Sponsored by:
Assemblyman DAVID BAILEY, JR.
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK
District 18 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Stanley and Sampson
SYNOPSIS
Concerns local government acquisition of fire fighting apparatus and equipment through purchase, lease, or lease-purchase.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee on May 28, 2026, with amendments.
An Act concerning leasing 1and lease-purchasing1 terms of certain fire fighting apparatus and equipment 1[,] and1 amending N.J.S.40A:2-22 1[,]1 and 1[supplementing chapter 2 of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes] P.L.1981, c.1881.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.40A:2-22 is amended to read as follows:
40A:2-22. The governing body of the local unit shall determine the period of usefulness of any purpose according to its reasonable life computed from the date of the bonds, which period shall not be greater than the following:
a. Buildings and structures.
1. Bridges, including retaining walls and approaches, or permanent structures of brick, stone, concrete or metal, or similar durable construction, 30 years.
2. Buildings, including the original furnishings and equipment therefor:
Class A: A building, of which all walls, floors, partitions, stairs and roof are wholly of incombustible material, except the window frames, doors, top flooring and wooden handrails on the stairs, 40 years;
Class B: A building, the outer walls of which are wholly of incombustible material, except the window frames and doors, 30 years;
Class C: A building which does not meet the requirements of Class A or Class B, 20 years.
3. Buildings or structures acquired substantially reconstructed or additions thereto, one-half the period fixed in this subsection for such buildings or structures.
4. Additional furnishings, five years.
b. Marine improvements.
1. Harbor improvements, docks or marine terminals, 40 years.
2. Dikes, bulkheads, jetties or similar devices of stone, concrete or metal, 15 years; of wood or partly of wood, 10 years.
c. Additional equipment and machinery.
1. Additional or replacement equipment and machinery, 15 years.
2. Voting machines, 15 years.
3. Information technology and telecommunications equipment, seven years, except that for items with a unit cost of less than $5,000, five years.
d. Real property.
1. Acquisition for any public purpose of lands or riparian rights, or both, and the original dredging, grading, draining or planting thereof, 40 years.
2. Improvement of airport, cemetery, golf course, park, playground, 15 years.
3. Stadia of concrete or other incombustible materials, 20 years.
e. Streets or thoroughfares.
1. Elimination of grade crossings, 35 years.
2. Streets or roads:
Class A: Rigid pavement. A pavement of not less than eight inches of cement concrete or a six-inch cement concrete base with not less than three-inch bituminous concrete surface course, or equivalent wearing surface, 20 years.
Flexible pavement. A pavement not less than 10 inches in depth consisting of five-inch macadam base, three-inch modified penetration macadam and three-inch bituminous concrete surface course or other pavements of equivalent strength, in accordance with the findings of the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) Road Test, 20 years.
Class B: Mixed surface-treated road. An eight-inch surface of gravel, stone or other selected material under partial control mixed with cement or lime and fly ash, six inches in compacted thickness with bituminous surface treatment and cover, 10 years.
Bituminous penetration road. A five-inch gravel or stone base course and a three-inch course bound with a bituminous or equivalent binder, 10 years.
Class C: Mixed bituminous road. An eight-inch surface of gravel, stone, or other selected material under partial control mixed with bituminous material one inch or more in compacted thickness, five years.
Penetration macadam road. A road of sand, gravel or water-bound macadam, or surfacing with penetration macadam, five years.
3. Sidewalks, curbs and gutters of stone, concrete or brick, 10 years.
The period of usefulness in this subsection shall apply to construction and reconstruction of streets and thoroughfares.
f. Utilities and municipal systems.
1. Sewerage system, whether sanitary or storm water, water supply or distribution system, 40 years.
2. Electric light, power or gas systems, garbage, refuse or ashes incinerator or disposal plant, 25 years.
3. Communication and signal systems, 10 years.
4. Service connections to publicly-owned gas, water or sewerage systems from the service main in the street to the curb or property lines where not part of original installation, five years.
5. Service connections to publicly-owned water systems, from the distribution main onto privately-owned real property and into the privately-owned structure, for the purpose of replacing residential, commercial, and institutional lead service lines, 30 years.
g. Vehicles and apparatus.
1. Fire engines, apparatus and equipment, when purchased new 1, lease-purchased,1 or leased, but not fire equipment purchased separately, 20 years.
2. Automotive vehicles, including original apparatus and equipment, when purchased new, five years for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) below 15,000 pounds, and 10 years for vehicles with a GVWR in excess of 15,000 pounds.
