Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) Every authority shall prepare an annual
budget for each fiscal year in which an expenditure of money is expected. Each
budget shall include an operations section, capital budget and capital program
section, and supplemental schedule and necessary certifications relating
thereto.
(b) The budget shall
comply with the terms of any security agreement and be prepared in compliance
with these regulations.
(c) The
total budget appropriations shall not exceed total anticipated revenues
reasonably expected to be realized.
(d) Every budget shall be prefaced by a
narrative explanation of its contents, entitled "Budget Message &
Analysis," which shall consist of the following:
1. A brief statement on the proposed year's
budget compared to the current year's adopted budget for each operation,
including reasons and supporting documentation for any increase or decrease in
the budgeted line item by greater than 10 percent;
2. A brief statement on the impact the
proposed budget will have on anticipated revenues, especially service charges,
and on the general purpose financial statements and any component unit
financial statements as described by
N.J.A.C.
5:31-7.8, including an explanation for any
increase or decrease greater than 10 percent from the current year's adopted
budget;
3. A description of how the
state of the local and regional economy may impact the proposed budget,
including the capital budget and capital program;
4. The reasons for utilization of
unrestricted net position funds;
5.
Identification of any sources of funds transferred to the county or
municipality under a shared service or as a budget subsidy, with an explanation
of the reason for the transfer;
6.
Excluding housing authorities, if the authority's rate structure has changed
since the prior budget year submission, the authority's existing rate schedule
along with a schedule of the proposed rate, fee, or charge structure for the
upcoming fiscal year, with an explanation of any proposed changes in said
structure and the resolution from the authority's governing body approving the
change in the rate, fee, or charge structure; and
7. The reasons for an accumulated deficit,
existing or anticipated, subject to the provisions of
N.J.S.A.
40A:5-12, along with a deficit reduction plan
and an explanation of how the funding plan would eliminate the
deficit.
(e) Signatures
required on all budget documents, budget amendments, and information supporting
the budget shall be hand-written signatures or, for electronically generated
documents, electronic signatures.
(f) Annual budgets, capital budgets and
capital programs shall be prepared on standard forms provided by the Division
as prepared by the Director.
(g)
All introduced budgets, adopted budgets and budget amendments shall contain the
recorded vote of the governing body.
(h) For every budget, operating
appropriations shall be itemized as to salaries and wages, fringe benefits and
other expenses and further classified as to administration and cost of
providing service and include total principal payments on debt service in lieu
of depreciation.
(i) For every
budget, except for housing authorities, non-operating appropriations shall be
itemized to include the following:
1. Total
interest payments on debt;
2.
Operations and maintenance reserve;
3. Renewal and replacement reserve;
4. Municipal/county appropriation;
and
5. Other reserves.
(j) For every housing
authority budget, non-operating appropriations shall be itemized to include the
following:
1. Net interest debt payments for
other than Federally guaranteed debt;
2. Operations and maintenance
reserve;
3. Renewal and replacement
reserve; and
4. Other reserves.
(k) For every authority,
revenues generated by the imposition of service charges or fees upon users of
one type of operation shall be accounted for, kept, and utilized separately
from the revenues generated by the imposition of service charges or fees
imposed upon the users of other operations administered by the authority.
Accordingly, each authority shall complete a separate authority budget column
for each type of operation being provided, pursuant to the provisions of
N.J.S.A.
40:14B-1et seq., 40A:5A-1 et seq., and
52:27BB-1 et seq. Once it is determined that an operation should be accounted
for in this way, a separate enterprise fund shall be established for each
operation provided by the authority, consistent with accounting and financial
reporting systems requirements specified in
N.J.A.C.
5:31-7.1.
(l) Every authority budget shall contain
schedules, in a format prescribed by the Director, for the following items:
1. A cost analysis of employee health
benefits comparing the prior and current years, including, but not limited to,
the:
i. Number of covered members;
ii. Total annual cost;
iii. Annual cost, broken down by active
employees, retirees, and governing body members; and
iv. Cost sharing by benefit
recipients;
2.
Compensation paid by the authority to the authority's governing body members,
key employees, highest compensated employees, and independent contractors.
