N.J. Admin. Code § 5:71-2.6

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 21, November 4, 2024

Section 5:71-2.6 - Collection of and accounting for fees and penalties

(a) Collection of registration fees:

1. The Division shall annually bill for and take such steps as may be necessary to collect or provide for the collection of the annual registration fees provided for by the Code. No fee shall be assessed against premises owned by the agency enforcing the Code.

2. The Division shall remit 65 percent of the amount collected, unless indicated otherwise below, to the local enforcing agency established for the inspection of life hazard uses. This payment shall be disbursed by the end of the quarter next succeeding the one in which fees were collected.

i. No later than 30 days following the end of the calendar year (December 31), the local enforcing agency shall forward to the Division a form verifying the status of all life hazard use inspections performed during the year. The agency shall utilize a Division-approved format which satisfies the following requirements:

(1) The form shall be electronically certified by both the fire official and the chief administrative officer of the municipality or the fire district, as the case may be; and

(2) The form shall detail the total number of life hazard uses, specify the number of uses and number of inspections required annually and indicate the number of inspections performed during the reporting period.

ii. In those cases where all annual life hazard use inspections have not been completed, the Division shall deduct an amount, equal to the registration fees attributable to those uses, from the amount of the life hazard use registration fees disbursed during the next quarter, or as many subsequent quarters are necessary.

3. If all required inspections have been performed, the local share shall not be considered State funds but rather local funds held in trust by the State.

4. Where a local enforcing agency has been assigned a certificate of judgment in accordance with N.J.A.C. 5:70-2.6(h), it shall remit 35 percent of the net amount collected to the Division by the end of the quarter next succeeding the one in which the fees were collected unless, however, the fee collected is one where the Division has adjusted upward the percentage to be remitted, in which case the amount remitted to the Division shall be the difference between the adjusted percentage and 100 percent.

i. The local enforcing agency may deduct the costs of collection from the total amount collected provided an accounting of the costs is included with the remittance. Any such deduction shall be made prior to calculating the required remittance.

(b) Permit fees and other fees provided for or allowed by the Code or any local ordinance or any penalties shall be collected and retained fully on behalf of the enforcement agency having jurisdiction. Penalties collected by the Division for failure to register or for late payment of fees shall be retained fully by the Division.

(c) All revenues collected by the Division shall be deposited in the Fire Safety Revolving Fund created by the Treasurer of the State of New Jersey. Expenditures may be made from the fund to carry out any of the responsibilities of the Division.

(d) All revenues generated pursuant to the Act or local implementing ordinance which are collected by or provided to a county or municipality shall be appropriated by the local governing body to the local enforcing agency for the purpose of enforcing the Code, operating the local enforcing agency and advancing local fire prevention interests.

(e) The Division shall have no obligation to a local enforcing agency in respect of fees due but not collected in any given quarter.

(f) When the fire official fails to submit the certification required pursuant to (a) above or makes a false or misleading written statement concerning the certification or the inspection records, the Division shall notify the agency and shall thereafter assume responsibility for all inspection and enforcement with respect to life hazard uses within the jurisdiction of the local enforcing agency.

1. All fees and penalties associated with the enforcement of the Code in life hazard uses shall from that date forward be paid to the Division.

2. The local enforcing agency shall forfeit authority for enforcement of the Code with respect to life hazard uses within the jurisdiction of the local enforcing agency for a period of at least five years.

N.J. Admin. Code § 5:71-2.6

Amended by 50 N.J.R. 771(a), effective 2/5/2018

Amended by 56 N.J.R. 553(b) effective 4/15/2024