Read the full stored bill text
S3395
SENATE, No. 3395
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 9, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR.
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
���� Expands definition of qualifying municipality for
purposes of urban aid under P.L.1978, c.14.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning urban aid municipalities and amending
P.L.1978, c.14 (C.52:27D-178 et seq.).
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1978,
c.14 (C.52:27D-178) is amended to read as follows:
���� For the purposes of
[
this act
]
P.L.1978,
c.14 (C.52:27D-178 et seq.)
, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
���� "Base year" means
the second year preceding the annual apportionment of State aid pursuant to
this act.
���� "Director" means the
Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of
Community Affairs.
���� "Net valuation
taxable" means the total value of property on which the general tax rate
is computed as expressed in column 6 of the Table of Aggregates pursuant to
R.S. 54:4-52 for the base year.
���� "Equalization ratio"
means the ratio of assessed value to true value of real property as published
in the Certification of Table of Equalized Valuations by the Director of the
Division of Taxation for the base year pursuant to P.L. 1954, c. 86, s. 1 (C.
54:1-35.1).
���� "Equalized
valuation" means net valuation taxable divided by the equalization ratio.
���� "Municipal equalized
valuation per capita" means a municipality's equalized valuation divided
by the population of the municipality.
���� "State equalized
valuation per capita" means the sum of the equalized valuations of all the
municipalities of the State divided by the population of the State.
���� "General tax rate"
means the tax rate for local taxing purposes as defined in R.S. 54:4-52 and as
expressed in column 7 of the Table of Aggregates for the base year.
���� "Equalized tax rate"
means the general tax rate multiplied by the equalization ratio.
���� "State equalized tax
rate" means the sum of the total levies on which the tax rates for all the
municipalities of the State are computed divided by the sum of the equalized
valuations of all the municipalities of the State for the base year.
���� "Population" means
the official population count of the State of New Jersey for the base year as
reported by the New Jersey Department of Labor, Office of Demographic and
Economic Analysis.
���� "Ratio H" means the
proportion that residential and apartment assessed valuation bears to the total
assessed valuation of the real property of a municipality, as calculated by the
Division of Taxation in the Treasury Department.
���� "Publicly financed
housing" means any dwelling unit constructed and operated under any of the
following Federal and State housing programs:
���� (a)�� Any dwelling unit
constructed under grants or mortgage financing of the New Jersey Housing
Finance Agency.
���� (b)�� Any dwelling unit
constructed under the following sections of the National Housing Act (Public
Law 73-479) as amended and supplemented: section 221(d)(3) as added to by the
Housing Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-70) and as subsequently amended; section 236 as
added to by the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-448) and as
subsequently amended; section 202, Housing Act of 1959 (P.L. 86-372) and as
subsequently amended; section 221-H, as added by the Demonstration Cities and
Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 (P.L.89-754) and as subsequently amended.
���� (c)�� Any dwelling unit
constructed or operated under the United States Housing Act of 1937 (Public Law
75-412) and as subsequently added to and amended.
���� "ADC children" means
the number of children between the ages of five and 17�years in the
municipality enrolled in the Aid to Dependent Children Program, as made
available by the Division of Public Welfare in the Department of Human Services
for the base year in the publication "State of New Jersey, ADC Data Needed
to Implement Public Law 89-10, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965," provided, however that the director shall use the best available
data comparable to the data provided for the allocation of funds in 1975
pursuant to P.L.1975, c.68.
���� "Qualifying
municipality" means
:
����
(a)
�� a municipality in
which:
���� The number of ADC children
exceeds 250, except when the municipality's population exceeds 20,000 with a
density exceeding 7,000 per square mile and the municipality's equalized
valuation per capita is less than the State equalized valuation per capita by
$4,500.00 or more, and
���� There exists, in the case of a
municipality with a population exceeding 15,000, publicly financed housing, and
���� The municipality's equalized
tax rate exceeds the State equalized tax rate, or the municipality's equalized
valuation per capita is less than the State equalized valuation per capita by
$2,000.00 or more and its population exceeds 25,000, and
���� The municipality's equalized
valuation per capita is less than the State equalized valuation per capita or
the municipality's equalized tax rate exceeds the State equalized tax rate by
$0.75 or more
; or
����
(b)�� a city of the fourth
class, as defined in N.J.S.40A:6-4, or a municipality with a population between
2,000 and 2,200 as of the most recent decennial census, located in a county of
the sixth class, as defined in N.J.S.40A:6-1, where the city or the municipality
has either the highest effective property tax rate in the county, or is within
the top three percent of the most distressed municipalities in the State, as
determined by the most recent Department of Community Affairs' Municipal
Revitalization Index, as of the effective date of P.L.��� , c.�� �(pending
before the Legislature as this bill), or both
.
���� "Distribution
factor" means for each qualifying municipality the following:
NOTE: TO PRINT A SIGMA
IN THE EQUATION, ASSIGN THE IN LINE 12 PITCH FONT AS FONT 01 AND ASSIGN IT TO
THE APPROPRIATE CHARACTER.
DF = 0.6 ( W )
+.04 ( 26T )
(S
W)
(S T)
���� where, DF equals the
Distribution Factor
���� W equals ADC children in the
municipality
���� T equals P (Vs-Vm) (Rm-Rs) Z
���� For the purposes of computing
the distribution factor, when
���� T has a negative value, it
shall be assigned a value of zero.
���� P equals Population
���� Vs equals State Equalized
Valuation Per Capita
���� Vm equals Municipal Equalized
Valuation Per Capita
���� Rm equals Municipal Equalized
Tax Rate
���� Rs equals State equalized Tax
Rate
���� Z equals Ratio H
.
(cf: P.L.1987, c.439, s.1)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill amends the P.L.1978,
c.14 definition of a "qualifying municipality" for the purpose of
receiving urban aid to include a city of the fourth class, or a municipality
with certain population demographics in a county of the sixth class where the
city or the municipality has either the highest effective property tax rate in
the county, or is within the top three percent of the most distressed
municipalities in the State, as determined by the most recent Department of
Community Affairs' Municipal Revitalization Index, or both. �The provisions of
the bill allow the City of Wildwood and the Borough of Woodbine, both in Cape
May County, to qualify as urban aid municipalities under P.L.1978, c.14.
���� In addition to the
classification for the purposes of urban aid under P.L.1978, c.14, the bill
will, by effect of existing references to P.L.1978, c.14 in current law, also
extend other benefits and considerations available to urban aid municipalities
to the City of Wildwood and the Borough of Woodbine.