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A5032
ASSEMBLY, No. 5032
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 11, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Fantasia
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires SDA districts to solicit at least three
proposals prior to entering into lease agreement with developer for
construction and lease of new school building.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning certain school district lease agreements and
supplementing chapter 20 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� a.� Prior to entering
into a lease agreement with a developer for the construction and lease of a new
school building pursuant to subsection (f) of N.J.S.18A:20-4.2, an SDA district
shall solicit at least three lease agreement proposals.� The board of education
shall utilize a request for lease agreement proposals documentation in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
���� b.��� The school business
administrator shall prepare or have prepared a request for lease agreement
proposal documentation that includes: all requirements deemed appropriate and
necessary to allow for free and fair competition among developers; information
deemed necessary for developers to submit a proposal; and a methodology by
which the board shall evaluate and rank proposals received from developers.
���� c.���� The methodology for the
awarding of lease agreements shall be based on an evaluation that shall include
technical, management, and cost-related criteria, and may include a weighting
of criteria all developed in a way that is intended to meet the specific needs
of the school district, and where the criteria shall not unfairly or illegally
discriminate against or exclude otherwise capable developers.� When an
evaluation methodology uses a weighting criteria, at the option of the board,
the weighting to be accorded to each criterion may be disclosed to developers
prior to receipt of the lease agreement proposals.� The methodology for
awarding lease agreements shall comply with rules and regulations adopted by
the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection k. of this section.
���� d.��� A notice of the
availability of the request for lease agreement proposals shall be published in
an official newspaper of the board of education at least 30 days prior to the
date established for the submission of the proposals.� The board of education
shall promptly reply to any request by an interested developer by providing a
copy of the request for lease agreement proposal documentation.� The board may
charge a fee for the lease agreement proposal documentation that shall not
exceed $50 or the cost of reproducing the documentation, whichever is greater.
���� e.���� At no time during the
lease agreement proposal process shall the school business administrator or
board of education convey information to any potential developer that could
confer an unfair advantage upon that developer over any other potential developer.�
If the school business administrator or board wants to change the lease
agreement proposal documentation, the school business administrator shall
notify only those potential developers who received the proposal documentation
of any and all changes in writing and all existing documentation shall be changed
appropriately.
���� f. Each interested developer
shall submit a lease agreement proposal that includes all the information
required by the request for lease agreement proposals documentation.� Failure
to meet the requirements of the request for lease agreement proposals documentation
may result in the board disqualifying the developer from further consideration.�
Under no circumstances shall the provisions of a proposal be subject to
negotiations by the board of education.
���� g.��� The school business
administrator shall evaluate all proposals only in accordance with the
methodology described in the request for lease agreement proposals
documentation.� After the proposals have been evaluated, the school business
administrator shall prepare a report evaluating and recommending the award of a
lease agreement.� The report shall list the names of all potential developers
who submitted a proposal and summarize the proposals of each developer.� The
report shall rank developers in order of evaluation, recommend the selection of
a developer for a lease agreement, be clear in the reasons why the developer
has been selected among others considered, and detail the terms, conditions,
and cost of the lease agreement including the amount of the annual lease
payments and the impact of those payments on the school district�s general fund
tax levy.� The report shall be made available to the public at lease 48 hours
prior to the awarding of the lease agreement, or made available to the board of
education, whichever is sooner.� The board shall have the right to reject all
proposals.� Any lease agreement entered into with a developer pursuant to this
section shall be made by resolution of the board of education.
���� h.��� Award of the lease
agreement shall be made within 60 days of receipt of the proposals, except that
the proposals of any developers, who consent thereto, may, at the request of
the board, be held for a longer period as may be agreed.
���� i.���� The report prepared
pursuant to subsection g. of this section shall become part of the public
record and shall reflect the final action of the board.
���� j.���� The secretary of the
board of education shall publish a notice in the official newspaper of the
board summarizing the award of the lease agreement which shall include, but not
be limited to, the nature, duration, and amount of the lease agreement and a statement
that the board resolution and lease agreement are on file and available for
public inspection in the office of the secretary of the board of education.
���� k.��� The State Board of
Education shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the �Administrative
Procedure Act,� P.L. 1968, c.410 (C:52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the
provisions of this act.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes
procedures to be followed by an SDA district when the district determines to
enter into a lease agreement with a developer for the construction and lease of
a new school building.
���� Under the bill�s provisions,
prior to entering into a lease agreement with a developer for the construction
and lease of a new school building, an SDA district (former Abbott district) is
to solicit at lease three lease agreement proposals.� The school business
administrator of the district will prepare or have prepared a lease agreement proposal
documentation that includes: all requirements deemed appropriate and necessary
to allow for free and fair competition among developers; information deemed
necessary for developers to submit a proposal; and a methodology by which the
board will evaluate and rank proposals.� The methodology for awarding a lease
agreement will be based on an evaluation that includes technical, management,
and cost-related criteria, and may include a weighting of the criteria
developed in a way that is intended to meet the needs of the school district.�
A notice of the availability of the request for lease agreement proposals is required
to be published in the official newspaper of the board of education at least 30
days prior to the date established for the submission of proposals.
���� Each interested developer is required
to submit a lease agreement proposal.� The school business administrator will
evaluate all proposals only in accordance with the methodology described in the
request for lease agreement proposals documentation.� The school business
administrator will then prepare a report summarizing the proposal of each
developer, making a recommendation on the selection of a developer�s proposed
lease agreement, and stating the reasons why that developer was selected.� The
report shall be made available to the public at lease 48 hours prior to the
awarding of a lease agreement, or made available to the board of education,
whichever is sooner.� Any lease agreement entered into with a developer would
be made by resolution of the board of education, and the board retains the
right to reject all submitted lease proposals.
���� The secretary of the board of
education will publish a notice that the board resolution and lease agreement
are available for public inspection in the board secretary�s office.