September 23, 2022

2022 Annual League Conference

Online registration for the 107th Annual League Conference is open and the Early Bird registration discounts expire on September 30.

28^th Annual Mayors’ Hall of Fame

We need your help to identify some very special mayors for the Mayors’ Hall of Fame.

Once again, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities Executive Board wants to pay tribute to you at the Annual League Conference in November, if you are currently a mayor who has served a total of 10 years or more as mayor. Mayors who rotate into office are eligible for this recognition.

In a special ceremony at the Mayors’ Lunch Briefing during the Annual Conference, I will make a special presentation to those mayors who meet the following criteria:

You must currently be serving as mayor.
You must currently be serving in at least your 10^th cumulative year as mayor for the silver level.
You must currently be serving in at least your 20^th cumulative year as mayor for the gold level.
You must currently be serving in at least your 30^th cumulative year as mayor for the platinum level.
You must not be a current member of the League’s Mayors’ Hall of Fame (this does not apply to silver level mayors now eligible for the gold level; or gold who are eligible for platinum).

These recipients will then be inducted into the New Jersey League of Municipalities Mayors’ Hall of Fame and a group picture will appear in the January 2023 issue of New Jersey Municipalities magazine.

With your help we can identify and recognize all mayors currently serving in their tenth, twentieth, or thirtieth year as mayor. A list of current members of the Mayors’ Hall of Fame may be reviewed at the League website on the “Award Programs” page.

Please submit the online submission form by October 10. For further details, please email Mike Cerra at mcerra@njlm.org.

Thank you very much for your help in identifying yourself and your fellow mayors for special recognition.

State Issues

MS4 Tier A Permit Renewal Comment Period Closed, Advocacy Efforts Continue

The comment period for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Draft Tier A Permit renewal closed on September 20. The League in partnership with the New Jersey Conference of Mayors submitted comments focusing on how the new conditions within the Draft Tier A Permit constitute on unfunded mandate, especially for Tier B municipalities that now face reassignment to Tier A.

While the official comment period may be closed, municipalities can still make efforts to help thwart the NJDEP’s attempts to saddle local governments with additional mandates. To that end, the League has prepared a draft resolution your municipality can adopt urging the legislature and Governor Murphy to take action to delay NJDEP efforts until a full analysis of the financial impact of these changes can be prepared, and grant funding from the state can be made available.

Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.

SHBP Update

Last week, the State Health Benefits Commission adopted the rate increase as proposed in the AON Rate Renewal Report Local Government Employee/Retiree Group and State Employee/Retiree Group. Municipalities in the State Health Benefits Plan will see an overall rate increase of 22.8%.

The State’s health benefits plan will increase by 18.6%. However, based on a deal brokered between the State unions and the administration, State employees in the CWA Unity Plan and 2019 Direct Plan will only see a rate increase of 3%.

We suggest you review the rate increases with your professionals to determine the impact on your employees, your municipal budget, and property taxpayers. In addition to the Lunch & Learn Exploring Alternatives to the SHBP – How to Navigate within Existing Labor Contracts, we will be holding webinars in the coming weeks to brief you on alternatives to the SHBP.

We also suggest you reach out to the Governor's Office and your state legislators about providing relief to this steep hike that places a burden on property taxpayers and employees alike.

Contacts:

Lori Buckelew, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Government Affairs, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x112.
Paul Penna, Senior Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.

Governor Murphy Signs Executive Order Increasing Offshore Wind Goal by 2040

Yesterday, Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 307, increasing New Jersey’s offshore wind goal by nearly 50% to 11,000 megawatts (MW) by 2040. The Executive Order, which increases the state’s current goal of 7,500 MW, also directs the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to study the feasibility of increasing the target further.

Additional offshore wind power generation means additional projects that ultimately require transmission lines to be carried onshore. This, of course, carries a host of concerns for those municipalities along the coast and further inland. These communities will need to be cognizant of the impacts wind turbines will have on their viewshed as well as the land use concerns associated with the onshoring of transmission lines and other necessary equipment.

While the League generally supports the development of offshore wind and other alternative power resources, we continue to oppose efforts to undermine municipal land use control that could ultimately negatively impact local communities.

Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.

Bill Authorizing Special Occasion Events on Preserved Farmland is Conditionally Vetoed

On Thursday, Governor Murphy issued a conditional veto of S-757. The legislation sought to expand authorization of special occasion events at commercial farms and wineries on preserved farmland. The League opposed S-757 as passed by the legislature because it provided inadequate limitations on special occasion events, allowing preserved farmland to be used for non-agricultural purposes, undermining the intent of the state’s successful farmland preservation program.

The Governor’s recommendations in his conditional veto help to address some of the League’s concerns, including limiting the number and scope of special occasion events and the area on the farmland where the events can be held. The recommendations also provide clarity on municipal review of event applications.

With the conditional veto the bill is now returned to the legislature where they will either approve the Governor’s recommendations or vote to override and adopt the bill as originally passed.

Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.

Duct Cleaning Subject to Prevailing Wage Law

On September 22 Governor Murphy signed into law S-1027/A2208, which makes duct cleaning as public work subject to the prevailing wage law. P.L. 2022, c. 113 took effect immediately.

Contact: Lori Buckelew, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Government Affairs, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x112.

Legislation Will Add Local Representation to State Health Benefits Commission

Senators Ruiz and Sarlo have introduced legislation that would expand the State Health Benefits Commission from five members to nine members and add local representation to Commission. S-3033 would add two local government management members, a mayor or township administrator along with a county commissioner, executive or finance officer, appointed by the Governor. The bill would also add three local employees’ representatives chosen by the Public Employee Committee of the AFL-CIO.

