New Jersey-2020-A6042-Introduced

An Act requiring municipalities to hold a referendum to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain law enforcement agencies and supplementing chapter 4 of Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

1. a. The governing body of a municipality shall request approval, through a public question submitted to the legal voters residing in its territory, of the municipality's budget for any fiscal year that compared to the budget adopted by the governing body for the preceding fiscal year:

(1) reduces the municipality's appropriation for a law enforcement agency, excluding a 9-1-1 call center, with primary responsibility for policing, criminal investigation, and answering calls for services, if the reduction is proposed for a fiscal year in which:

(a) the overall amount of the municipality's budget is equal to or greater than the amount of the municipality's budget for the preceding fiscal year;

(b) the overall amount of the municipality's budget is less than the municipality's budget amount for the preceding fiscal year, and the appropriation to the law enforcement agency is reduced as a percentage of the municipality's total budget;

(d) the budget proposes a reduction in the overall number of law enforcement officers employed by the law enforcement agency, or the amount appropriated or allocated for the law enforcement agency is reduced, as calculated on a per-law-enforcement-officer basis; or

(2) reallocates funding or resources to another law enforcement agency.

b. The governing body of a municipality shall not implement a proposed reduction or reallocation as described in subsection a. of this section until the governing body receives an affirmative vote in excess of 50 percent of the people voting on the question at the election. The municipality's budget proposing the reduction or reallocation of funding or resources to certain law enforcement agencies shall be introduced and approved in the manner otherwise provided for budgets of that municipality at least 20 days prior to the date on which the referendum is to be held, and shall be published in the manner otherwise provided for budgets of the municipality at least 12 days prior to the referendum date, unless otherwise directed by the Director of the Division of Local Government services in the Department of Community Affairs.

c. The public question to be submitted to the voters at the referendum shall include a detailed explanation of each proposed reduction, and state:

(1) the amount of each proposed reduction;

(2) the recipient of reallocated funding or resources;

(3) the impact on the local tax rate, if any; and

(4) the expected length of time that the proposed reduction or reallocation will remain in effect.

d. A referendum conducted pursuant to this section shall be held:

(a) for calendar year budgets only on the fourth Tuesday in January or the second Tuesday in March; and

(b) for fiscal year budgets, only on the last Tuesday in September, or the second Tuesday in December.

e. A municipality conducting a referendum pursuant to this section shall not use public money on promotional campaigns or advocacy related to the proposed reduction or reallocation of funding or resources to law enforcement agencies. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent a municipal official or employee from communicating factual information about a municipality's proposed budget or the reasoning behind a proposed budget to the municipality's voters.

f. Any decision of the voters rejecting a proposed reduction or reallocation as described in section a. of this section shall be final and conclusive, and no appeal or review shall be taken therefrom and no waiver application shall be made to the Local Finance Board.

g. For the purposes of this section, a municipal budget shall not include:

(1) a one-time extraordinary expense, as determined by the chief financial officer of the municipality, that is outside the normal costs of operating a law enforcement agency, including purchasing a fleet or law enforcement vehicles or constructing an additional training academy;

(2) revenues used to repay voter-approved bonded indebtedness incurred for a law enforcement purpose; or

(3) a donation or State or federal grant to the municipality's law enforcement agency.

2. a. A person who resides in the municipality who believes that a municipality has implemented a proposed reduction or reallocation as described in subsection a. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) without the required voter approval, may file a complaint with the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs.

b. The Division of Local Government Services shall determine whether a complaint filed under subsection a. of this section is potentially valid or frivolous or false. The division may also require a municipality to submit information for the current or preceding fiscal year to assist the division's investigation.

c. The Division of Local Government Services shall provide written notice of a potentially valid complaint filed under subsection a. of this section to the municipality that is subject to the complaint. The division shall provide the municipality with an opportunity to correct the action brought against the municipality before proceeding with the final determination of whether the municipality implemented a proposed reduction or reallocation described in subsection a. of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

d. Upon the determination of the Division of Local Government Services that a municipality implemented a proposed reduction or reallocation as described in section a. of this section without the required voter approval, the municipality's adjusted tax levy shall be increased to restore all the funding and resources that were previously reduced or reallocated from a law enforcement agency.

3. P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not apply to a budgetary change proposed pursuant to the "Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act," P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:65-1 et al.) or the "Municipal Consolidation Act," P.L.1977, c.435 (C.40:43-66.35 et seq.).

4. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2022.

STATEMENT

This bill would require a municipality to hold a referendum to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain law enforcement agencies.

Under the bill, a municipality would be required to request approval, through a public question submitted to the legal voters residing in its territory, to adopt a budget for a fiscal year that compared to the budget adopted by the governing body for the preceding fiscal year reduces or reallocates funding or resources to another law enforcement agency.

The bill provides that a municipality would not implement a proposed reduction or reallocation until the governing body receives an affirmative vote of in excess of 50 percent of the people voting on the question at the election. The municipal budget proposing the reduction or reallocation would be introduced and approved in the manner otherwise provided for budgets of that municipality at least 20 days prior to the date on which the referendum is to be held, and would be published in the manner otherwise provided for budgets of the municipality at least 12 days prior to the referendum date, unless otherwise directed by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services ("DLGS") in the Department of Community Affairs.

Under the bill, the public question to be submitted to the voters at the referendum would include a detailed explanation of each proposed reduction, and state: the amount of each proposed reduction; the recipient of reallocated funding or resources; the impact on the local tax rate, if any; and the expected length of time that the proposed reduction or reallocation will remain in effect.

The bill provides that a referendum conducted according to this bill be held for calendar year budgets only on the fourth Tuesday in January or the second Tuesday in March; and for fiscal year budgets, only on the last Tuesday in September, or the second Tuesday in December.

Under the bill, a municipality conducting a referendum would be prohibited from using public money on promotional campaigns or advocacy related to the proposed reduction or reallocation of funding or resources. However, a municipal official or employee would not be prohibited from communicating factual information about a proposed municipal budget or the reasoning behind a proposed budget to the municipality's voters.

The bill provides that a decision of the voters rejecting a proposed reduction or reallocation of funding or resources to a covered law enforcement agency would be final and conclusive, and no appeal or review would be taken therefrom and no waiver application to the Local Finance Board would be allowed.

The bill also provides that a person who resides in the municipality who believes that a municipality has implemented a proposed reduction or reallocation of funding or resources to a covered law enforcement agency without the required voter approval may file a complaint with the DLGS.

Under the bill, the DLGS would determine whether a complaint filed is potentially valid or frivolous or false. The DLGS may also require a municipality to submit information for the current or preceding fiscal year to assist with DLGS's investigation. Additionally, the DLGS would provide written notice of a potentially valid complaint filed to the municipality that is subject to the complaint and provide the municipality with an opportunity to correct the action brought against the municipality before proceeding with the final determination of whether the municipality implemented a proposed reduction or reallocation of funding or resources to a covered law enforcement agency.

Upon the determination of the DLGS that a municipality implemented a proposed reduction or reallocation of funding or resources to a covered law enforcement agency without the required voter approval, the municipality's adjusted tax levy would be increased to restore all the funding and resources that were previously reduced or reallocated from a law enforcement agency in the municipality's budget.