Prohibits sewerage authority from imposing connection fee in certain circumstances.

A2144

ASSEMBLY, No. 2144

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

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PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits sewerage authority from imposing connection
fee in certain circumstances.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning certain sewerage authority connection fees
and supplementing P.L.1946, c.138 (C.40:14A-1 et seq.).

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

���� 1.��� a.� Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 8 of P.L.1946, c.138 (C.40:14A-8) or any other provision
of law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, a sewerage authority shall not impose
a new connection fee or tapping fee upon the owner or occupant of property that
is being redeveloped if the property has been connected to the sewerage system
for 20 or more years.� This exclusion shall apply regardless of whether:

���� (1)� the property has not been
in active use for a period of time since initial connection to the sewerage
system; or

���� (2)� redevelopment of the
property proposes an addition, alteration, or change of use to the property,
even if the proposed addition, alteration, or change of use requires a
modification and relocation of an existing connection to the sewerage system.

���� b.��� As used in this section,
the terms "redeveloped" and "redevelopment" shall not be
limited to redevelopment projects authorized under the �"Local
Redevelopment and Housing Law," P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.).

���� c.��� If prior to the date of
enactment of this act a sewerage authority imposed a new connection fee or
tapping fee that is not authorized under this section, and the owner or
occupant of the property paid the fee under protest, the authority shall
reimburse the amount paid to the owner or occupant.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would encourage
redevelopment of obsolete or vacant property by prohibiting a sewerage
authority from imposing a new connection fee if the property being redeveloped
was previously connected to the sewerage system for 20 or more years.� This exclusion
would apply although:

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the property has not been in active
use for a period of time since initial connection to the sewerage system, or

�

the redevelopment project proposes
an addition, alteration, or change of use to the property, even if the proposed
addition, alteration, or change of use requires a modification and relocation
of an existing connection to the sewerage system.

���� The bill would also require a
sewage authority to reimburse the fee for a new connection, paid in protest by
the owner or occupant of the property, that was imposed by the authority prior
to the effective date of the bill.

���� The Legislature has, in the
past, recognized, and continues to recognize, the value and benefit to the
public of redeveloping obsolete properties and vacant properties. �The policy
of the State encourages redevelopment of obsolete properties and vacant
properties.� Many redevelopment sites have been connected to public sewerage
systems for years.� In some instances, past and present owners of such sites
have already contributed economically to the sewerage systems either through
direct cash payments, past connection fees, or past service fees.� In these
instances, requiring the redeveloper of obsolete or vacant property to pay a
new connection fee, which may reach into the millions of dollars, is
inequitable, even if a new connection, or modification of an existing
connection, is required, because the new connection fee inhibits redevelopment
efforts.