A 5232 — Authorizes regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority to determine county proportional share assessment for budget purposes.

A5232 1R [First Reprint] ASSEMBLY, No.

  CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT      As introduced.reported by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on June 23, 2026, with amendments.

     a.    a.    adopt and have a common seal and to alter the same at pleasure;

     c.    c.    acquire, own, rent, hold, lease, as lessor or lessee, use and sell or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security in, any real or personal property, commodity, or service or interest therein;

     e.    e.    make and execute additional contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers;

and      o.    establish procedures for budget introduction and adoption, which shall be made pursuant to the "Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law," P.L.1983, c.313 (C.40A:5A-1 et seq.),seq.) 1and be on a fiscal year beginning on January 1 and ending December 311, and which shall be subject to the cap on calculation of adjusted tax levy by local units pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-45.45, and shall include the following:

     (1)  (1)  [an amount to be raised by taxation, which shall be conveyed to the Board of Taxation in each participation county within 15 days of the adoption of the budget;] (Deleted1[(Deleted by amendment, P.L.     , c.    ))] (Deleted by amendment, P.L.     , c.    )1      (2)  (2)  the chief financial officer of the authority shall certify the Average Daily Population (ADP) of the inmates from each participating county, for the previous year, by February 1st of each year;

     [(3)][(3)]  (a)    (a)  based on the ADP [and, if determined by a separate formula, the apportionment of any debt service pursuant to the inter-county agreement], the chief financial officer of the authority shall certify each county’s proportional share of inmates for the previous year.  The proportional share of the inmates for each county 1and, if determined by a separate formula pursuant to the inter-county agreement, the apportionment of any debt service1 shall be applied to the total revenue needs in the authority’s budget,budget 1[, as introduced by January 26th of each year,year,]1 to determine the annual proportional share assessment for each county.  The chief financial officer of the authority shall certify the proportional share for each county concerning what portion is for general operations and what portion is to support debt service.  By February 15th of each year, [the proportional share for each county shall be conveyed to the appropriate County Board of Taxation, to be used to calculate the amount of taxes to be levied in each of the participating counties.  These taxes shall be assessed, levied, and collected within the respective taxing districts in the manner prescribed by law] each portion of the total proportional share assessment for each participating county shall be conveyed to the respective county chief financial officer for inclusion in the county’s annual budget;

[and]      (b)(b)  the portion of the proportional share assessment for each county pertaining to debt service shall be an eligible cap exception pursuant to subsection aa.

and      (4)  (4)  [in each local budget year in which the function of a county jail is transferred from the county government to the authority, the county shall deduct from its final appropriations upon which its permissible county tax levy is calculated, the amount which the county expended for that function during the last full budget year it was included in the county budget] 1when examining the annual budget of a participating county,1 the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall certify1[certify thatthat] determine whether1 the amount of the proportional share assessment 1, as certified by the chief financial officer of the authority,1 is included as an appropriation in each participating county’s annual operation budget, as a condition of State approval for budget adoption, pursuant to the "Local Budget Law," N.J.S.40A:4-1 et seq.

     4.    In the preparation of its budget, a county may not increase the county tax levy to be apportioned among its constituent municipalities in excess of 2.5[%]2.5[%] percent or percent or the cost-of-living adjustment, whichever is less, of the previous year's county tax levy, subject to the following exceptions:

     a.    a.    The amount of revenue generated by the increase in valuations within the county, based solely on applying the preceding year's county tax rate to the apportionment valuation of new construction or improvements within the county, and such increase shall be levied in direct proportion to said valuation;

     c.    c.    (1)       (1)       An increase based upon emergency temporary appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-20 to meet an urgent situation or event which immediately endangers the health, safety or property of the residents of the county, and over which the governing body had no control and for which it could not plan and emergency appropriations made pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-46.  Emergency temporary appropriations and emergency appropriations shall be approved by at least two-thirds of the governing body and by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, and shall not exceed in the aggregate 3%31[%] percent1 of the previous year's final current operating appropriations.

     (2)  (2)  (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      The approval procedure in this subsection shall not apply to appropriations adopted for a purpose referred to in subsection d.

     e.    e.    (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      f.     Amounts required to be paid pursuant to (1) any contract with respect to use, service or provision of any project, facility or public improvement for water, sewerage, parking, senior citizen housing or any similar purpose, or payments on account of debt service therefor, between a county and any other county, municipality, school or other district, agency, authority, commission, instrumentality, public corporation, body corporate and politic or political subdivision of this State;

     h.    (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1987, c.74[.])      i.     (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      j.     (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      k.    (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      l.     (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2004, c.74[.])      m.   (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      n.   n     (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      o.    (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1990, c.89[.])      p.    Extraordinary expenses, approved by the Local Finance Board, required for the implementation of an interlocal services agreement;

     t.     (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2004, c.74.)c.74 1[.]1)      u.    Expenditures for the administration of general public assistance pursuant to P.L.1995, c.259 (C.40A:4-6.1 et al.);

     z.    z.    Expenditures of amounts received pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1981, c.278 (C.13:1E-96);

     aa. aa.   Amounts certified by the chief financial officer of a regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority as the county’s share of the proportional share assessment 1pertaining to debt service1 for the authority, as specified pursuant to subsection o.

of section 10 of P.L.2007, c.62 (C.40A:4-45.45), then in any such local budget year, if a county's appropriations for debt service are less than the prior year's appropriations for debt service, which amounts are exceptions to the 2.5[%]2.5[%] percent county percent county tax levy increase limitation pursuant to this section, then the county's maximum permissible tax levy for that local budget year shall not be reduced by the amount of the difference in appropriations for debt service between the two local budget years.

    STATEMENT        This bill amends the "Regional Rehabilitation and Reentry Center Authority Act" to remove a regional rehabilitation and reentry center authority’s (authority) power to place an assessment on the property taxes paid by each resident of a participating county and to instead require participating counties to pay an assessment directly to the authority.  The assessment authorized by the bill is to be determined by the average daily population of the inmates from each county, as certified by the chief financial officer of the authority, which is to be applied to the total revenue needs in the authority’s budget.  The chief financial officer of the authority is to certify the proportional share for each county concerning what the portion is for general operations and what portion is to support debt service.

     Each proportional share of each participating county is to be conveyed to the respective county chief financial officer for inclusion in the county’s annual budget.  The portion of the proportional share assessment for each county pertaining to debt service is to be an eligible cap exception pursuant to P.L.1976, c.68 (C.40A:4-45.1 et seq.).  The Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs is to certify that the amount of the proportional share assessment is included as an appropriation in each participating county’s annual operation budget, as a condition of State approval for budget adoption, pursuant to the "Local Budget Law."