Individual detail shall be provided on, at a minimum, compensation and hours
worked per week;
3. Accumulated
liability for compensated absences, which shall, at a minimum, provide gross
days of accumulated absences at the beginning of the current year, dollar value
of compensated absence liability, and the legal basis for the
benefit;
4. A listing of all shared
service agreements to which the authority is a party; and
5. Such other information as the Director may
require in order to approve authority budgets pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
40A:5A-11 or otherwise comply with the
user-friendly budget provisions of
N.J.S.A.
40A:5-48relevant to authorities.
(m) Every authority budget shall
provide the following information:
1. The
number of employees and total compensation information listed on the
authority's W-3 Form;
2. The number
of regular voting and alternate members of the governing body;
3. Whether the authority has any amounts
receivable from current or former commissioners, officers, key employees, or
highest compensated employees and, if so, a list of said individuals, their
position, the amount receivable, and a description of the amount due to the
authority;
4. Whether the authority
was party to a business transaction with a current or former commissioner,
officer, key employee, or highest compensated employee, or a family member of
any of the commissioners, officers, key employees, or highest compensated
employees. The authority shall also disclose whether it was a party to any
business transactions with an entity in which a current or former commissioner,
officer, key employee, or highest compensated employee, or a family member of
any of the commissioners, officers, key employees, or highest compensated
employees were an officer, direct owner, or indirect owner. If the answer is
"yes," a description of the transactions shall be provided along with the name
of the individual(s), the name of the entity and its relationship to the
individual(s) (if applicable), the amount paid, and whether the transaction was
subject to a competitive procurement process;
5. Whether the authority, during the most
recent fiscal year, directly or indirectly, was responsible for paying premiums
on a personal benefit contract, such as a life insurance, annuity, or endowment
contract. If so, a description of the arrangement, the premiums paid, and the
beneficiary of the contract shall be provided;
6. An explanation of the authority's process
for determining compensation for all persons listed on the schedule detailing
public entity compensation for authority governing body members, key employees,
highest compensated employees, and independent contractors, including whether
the process includes:
i. A study or survey of
compensation data for comparable positions in similarly sized
entities;
ii. Prior review by an
independent compensation consultant;
iii. Review and approval by the governing
body or a committee thereof;
iv. A
written contract; and
v. Annual or
periodic performance evaluation;
7. A detailed list of meals and catering
invoices for the current fiscal year, with an explanation for each expenditure
listed;
8. A detailed list of any
of the following expenses paid by the authority for authority governing body
members, key employees, highest compensated employees, and independent
contractors, including:
i. Travel;
ii. Tax indemnification and "gross-up"
payments;
iii. Discretionary
spending;
iv. Housing and vehicle
allowances;
v. Payments for
business use of personal residence;
vi. Health or social club dues, including
initiation fees; and
vii. Personal
services including, but not limited to, maids, chefs, and chauffeurs;
9. Whether the authority has, and
follows, a written policy regarding payment and reimbursement of expenses
incurred by employees and/or governing body members during the course of
authority business and an explanation of the policy, including whether the
policy requires substantiation of expenses through receipts or invoices prior
to reimbursement;
10. An
explanation regarding any payments to employees or governing body members for
discretionary bonuses, severance, or termination;
11. All notices received from any State or
Federal agency concerning maintenance and repairs for facilities, systems, and
other infrastructure that the authority has not yet remediated, along with an
explanation as to each;
12. All
notices of fines, penalties, or assessments issued by any State or Federal
agency, along with the amount and a description of the underlying event(s);
and
13. Such other information as
the Director may require in order to approve authority budgets pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
40A:5A-11, and in the case of regional
sewerage authorities,
N.J.S.A.
40:14A-4.2, or otherwise comply with the
user-friendly budget provisions of
N.J.S.A.
40A:5-48relevant to authorities.
(n) Regional authorities shall
state whether all individuals classified as local government officers pursuant
to the Local Government Ethics Law,
N.J.S.A.
40A:9-22.1et seq., have filed financial
disclosure statements, as required pursuant to
N.J.S.A.
40A:9-22.6.
(o) A housing authority shall disclose
whether the authority has been deemed "troubled" by the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development, and, if so, a description of the
authority's plan to address the identified conditions.
(p) A budget submission shall contain a
certification of compliance, by the authority, with the provisions of
N.J.S.A.
40A:5A-17.1, pertaining to the maintenance of
an Internet website or webpage.
