student rate, the number of full-time equivalent students, and weighted based upon the students’ enrollment status. Institutions of higher education may receive credits of up to 50 percent of the total required community service contribution for certain documented community benefits provided to the municipality and are to receive a reduction in required community service contribution if the institution of higher education maintains a campus police department.

Pursuant to the bill, community service contribution payments are required to be made on a quarterly basis and community service contributions not paid within 60 days of the close of each fiscal year will accrue interest at a rate to be determined by the Department of the Treasury. The bill also requires municipalities to transfer five percent of community service contributions to the county in which the institution of higher education is located.