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A5277
ASSEMBLY, No. 5277
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED JUNE 15, 2026
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman� DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Inganamort
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires annual State aid payments to certain
municipalities in which significant portions of State-owned and county-owned
property is located.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
requiring annual
State aid payments to
municipalities in which certain State-owned and county-owned property is
located and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� a.� As used in this
section:
���� �County-owned property� means land
and improvements owned by a county, including, but not limited to, county
offices, hospitals, institutions, schools, colleges, universities, garages,
warehouses, barracks and armories together with abutting vacant land held for
future development for the same purposes, which is property tax-exempt.�
�County-owned property� shall not include any real property that is used or
held for future use for highway, bridge, or tunnel purposes, or any real
property that is subject to payments in lieu of taxes.
���� �Eligible municipality� means
a municipality having a population that does not exceed 30,000 persons,
according to the most recent federal decennial census, within which the total
acreage of State-owned real property and county-owned real property is equal
to, or greater than, 10 percent of the municipality�s total acreage.
���� "State-owned
property" means land and improvements owned by the State, including, but
not limited to, State offices, hospitals, institutions, schools, colleges,
universities, garages, inspection stations, warehouses, barracks and armories
together with abutting vacant land held for future development for the same
purposes, which is property tax-exempt.� �State-owned property� shall not
include any real property that is used or held for future use for highway,
bridge, or tunnel purposes, or any real property that is subject to payments in
lieu of taxes.
���� b.� To compensate
municipalities for the cost of municipal services provided at State-owned
property and county-owned property, the State shall provide annual State aid
payments to each eligible municipality, as provided in this section, in an
amount equal to $500 per acre of State-owned property and county-owned property
located in the municipality.
���� c.� On or before the January 1
next following the effective date of P.L.��� , c.���� (C.��������� ) (pending
before the Legislature as this bill), and each year thereafter, the assessor of
an eligible municipality shall submit a statement to the Director of the
Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, on a form prescribed by
the director, indicating the total acres of all State-owned property and
county-owned property located in the municipality.
���� d.� Upon review and approval
of the statements submitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the
director shall calculate the amount of State aid due to each eligible
municipality.� On or before February 1 of each year, the director shall provide
written notice to the assessor of each eligible municipality certifying the
amount of the State aid payment to be provided to the municipality in that
year.
���� e.� On or before August 1 of
each year, the State Treasurer shall distribute the State aid payment to each
eligible municipality from the Property Tax Relief Fund, subject to the
appropriation of funds by the Legislature.
���� f.� An eligible municipality
may anticipate the amount of the payments certified by the director pursuant to
subsection d. of this section as revenue in preparing its annual budget.
���� g.� In the event that an
appropriation made for any State fiscal year is less than the amount required
for full payments pursuant to this section, the amount otherwise payable to
each eligible municipality shall be reduced in the same proportion as the
appropriation made is to the amount required for full funding.
���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would require the
State to provide annual State aid payments to certain municipalities in which a
significant portion of land is State-owned or county-owned property.
���� Specifically, the bill would
require State aid payments to be given to municipalities having a population
that does not exceed 30,000 persons, within which the total acreage of
State-owned property and county-owned property is equal to, or greater than, 10
percent of the municipality�s total acreage.� Under the bill, the State would
be required to provide an annual payment of $500 per acre of such land to
eligible municipalities.
���� The bill would require the assessor
of an eligible municipality to submit an annual statement to the Director of
the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury indicating the
number of acres of all State-owned and county-owned property located in the
municipality.� The bill directs the director to calculate the amount of State
aid due to each eligible municipality and provide notice of the approved aid
payment, which amount is to be included as revenue in the municipality�s annual
budget.
���� The bill requires the State
Treasurer to pay to each eligible municipality the amount approved by the
director no later than August 1 annually, from moneys appropriated by the
Legislature from the Property Tax Relief Fund.