CAI-NJ Sep.2016

NEW JERSEY MUNICIPAL SERVICES ACT — BACK TO THE FUTURE By Paul Leodori, Esq. Law Offices of Paul Leodori, P.C.

O n January 3, 1990, an article in the Trenton Times was captioned “Double Payments Scratched for Condo Owners” claiming that “New Jersey condominium owners tallied a huge victory yesterday when legislation eliminating double payment for certain municipal services was signed into law by Gov. Thomas H. Kean.” And so the Municipal Services Act, N.J.S.A. 40:67-23-2 et seq. became law in New Jersey. For the first time, the law required New Jersey municipali- ties to reimburse qualified private communities for the costs of certain municipal services not provided to the communi- ties by the municipality, or alternatively, to actually provide those services to the private communities. The New Jersey League of Municipalities opposed this bill claiming that local governments would be burdened

with additional costs. Additionally, other opponents of the law, argued that community associations were intended to be “self-sufficient” and thereby they exclusively responsible to provide their own maintenance. Conversely, owners in community associations claimed that the municipal tax structure was discriminatory because the homeowners were paying for services such as garbage pick-up and street cleaning through municipal property taxes and again through association maintenance fees. Although the battle line was drawn in the legislature in the 1980’s, with community associations on one side and municipalities on the other, the war is not over. Many of the initial issues debated more than twenty-five years ago remain contentious today. The Municipal Services Act now requires that the municipality provide the following service or reimburse private communities for: (1) removal of snow, ice and other obstructions from the roads and streets; (2) lighting of the roads and streets, to the extent of payment for the electricity required, but not including the installation or maintenance of lamps, standards, wiring of or other equipment; and (3) collection of leaves and recyclable materials along the roads and streets and the collection or disposal of solid waste along the roads and streets. See N.J.S.A. 40:67-23.3.

Mr. Leodori is the managing attorney of the Law Offices of Paul Leodori, P.C. in Medford, New Jersey and he has been representing both community association boards and individual members throughout New Jersey for many years. He is Vice Chair of the CAI-NJ Legislative Action Committee and frequently lectures on community association issues and topics.

Courtesy CAI-NJ.

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