PLUMSTED – Members of the Township Committee have lent their support to a complaint filed by the New Jersey Association of Counties which asserts that the state’s Criminal Justice Reform Act constitutes an unfunded state mandate in violation of New Jersey’s Constitution.
The complaint has been filed with the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates, which has the exclusive constitutional authority to rule that a state law, rule or regulation imposes an unconstitutional “unfunded mandate” on boards of education, counties or municipalities.
Under the state Constitution, if the council so rules, then the “unfunded mandate” in the law, rule or regulation ceases to be mandatory in effect and “expires,” according to state.nj.us/localmandates
In a resolution passed March 1, Plumsted officials said New Jersey’s Criminal Justice Reform Act “will impose upon municipal governments an undue financial hardship to implement as each municipality in some capacity must hire new personnel, invest in new equipment and information technology, and make capital and other necessary improvements to jail, court and ancillary court facilities.”
The costs associated with hiring personnel, purchasing equipment and making capital improvements, although mandated by the state, will not be paid for by the state and constitute an unfunded mandate, according to the resolution.
The Criminal Justice Reform Act “did not allocate monies … to offset the costs associated with implementing and administering the (act), in violation of New Jersey’s constitution,” according to the resolution.
The committee supports the New Jersey Association of Counties’ filing of the complaint with the Council on Local Mandates.
In other business, committee members authorized Township Engineer John J. Mallon to serve as the project engineer for planned improvements to Brynmore Road.
Mayor Jack Trotta said officials are hoping to repave as much of Brynmore Road as possible.
“Every year we apply for funding from the state Department of Transportation to pave some of our roads. Last year we applied for and were approved for this project,” Trotta said. “We are now authorizing our engineer to begin the biding process so we can have the work completed later this year. The state approved $275,000 for the project and we will repave as much of Brynmore Road as possible, staying within the approved amount.”