N.J. Admin. Code § 5:30-18.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 19, October 7, 2024

Section 5:30-18.2 - Creation of a charitable fund; specified public purposes

(a) A municipality may establish one or more charitable funds by ordinance; a county may establish one or more charitable funds by resolution or ordinance, as appropriate. Multiple charitable funds may be authorized by a single ordinance. The resolution or ordinance shall set forth:

1. The name of the charitable fund;

2. The specific purpose or purposes of the fund; and

3. The initial annual property tax credit cap and the individual credit-eligible cap, which may be amended by resolution or ordinance, as appropriate.

(b) A charitable fund shall be dedicated to one or more of the following public purposes:

1. Public safety;

2. Capital improvement;

3. Public works;

4. Public health;

5. Social services;

6. Housing and code enforcement;

7. Redevelopment and economic development;

8. Recreation;

9. Open space;

10. Public library; and

11. The operation, management, or administration of other services, with the approval of the Director of the Division of Local Government Services.

(c) A charitable fund dedicated to the purpose of public safety may be utilized for expenses relating to police, fire, emergency medical services, first aid squads, office of emergency management, 9-1-1 and dispatch, and lifeguards, as well as volunteer fire and emergency medical services. A county may also fund its sheriff's office and county prosecutor's office through a public safety charitable fund.

(d) A charitable fund dedicated to the purpose of capital improvement may be utilized for any construction, reconstruction, demolition, or alteration work that has a useful life of at least five years, along with the payment of any debt service connected with same. Such a fund may also be utilized for any acquisition and/or development of land; acquisition of major equipment, furniture, or other personal property; acquisition, construction, improvement, and/or renovation of buildings, roads, utilities, structure improvements, or public works; or any other matter described in N.J.S.A. 40A:2-22 of the Local Bond Law, with an expected useful life of five years or more and a prospective individual or cumulative cost in any year of $ 25,000 or more, regardless of the financing sources.

(e) A charitable fund dedicated to the purpose of public works may be utilized for the routine maintenance of infrastructure and public facilities, including, but not limited to, trash and/or recycling collection, within the municipality or county.

(f) A public library or open space charitable fund may be utilized for the same purposes as funds raised through a library tax or open space tax. Creditable donations made for said purposes shall be applied against the municipality's or county's open space tax or library tax.

(g) A charitable fund may not be established for a public purpose that is solely funded by revenues other than municipal or county property taxes.

(h) The proceeds deposited into a charitable fund shall be utilized toward the specific purposes of the fund and for reasonable expenses attributable to administering the fund; however, only those funds attributable to non-creditable portions of charitable fund donations may be utilized for administrative expenses.

(i) Each municipality or county that creates a charitable fund, and a spillover fund if any, shall:

1. Have its own dedicated bank account, which shall be with a depository subject to the Governmental Unit Deposit Protection Act, P.L. 1970, c. 236 (N.J.S.A. 17:9-41et seq.);

2. The bank account shall be in the name of the municipality or county establishing the charitable fund; and

3. If a county or school district shares services with a municipality to have contributions collected by the tax collector's office and deposited into the bank account of the county's or school district's charitable fund or spillover fund, the bank accounts for the county's or school district's charitable funds and any associated spillover funds shall be kept in one of the municipality's depositories.

(j) If a municipality or county has more than one charitable fund, donations to said funds shall be made to the specific fund, rather than by a single payment for multiple funds.

(k) If a single charitable fund has multiple purposes, donors may not restrict the use of their donations to select purposes of the fund.

(l) Any interest or investment income generated from charitable fund proceeds shall be utilized for the specific purpose or purposes of the charitable fund and for reasonable expenses attributable to administering the fund.

(m) Any interest or investment income generated from spillover fund proceeds is to be utilized for the purposes supported by the levy that are authorized under subsection (e) of N.J.S.A. 54:4-66.7.

(n) Each municipality or county creating a charitable fund shall provide the Division of Local Government Services with a copy of the adopted ordinance or resolution within five days adoption.

N.J. Admin. Code § 5:30-18.2

Adopted by 50 N.J.R. 2247(a), effective 9/21/2018

Amended by 51 N.J.R. 828(a), effective 4/30/2019