ASSEMBLY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[Third Reprint]
SENATE, No. 3787
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MAY 15, 2025
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3787 (3R).
As amended, this bill amends certain provisions of the "Long Term Tax Exemption Law," P.L.1991, c.431 (C.40A:20-1 et seq.) concerning payments in lieu of tax received by a municipality when a long-term tax abatement is granted for the rehabilitation or improvements made in the development or redevelopment of a redevelopment area or for a redevelopment relocation housing project pursuant to that law.
Under current law, a municipality receiving a payment in lieu of tax, referred to in the law as the "annual service charge," is required to remit to the county in which the municipality is located, five percent of the amount of the annual service charge.
The bill amends the law to provide that, if the five percent remittance due to the county is not paid when due, the unpaid balance thereof and interest, at the rate of one percent per month accrued thereon, together with attorneys' fees and court costs, may be recovered by the county from the municipality in an action filed in a court of competent jurisdiction; and that the municipal finance officer may be subject to revocation or suspension for willful or intentional failure, neglect, or refusal to comply.
The law also requires that every redevelopment project approved by the municipality to be evidenced by a financial agreement between the municipality and the urban renewal entity, and the agreement cannot take effect until approved by ordinance of the municipality. The bill further requires that notice of the time, date, and place of the public hearing required to be held prior to the approval of the ordinance on the financial agreement be provided to the chief financial officer of the county and the clerk to the board of county commissioner of the county within which the municipality is located.
The bill also amends existing law to provide that, with each installment required to be paid, the chief municipal finance officer is required to provide certain information, as specified in the bill, for each agreement entered into by the municipality.
The bill also makes technical changes.
As amended and reported by the committee, Senate Bill No. 3787 (3R) is identical to Assembly Bill No. 5613, which was also amended and reported by the committee on this date.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
· remove language providing that, on the dates specified pursuant to law concerning the payment of municipal taxes, the municipal tax collector or finance officer in a municipality that receives an annual service charge was required to notify the chief financial officer of the county within which the municipality is located that the municipality received an annual service charge and, on the fifteenth day of the month in which each installment of taxes shall become payable, to directly transmit the five percent remittance to the chief financial officer of the county;
· provide that a municipal finance officer certificate may be subject to revocation or suspension for willful or intentional failure, neglect, or refusal to comply;
· remove language that specified that a municipal tax collector would be subject to certificate revocation;
· require that, with each required payment installment, the chief municipal finance officer is to provide the following information for each agreement entered into by the municipality: the project name and address; the date on which the municipality entered into the agreement; the expiration date of the agreement; the amount of the annual service charge to be paid to the municipality; the annual amount due to the county; the portion of the quarterly service charge installment due to the county; the quarterly installment amount collected by the municipality; and the amount attributable to the agreement that is included in the installment of county tax due; and
· provide that the bill is to take effect the first day of the third month next following the date of enactment, and, for a financial agreement subject to the provisions of "Long Term Tax Exemption Law" that was entered into on or after the effective date of P.L.2003, c.125, apply to each annual service charge received beginning on or after the first day of the third month next following the date of enactment.