3. Major repairs, reconditioning or overhaul of fire engines and apparatus, ambulances, rescue vehicles, similar public safety vehicles, public works vehicles with a GVWR in excess of 15,000 pounds, and heavy construction equipment with a weight in excess of 10,000 pounds, which may reasonably be expected to extend for at least five years the period of usefulness thereof, five years.
4. Alternative fuel automotive vehicles, including but not limited to, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, natural gas vehicles, and propane vehicles, when purchased new, five years.
h. The closure of a sanitary landfill facility utilized, owned or operated by a county or municipality, 15 years; provided that the closure has been approved by the Board of Public Utilities and the Department of Environmental Protection. For the purposes of this subsection "closure" means all activities associated with the design, purchase or construction of all measures required by the Department of Environmental Protection, pursuant to law, in order to prevent, minimize or monitor pollution or health hazards resulting from sanitary landfill facilities subsequent to the termination of operations at any portion thereof, including, but not necessarily limited to, the costs of the placement of earthen or vegetative cover, and the installation of methane gas vents or monitors and leachate monitoring wells or collection systems at the site of any sanitary landfill facility.
i. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2007, c.62)
j. The prefunding of a claims account for environmental liability claims by an environmental impairment liability insurance pool pursuant to P.L.1993, c.269 (C.40A:10-38.1 et al.), 20 years.
k. As used in this section:
"Alternative fuel automotive vehicle" means any passenger car, station wagon, or other motor vehicle that is not solely propelled by gasoline or diesel fuel.
"Electric vehicle" means any passenger car, station wagon, or other motor vehicle that is propelled solely by an electric motor or energy storage device.
"Gross vehicle weight rating" or "GVWR" means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single or combination (articulated) vehicle. The GVWR of a combination (articulated) vehicle, commonly referred to as the "gross combination weight rating" or "GCWR," is the GVWR of the power unit plus the GVWR of the towed unit or units.
"Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle" means any passenger car, station wagon, or other motor vehicle that is propelled by power derived from one or more cells that convert chemical energy directly into electricity by combining oxygen with hydrogen fuel.
"Plug-in hybrid vehicle" means any passenger car, station wagon, or other motor vehicle that can be charged from a source of electricity external to the vehicle through an electric plug, but which is not solely powered by electricity.
(cf: P.L.2023, c.333, s.1)
12. Section 1 of P.L.1981, c.188 (C.40A:14-86.1) is amended to read as follows:
The board of commissioners of a fire district, following the authorization by voters of the issuance of bonds pursuant to N.J.S.40A:14-86, may by resolution borrow money and issue negotiable notes in anticipation of the bond issue. Any note shall be designated a "bond anticipation note" and shall contain a recital that it is issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds. Such notes may be issued for a period not to exceed [1] one year, and may be renewed from time to time not to exceed [1] one year; but all such notes, including renewals, shall mature and be paid not later than the [third] 10th anniversary of the date of the original notes; provided, however, that no notes shall be renewed beyond the first anniversary date of the original notes unless an amount of such notes, at least equal to the first legally payable installment of the bonds in anticipation of which the notes are issued is paid and retired on or before the second anniversary date, and if the notes are renewed beyond the second anniversary date of the original notes, a like amount is paid or retired on or before the [third] 10th anniversary date from funds other than the proceeds of obligations; except that the notes shall mature and be paid not later than the first day of the fifth month following the close of the [third] 10th fiscal year next following the date of the original notes, provided that, in addition to amounts paid and retired pursuant to this section, an amount of such notes equal to not less than the first legally payable installment of the bonds in anticipation of which the notes are issued has been paid and retired not later than the end of the [third] 10th fiscal year from funds other than the proceeds of obligations.
The period of usefulness as defined in N.J.S.40A:2-22 of any purpose for which bonds are issued shall include the period during which notes issued in anticipation of such bonds are outstanding, including all renewals thereof.
Funds derived from the issuance of fire district bonds may be used to redeem notes issued in anticipation of the bond issue.1
(cf: P.L.1981, c.188, s.1)
1[2. The governing body of a local unit shall ensure that all fire vehicles and apparatus, purchased or leased pursuant to N.J.S.40A:2-22, adhere to the nationally recognized industry standards set forth in National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1911 for the inspection, maintenance, testing, and retirement of in-service emergency vehicles, or other internationally recognized standard for automobile fire fighting apparatus and equipment.]1
1[3. The Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Director of the Division of Fire Safety, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations as necessary to effectuate the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).]1
1[4.] 3.1 This act shall take effect immediately.