New Jersey-2018-S226-Introduced

An Act concerning the issuance by local units of bonds for passenger vehicles and amending N.J.S.40A:2-22.

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.

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. House 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.

g. Vehicles and apparatus.

1. Fire engines, apparatus and equipment, when purchased new, but not fire equipment purchased separately, 10 years.

2. Automotive vehicles, including passenger vehicles other than police vehicles and including original apparatus and equipment [(other than passenger cars and stationwagons)], when purchased new, five years.

3. Major repairs, reconditioning or overhaul of fire engines and apparatus, which may reasonably be expected to extend for at least five years the period of usefulness thereof, 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 and Energy. 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 and Energy, 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. Any purpose, except vehicles, not included in the foregoing, for which obligations may be issued, 15 years.

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.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.269, s.18)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would amend N.J.S.40A:2-22 to establish that passenger vehicles other than police vehicles have a useful life, when purchased new, of five years. The result of this change would be to allow counties and municipalities to bond for the purchase of passenger vehicles.

Under current law, a local unit is not permitted to bond for any improvement or purpose having a period of usefulness of less than five years, according to N.J.S.40A:2-21. Because passenger vehicles have been thought to have a useful life of less than five years, counties and municipalities have not been able to bond for their purchase. Instead, they have been required to include the full purchase price of a passenger vehicle in the annual budget, thereby disproportionately impacting upon that particular year's tax rate.

Improvements in the quality of new passenger vehicles in recent years, however, suggest that their useful life is at least five years. Typically, the passenger vehicles of a county or municipality last for more than ten years, and most passenger vehicles when purchased new carry warrantees in excess of six years and sixty thousand miles. In fact, many new passenger vehicles do not require a tune-up until the vehicle has traveled 100,000 miles. These factors support the contention that such vehicles have a useful life of at least five years and that local units should be permitted to bond for their purchase. This bill would make the necessary changes in the law to allow such bonding to occur.