Legislation sponsored by state Assemblyman Ron Dancer (R-Ocean, Burlington, Middlesex and Monmouth) that would allow municipalities and counties to use storm-recovery reserve funds to clear debris following an emergency declaration by the president or the governor has been signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie.
Use of the surplus funds would help to ease cleanup costs for property taxpayers following a natural disaster, according to a press release from Dancer.
“As we have seen in the last few years, superstorms such as Sandy and other natural disasters, including floods and snowstorms, have wreaked havoc on our state. It makes no sense to continue to tie the hands of local officials by prohibiting them from using surplus funds to support cleanup efforts in their communities,” Dancer said.
“If we have learned anything, we need to give local officials the tools they need to remove hazards from their towns — whether it is 3 feet of snow from a snowstorm or trees blown down by a hurricane — by using money in a reserve fund for emergencies,” he added.
Under current law, counties and municipalities have been allowed to bank unused money budgeted for snow and ice removal in mild winters, according to the press release.
Dancer’s bill, A3764, re-designates snow removal reserves as “storm recovery” reserves and authorizes counties and municipalities, following the declaration of an emergency by the president or the governor, to adopt a resolution permitting the use of storm-recovery reserve funds for the clearance of debris, including snow, ice, dead and dying trees, stumps, roots, garbage, trash, building wreckage, sand, mud, silt and gravel.
Under the bill, any reimbursements of those expenditures must be deposited back into the reserve. The legislation makes permanent Christie’s Executive Order No. 111, which permits local government units, by resolution, to use the reserves in their snow removal trust fund for storm recovery efforts, according to the press release.