The bill would also expand the membership of the School Employees’ Health Benefits Commission to 13 members, including recommendations from the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials and New Jersey Council of County Colleges.

S-3033 was referred to the Senate State Government Committee. Assemblywoman Pintor Marin has introduced the Assembly Companion, A-4552, which was referred to the Assembly State and Local Government Committee.

Contact: Lori Buckelew, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Government Affairs, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x112.

NJ Governor's Office - IIJA Water Webinar

In partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the Governor’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Office is hosting a webinar on how IIJA funding is being dispersed and utilized to improve water infrastructure in New Jersey through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Programs (Water Bank) on Thursday, September 29, 2022, from 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon.

Register today as New Jersey is expected to receive over $1 billion in funding between 2022 and 2026 to provide attractive financing packages, including grant-like principal forgiveness and low-interest loans for much-needed investments in water infrastructure. At this webinar speakers from NJDEP and EPA will provide information and take questions on how IIJA funding will flow to municipalities.

Registrants will be emailed the meeting link the week of the event. Please email IIJA@nj.gov with any questions.

Federal Issues

Available Federal Grants

Please read the League’s recent blog post for newly announced and application instructions for various competitive federal grants that are available to municipalities.

Contact: Paul Penna, Senior Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.

Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022: A Costly Unfunded Mandate for Municipalities

As Congress prepares to pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), municipalities should be aware of a provision that may have a negative impact on their operations through the imposition of a new unfunded mandate. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) are looking to attach a new piece of legislation, the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022, to the mandatory end-of-year defense bill. This provision would establish new financial data standards that would apply to local governments.

The Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022, seeks to establish a uniform standard of financial reporting that encompasses many different types of issuers, including states, cities, counties, water systems, public power providers, public gas providers, hospitals, and more.

As written, the legislation would require local governments to come into compliance with the new financial reporting standard by 2027. Changing the current financial reports issued by local governments would mean the potential loss of valuable information contained within current financial reports that not only benefit the local government as an organization.

Additionally, the transition to a new system of reporting financial standards will require resources–consultants, software, and reconfiguring municipal financial systems–to account for the new reporting standards. This costly adjustment would fall on the backs of local governments as they work to comply with the new standards by 2027, with no financial support from the federal government.

The House of Representatives passed a version of the Data Transparency Act by attaching to the house draft of the NDAA. Now, the Senate is eyeing a similar tactic. The Senate is unlikely to take up the NDAA before December.

Please reach out to Senators Menendez and Booker and let them know that this imposition of a new financial standard will be costly and time-consuming and force an unfunded mandate on your municipality and urge them to keep this provision out of the NDAA.

Contact: Paul Penna, Senior Legislative Analyst, ppenna@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x110.

Federal Funding for Publicly Accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

New Jersey will compete for billions of dollars in Federal funding for publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations later this year through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

This is a national competition administered by USDOT and is open to states, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, political subdivisions, and tribal governments. We want to make sure you are aware of the opportunity and gauge your interest.

Please complete the short survey by October 14, 2022, to help New Jersey prepare to compete for $2.5 billion in federal funding to speed the transition to a clean energy economy.

Contact: Peg Hanna, Assistant Director, Air Monitoring and Mobile Sources
NJDEP, 609 633-2306 (direct) or 609 292-7953 (main)

Also of Interest

Lunch & Learn: Exploring Alternatives to the SHBP – How to Navigate within Existing Labor Contracts

As municipalities explore alternatives to the State Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) it is important to ensure that any new plan conforms to existing labor contracts and meets the “equal to or better” clause found in some labor contracts. On September 29 at 12:30 p.m. join Matt Watkins, the League’s Labor Consultant, and Kevin Lyons, NJ State PBA’s Legal Protection Plan Administrator and Health Benefits Coordinator, as they discuss how to navigate the alternatives to the SHBP within existing labor contracts.

Register for this must-attend Lunch and Learn if you are exploring alternatives to SHBP

Contact: Lori Buckelew, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Government Affairs, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x112.

Lunch & Learn: Municipal Climate Resilience Planning: The Importance of the Recently Mandated Climate Change-Related Hazard Vulnerability Assessments

In 2021, Governor Murphy signed a law amending the Municipal Land Use Law to require municipalities to incorporate a climate change-related hazard vulnerability assessment (CCRHVA) into any Master Plan Land Use Element adopted after the signing. On Tuesday, October 18 at 12 noon join NJDEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, Chief Resilience Officer Nick Angarone, and Climate Resilience Planning Experts for a lunchtime webinar exploring what this change means for municipal officials, what tools and resources exist to help municipalities meet this requirement, and how the CCRHVA can fit into a broader climate resilience planning effort.

Please register for the October 18 Lunch and Learn session.

Applications for the Innovation in Governance Program Sought

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the New Jersey State League of Municipalities will again acknowledge and promote Innovation in Governance through our annual recognition program. This is a great opportunity to showcase innovative solutions to any problems that have cropped up – either suddenly or over time – in your municipality. It can also be an opportunity to let your peers in on innovations that prevented problems from even arising. This year the Innovation in Governance Awards Committee is looking for any new and distinctive approaches in any department of municipal government.

The deadline is Friday, October 7, 2022.

Visit our awards page to see previous years’ ideas created by winning municipalities as well as the full invitation and application to this year’s program.

Contact: Ciara Bradley, Legislative Administrator, cbradley@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x128.