News & Notices - continued

MAYORS MAKE CASE FOR ENDING STATE SKIM
Today in Trenton, Mayors from all around New Jersey participated in a Press Conference to explain the problems that have been created by the State’s continuing use of municipal property tax relief revenues to balance its budget.
Read more and photos

Administration awards Clean Communities Grants and Historic Preservation Awards
On Monday, the Christie Administration announced the award of nearly $16 million in Clean Communities grants to help municipalities and counties fund litter cleanup efforts that help beautify New Jersey’s communities and roadsides.
Read more

Email lists and the Open Public Records Act
Recently some questions have arisen as to whether an email list maintained by a municipality to contact residents is subject to the Open Public Records Act.  Based on the language of the statute and recent case decisions, it appears that they are.
Read more

Hiring our Heroes-Mega Job Fair
In January 2011, ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve) State Committees across America launched a focused effort to assist our service members & their spouses in finding meaningful employment. EIP strives to serve America’s employers by enabling them access to a pool of talented men and women of America’s Citizen Warriors.
Read more

Recent United States Supreme Court decision on qualified immunity for part time government employees
I wanted to make you aware of a recent case of interest to public bodies decided by the United States Supreme Court, Filarsky v. Delia.
Read more

Sample resolution in support of A-2454 Eliminates Unemployment for Seasonal Workers
At our last League Conference, Mayors Carl Shupp of Cape May Point and Dr. Edward J. Mahaney of Cape May introduced Conference Resolution Number 2011-02, urging the state legislature to alter the eligibility requirements for unemployment insurance for seasonal public entity workers.
Read more

Affordable Housing Trust Funds, July Deadline
The Department of Community has updated its spreadsheet regarding the status of municipal trust fund dollars. The DCA spreadsheet now indicates that there are almost $169 million in trust fund dollars that are subject to State seizure in July.  The updated spreadsheet is available at:
Read more

New Procedures for Local Financial Disclosure Statement
The Division of Local Government Services issued Local Finance Notice 2012-8 which outlines the new filing procedures for the 2012 Financial Disclosure Statements.
Read more

Affordable Housing/Municipal Trust Fund Dollars
This letter is intended to address the many questions and inquiries we have received regarding the status of the municipal affordable housing trust fund dollars. 
Read more

Help End Energy Receipts and CMPTRA Diversion to the State General Fund
Video by Mayor Janice Mironov, East Windsor; League 1st Vice President; Co-chair League Energy Tax Restoration Task Force.
Watch Now

Local Aid Infrastructure Fund and Safe Streets to Transit Grants Announced
Late on Friday, the New Jersey Department of Transportation announced $78.4 million in local aid grants to 376 municipalities to advance street improvement, rehabilitation and safety projects.
Read more

Energy Tax Funding Gaps, Funding Cuts and the State Skim
Regarding the restoration of Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Relief funding, some legislators and the media have expressed confusion about the numbers we have used in our statements and letters. It is a complicated issue. We hope this explanation helps.
Read more

DEP Waiver Rule Adopted
Yesterday in Trenton, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin announced that his Department has adopted a new rule that gives the DEP flexibility to modify compliance with rules in certain limited circumstances, provided that the waivers will not compromise protections for the environment or public health.
Read More

S-2 Shared Services Bill Advances
Earlier today, League President Mayor Art Ondish and Conference of Mayors’ Legislative Chair Mayor Colleen Mahr presented testimony to the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee on S-2.
Read more

State Budget Goes to Legislature The Governor’s Tuesday speech to the Legislature (See our letter at www.njslom.org/letters/2012-0221-state2013budget.html.) marks the beginning, not the end, of deliberations on the State’s next spending plan. Public hearings will soon be scheduled by both the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees.
Read more

FY 2013 State Aid Released Budget Language for Best Practices Incentive The Division of Local Government Services has issued Local Finance Notice 2012-6 which releases the CY 2012/SFY 2013 “State Aid” certification. The Governor’s proposed FY 2013 budget has no municipality receiving less “State formula aid” than received under the State FY 2012 budget.
Read more

S-1564 Accumulated Sick Leave. Senate President Sweeney has introduced S-1564, which prohibits payment of supplemental compensation for unused sick earned by public officers and employees after the effective date.
Read More

Louis Bay 2nd Future Municipal Leaders Scholarship Competition
Once again, the League of Municipalities is proud to announce the Louis Bay 2nd Future Municipal Leaders Scholarship Competition for high school Juniors and Seniors planning to continue their education after high school.  We are again inviting you to play a major role in this exciting venture.
Information and Forms

Governor Unveils FY 2013 State Budget Today in Trenton, Governor Christie delivered his FY 2013 State Budget to the Legislature...With regards to the level of property tax relief funding that the Governor will include in his FY 2013 Budget proposal, it appears that all municipal taxpayers should expect level formula funding, in the aggregate.
Read more

S-1566, the “New Jersey Residential Transformation Act”; Update on Legal Challenges involving Affordable Housing; and Municipal Housing Trust Funds
Read more

Recap of Assembly Voting Session; S-768, Changes to Marriage/Civil Union License Issuance and Fees; and S-199, Protecting the Privacy of Accident Victims
Read more

Flawed Decisions Could Inflate Local Pension Bills
Your next public employee pension bill could be inflated by decisions based on flawed assumptions.Read More

Please Support Our Men and Women in Uniform
I know that you receive a lot of requests from the League, asking you to take action on important matters. As your League President, I don’t think you’ll get any more important than this.
Read More

Proper Flag Etiquette President’s Day is fast approaching, and before we know it, Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, and the long sunny days of summer will be here. With those thoughts in mind, we wanted to remind you that the League offers a resource page on flag etiquette
Read more

Redistricting Reform in New Jersey
This is the twelfth paper in NJLM Foundation’s “Friends of Local Government” Policy Paper series.It provides a brief history of the State and Federal Redistricting process in the Garden State, with a particular focus on the recent redistricting and commentary for reform going forward.
Read the Paper

BPU Welcomes Comments on Preliminary Storm Response Report. During last week’s Mayors’ Legislative Day in Trenton, Board of Public Utilities’ (BPU) President Robert M. Hanna asked mayors to review the BPU’s preliminary report on the responses of New Jersey’s electric utilities to Hurricane Irene
Read More

Reach Out - A Guide to State Level Advocacy for Municipal Officials. How can you help your League of Municipalities to defeat bad legislation and encourage the passage of good legislation?
Read More