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A4558
ASSEMBLY, No. 4558
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MARCH 10, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman� CAROL A. MURPHY
District 7 (Burlington)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires local units of government to provide access
to �user-friendly� budget information through link included on home page of
Internet site.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning budget information made available by local
units of government and amending P.L.2007, c.53, N.J.S.18A:22-8,
N.J.S.40A:4-10, and P.L.2007, c.63.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 4 of P.L.2007,
c.53 (C.18A:7F-5.3) is amended to read as follows:
���� 4.��� a.� In addition to other
items prescribed by the Commissioner of Education pursuant to subsection c. of
section 5 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-5), the Commissioner of Education shall
require a school district to submit annually with the budget, the following
items as supporting documentation in regard to the superintendent of schools,
the assistant superintendent of schools, the school business administrator, and
any employee with an annual salary that exceeds $75,000 who is not a member of
a collective bargaining unit:
���� (1)�� a detailed statement of
the employment contract terms for these school employees, including, but not
limited to, the duration of the contract and all forms of compensation provided
for under the contract;
���� (2)�� the annualized cost of
all benefits provided to these school employees, including, but not limited to,
all allowances, bonuses and stipends, and all contributions made by the school
district towards the costs of health, dental, life and other types of insurance,
medical and reimbursement plans, and retirement plans which exceed the
contributions for the costs of these items made on behalf of a teaching staff
member under a collective bargaining agreement with the board;
���� (3)�� a detailed statement of
any benefits provided for in the employment contract with these school
employees which are to be conferred after or upon the separation from the
school district; and
���� (4)�� a detailed statement of
any form of in-kind or other form of remuneration provided to these school
employees which is not otherwise included in the employee's salary or benefits.
���� b.��� The items required to be
submitted pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be
[
provided for
public inspection
]
accessible through a link that is prominently displayed
on the
home
page of the
school district's Internet site, if one exists, in a
"user-friendly" format using plain language, and on the Department of
Education's Internet site in an easily accessible location.� The Commissioner
of Education shall promulgate a "user-friendly," plain language
format for the use of local districts for this purpose.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.53, s.4)
���� 2.��� N.J.S.18A:22-8 is
amended to read as follows:
���� 18A:22-8.�� The budget shall
be prepared in such detail and upon such forms as shall be prescribed by the
commissioner and to it shall be annexed a statement so itemized as to make the
same readily understandable, in which shall be shown:
���� a.���� In tabular form there
shall be set forth the following:
���� (1)�� The total expenditure
for each item for the preceding school year, the amount appropriated for the
current school year adjusted for transfers as of February 1 of the current
school year, and the amount estimated to be necessary to be appropriated for
the ensuing school year, indicated separately for each item as determined by
the commissioner;
���� (2)�� The amount of the
surplus account available at the beginning of the preceding school year, at the
beginning of the current school year, and the amount anticipated to be
available for the ensuing school year;
���� (3)�� The amount of revenue
available for budget purposes for the preceding school year, the amount
available for the current school year as of February 1 of the current school
year, and the amount anticipated to be available for the ensuing school year in
the following categories:
���� (a)�� Total to be raised by
local property taxes
���� (b)�� Total State aid
���� (i)��� Equalization aid
���� (ii)�� Special education
categorical aid
���� (iii)� Transportation aid
���� (iv)� Preschool education aid
���� (v)�� Security aid
���� (vi)� Adjustment aid
���� (vii)� Other (detailed at the
discretion of the commissioner)
���� (c)�� Total federal aid
���� (i)��� Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C.s.2701 et seq.)
���� (ii)�� Students with
disabilities
���� (iii)� Impact Aid
���� (iv)� Vocational
���� (v)�� Other (detailed at the
discretion of the commissioner)
���� (d)�� Other sources (detailed
at the discretion of the commissioner).
���� b.��� (Deleted by amendment,
P.L.1993, c.117).
���� c.���� In the event that the
total expenditure for any item of appropriation is equal to $0.00 for:� (1) the
preceding school year, (2)� the current school year, and (3) the amount
estimated to be necessary to be appropriated for the ensuing school year, that
item shall not be required to be published pursuant to N.J.S.18A:22-11.
���� d.��� The instruction function
of the budget shall be divided at a minimum into elementary (K-5), middle
school (6-8), and high school (9-12) cost centers, each of which shall be
further divided by the core curriculum content areas.� The commissioner shall
phase in these requirements as soon as practicable.
