Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CARMELO G. GARCIA
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain State oversight of budgets of regional sewerage authorities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the budgets of regional sewerage authorities and amending and supplementing P.L.1946, c.138.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, the budget of every regional sewerage authority shall be subject to the following provisions:
a. The percentage of growth in the fee-funded appropriations in the annual budget of a regional sewerage authority shall not exceed two percent per year; and the amount billed to customers of the authority, or the amount billed to a local unit for its proportional share of the authority's expenses, as the case may be, shall not exceed that amount billed in the previous budget year to each customer or local unit, as the case may be, by more than two percent.
b. After the budget of a regional sewerage authority has been approved by the members of the regional sewerage authority, the budget shall be forwarded to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for review and approval.
The director shall review the budget to ensure that the budget conforms with the requirements of subsection a. of this section, and that the budgeted expenditures are reasonable in cost and necessary for the performance of the regional sewerage authority.
If the director determines that the budget meets the requirements of this subsection, the director shall approve the budget, and shall then immediately forward the budget to the Governor for the Governor's review thereof pursuant to subsection c. of this section. If the director does not approve the budget, the director shall return the budget to the members of the regional sewerage authority with written information concerning the reasons for the disapproval of the budget.
c. The budget of a regional sewerage authority shall not be deemed to be approved until 15 days after the budget has been delivered to the Governor pursuant to subsection b. of this section, unless during this 15-day period the Governor has approved the budget in writing. If, within that 15-day period, the Governor returns the budget to the members of the regional sewerage authority with the Governor's veto of the budget, the budget shall have no effect. If, after the 15-day review period, the Governor has not notified the regional sewerage authority of a veto of its budget, the budget shall be deemed approved by the Governor.
2. Section 35 of P.L.1946, c.138 (C.40:14A-35) is amended to read as follows:
35. [This act] Except as provided in section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), P.L.1946, c.138 shall be construed liberally to effectuate the legislative intent and as complete and independent authority for the performance of each and every act and thing herein authorized, and a sewerage authority shall not be subject to regulation as to its service charges or as to any other matter whatsoever by any officer, board, agency, commission or other office of the State.
(cf: P.L.1946, c.138, s.35)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would impose oversight by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services and the Governor over the budgets of regional sewerage authorities.
Under the bill, the percentage of growth in the fee-funded appropriations in the annual budget of a regional sewerage authority shall not exceed two percent per year; and the amount billed to customers of the authority, or the amount billed to a local unit for its proportional share of the authority's expenses, as the case may be, shall not exceed that amount billed in the previous budget year to each customer or local unit, as the case may be, by more than two percent.
Under the bill, after the budget of a regional sewerage authority has been approved by the members thereof, the budget would be forwarded to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services for review and approval. The director would review the budget to ensure that the budgeted expenditures for the regional sewerage authority meet the requirements of the bill. If the director determines that the budgeted expenditures do meet the requirements of the bill, the director would approve the budget, and would then immediately forward the budget to the Governor for the Governor's review and approval. (If the director does not approve the budget, he would return the budget to the authority's members with written information concerning the reasons for the disapproval of the budget.)
Under the bill, the budget of a regional sewerage authority would not be deemed to be approved until 15 days after the budget has been delivered to the Governor, unless during this 15-day period the Governor approves the budget in writing. If, within that 15-day period, the Governor returns the budget to the members of the regional sewerage authority with the Governor's veto of the budget, the budget would have no effect. If, after the 15-day review period, the Governor has not notified the regional sewerage authority of a veto of its budget, the budget would be deemed approved by the Governor.