NJ Rule Change Simplifies Administrative Tasks of SIDs
Courtenay D. Mercer, PP, AICP
Executive Director
Downtown New Jersey
April 25, 2018
For municipal clerks getting ready to submit financial disclosures statements to the NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) by the April 30th deadline, they can remove Special Improvement District (SID) directors and members from the list of officials that need to comply. In December, the DCA adopted amendments to the Local Government Ethics Law (N.J.A.C. 5:35-2.1) removing SID directors and members from the definition of “managerial executive employees”; which means they no longer have to file these statements, thus simplifying the process for members, administrators, and municipal Clerks. The rule change is consistent with case law and the legislative intent that SIDs be a partnership with the local business community to “achieve privately what municipal government has struggled unsuccessfully to do.”
While this change impacts the over one hundred SIDs working to better downtowns across New Jersey; according to Downtown New Jersey President, Robert S. Goldsmith, Esq., “many Clerks and SID managers do not even realize this rule change happened, and are moving forward with business as usual.” As New Jersey’s only statewide non-profit education and advocacy organization dedicated to downtowns, it is Downtown New Jersey’s mission to keep municipalities and improvement districts informed of these important policy changes. “We expressed our support for the amendment when it was proposed earlier in 2017, and are happy to see a reduction of bureaucratic red tape for these semi-autonomous organizations that work to ensure our downtowns are vibrant places to live, work, and play,” Goldsmith continued.
A representative from DCA told Downtown New Jersey in a recent email that, when completing the online financial disclosures statement form, Clerks can mark SID directors and members as “inactive”.
About Downtown New Jersey
Downtown New Jersey (DNJ) is a non-profit membership organization of individuals, businesses, developers, government agencies, and local and regional entities that are passionate about downtowns. Downtowns reflect our communities’ unique identities, provide a focal point, a convenient local place of commerce, and offer a sense of place where people can gather and truly be a community. DNJ provides advocacy, education, and technical assistance resources dedicated to ensuring the vitality of our downtowns. For more information, visit www.downtownnj.com.
Contact:
Courtenay Mercer, Executive Director
(201) 472-0356