���� e.���� The budget as adopted
for the school year pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-5) shall
be provided for public inspection on the school district's Internet site, if
one exists
[
,
and
]
.�
The budget shall also be
made available in print
and through a link that
is prominently displayed on the home page of the school district�s Internet
site, if one exists,
in a "user-friendly" format using plain
language.� The Commissioner of Education shall promulgate a
"user-friendly," plain language budget summary format for the use of
school districts for this purpose.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.131, s.22)
���� 3.��� N.J.S.40A:4-10 is
amended to read as follows:
���� 40A:4-10.�� No budget or
amendment thereof shall be adopted unless the director shall have previously
certified his approval thereof.� Final adoption shall be by resolution adopted
by a majority of the full membership of the governing body, and may be by title
where the procedures required by N.J.S.40A:4-8 and N.J.S.40A:4-9 or section 12
of P.L.1995, c.259 (C.40A:4-6.1), as applicable, have been followed.
���� The budget shall be adopted in
the case of a county, not later than April 30 or the date of the next regularly
scheduled meeting of the governing body thereafter, and, in the case of a
municipality, not later than April 30 of the calendar fiscal year or the date
of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the governing body thereafter, or
September 20 of the State fiscal year or the date of the next regularly
scheduled meeting of the governing body thereafter, except that the governing
body may adopt the budget at any time within 10 days after the director shall
have certified his approval thereof and returned the same, if such
certification shall be later than the date of the advertised hearing.
���� If, in the case of a
municipality which operates on the State fiscal year, the governing body fails
to adopt the budget within the permitted time, the chief financial officer of
the local unit shall so notify the director the next working day after the expiration
of the permitted time.
���� Copies of the budget, as
adopted, in such form and in such quantity as determined by the Local Finance
Board, shall be transmitted to the director within three days after adoption.
���� Upon adoption, the budget
shall constitute an appropriation for the purposes stated therein and an
authorization of the amount to be raised by taxation for the purposes of the
local unit.
���� The adopted budget
and
�user-friendly,� plain language budget summary
shall be provided for public
inspection
and accessible through a link that is prominently displayed
on the
home page of the
local unit's
Internet
website, if one
exists, or, if one does not exist, the budget
and �user-friendly,� plain
language budget summary
shall be provided for public inspection
and
accessible through a link that is prominently displayed
on the
Internet
website of the Department of Community Affairs
[
, and made available online and
in print as required by this section in a "user-friendly" summary
format using plain language
]
.�
In addition to the current year adopted budget, the local unit's adopted
budgets
and �user-friendly,� plain language budget summaries
of the
immediately preceding three budget years also shall be provided for public inspection
and accessible through a link that is prominently displayed
on the local
unit's
Internet
website, if one exists, or, if one does not exist, those
budgets also shall be provided for public inspection
and accessible through
a link that is prominently displayed
on the
Internet
website of the
Department of Community Affairs.� Any adopted budget posted online pursuant to
this section shall remain posted online for the duration of the local budget
year.� The Local Finance Board shall promulgate a "user-friendly,"
plain language summary format for use by local units for this purpose pursuant
to section 39 of P.L.2007, c.63 (C.40A:5-48).
(cf: P.L.2025, c.185, s.5)
���� 4.��� Section 39 of P.L.2007,
c.63 (C.40A:5-48) is amended to read as follows:
���� 39.� a. The Local Finance
Board shall promulgate "user-friendly," plain language budget summary
forms for the use of counties, municipalities, local authorities, and fire
districts.� The board shall also promulgate a procedure for the submission by each
of these local government units of the required budget summary form to the
Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs
following the adoption of the annual budget.
���� b.��� The plain language
budget summary shall provide the public with information in summary form about
the budget of the local unit and shall include, in addition to an abbreviated
version of the formal budget adopted by the local unit, such statistical information
as the board determines to be useful for the public's understanding of the
local unit's fiscal matters and condition, and shall also include, but shall
not be limited to the following information, for both the local unit's current
budget year and the previous budget year, as the Local Finance Board determines
appropriate to the local unit:� all line items of appropriation aggregated by
service type; the property tax rate; the property tax collection rate; the
assessed value and taxable value of all real property located in the local
unit; the amount of bonded indebtedness of the local unit; revenues by major
category; description of unusual revenues or appropriations, with a description
of the circumstances of the revenues or appropriations; a list of shared
service agreements in which the local unit is participating; and the number and
amount of outstanding long-term tax exemptions and abatements, and the amount
of revenue derived therefrom.
���� c.���� The plain language
budget summary shall be submitted to the division in such form as determined by
the Local Finance Board, and, upon its receipt of the summary, the division
shall make the summary available to the public through
[
an
]
a link
that is prominently displayed on the
Internet website maintained by the
division.� The information on the website shall be presented as data that can
be downloaded by the public for comparative purposes using commonly-used
software.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.63, s.39)
���� 5.��� This act shall take
effect on the 90th day after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires that a
budget adopted by a county, municipality, or school district be made available
in a user-friendly format and accessible through a link that is prominently
displayed on the home page of the Internet site if one exists.