News Flash

State Budget & Income Tax Deadline Extension

This morning, Governor Murphy, Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Coughlin issued the following joint statement, “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused hardships, financial strain, and disruptions for many New Jerseyans and New Jer...

CARES Bill Follow-up

The $2 Trillion aid package passed last week in Washington will do a lot of good. But for the State of New Jersey and for New Jersey municipalities preparing their budget, at a time when all face almost certain revenue losses, more will need to be done. P...

Enhancing Liquidity in the Municipal Debt Market

Federal Reserve MMLF Expansion

The Federal Reserve has expanded the Money Market Mutual Liquidity Fund (MMLF) to include certain high quality municipal securities, specifically notes with less than 12 month maturities, as eligible collateral. This means th...

CY 2020/SFY2021 State Aid Remains Flat

The Division of Local Government Services has issued Local Finance Notice 2020-08 noting that no municipality will receive less total State formula aid in CY2020/FY2021 than it received last year. However, the Division does not that the proposed budget se...

State Freezes Spending

State Treasurer Muoio issued a new voluntary disclosure statement to bond holders providing detail on the potential impact COVID-19 may have on the State’s finances, including revenue collection and pension fund contributions. The disclosure sta...

Guidance on Budget Deadline Extension, Levy Cap Exemption, and Tax Bills

In response to COVID-19 the Division of Local Government Services issued Local Finance Notice 2020-07 providing emergency budget, levy cap exemption, tax bill and depositing fund guidance. Please see our blog post for information. We strongly rec...

FY 2021 State Budget-Municipal Interest

On Tuesday Governor Murphy proposed a $40.85 billion budget, to govern state spending through the State’s next (FY 2021) Fiscal Year. While we continue our analysis, we wanted to highlight the following areas of interest in the FY2021 Budget Bri...

Healthcare Levy Cap Exclusion 2020 Budget

In Local Finance Notice 2020-02, the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) noted that when preparing the property tax levy cap workbook the healthcare levy cap exclusion cannot be used for increases in healthcare costs resulting from decreases in e...

Treasury Funding Release Reported

Politico has reported that the NJ Department of the Treasury will be releasing the balance of the $235 million that the Governor placed in reserve when he signed the State budget last June. His decision to hold off on the distribution of those funds, whic...

DLGSA Extends CY 2020 Budget Deadlines

The Division of Local Government Services has issued Local Finance Notice 2019-16 regarding 2020 Calendar Year (CY) Budget matters, including information on the Transitional Aid Application process, health benefits cap, municipal aid, and local examinatio...

State Releases $114M in Transitional Aid Funding

As you may recall, when signing the State’s FY 2020 spending plan back in June, uncertainty about meeting revenue targets prompted Governor Murphy to direct the State Treasurer to withhold funding for certain programs. The total held in abeyance equaled $...

Governor Freezes Most Transition Aid

Upon signing the FY 2020 State budget, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 73, which impounds up to $235 million in spending, and is not subject to a potential override. Specifically, EO 73 directs the Department of Treasury, Office of Management and B...

Governor Signs State FY 2020 State Budget; Line Items Out $48.5 million and Reserves $235 Million

On Sunday Governor Phil Murphy signed the State FY 2020 budget following a 2 pm public event. In doing so, the Governor used his authority to line item out $48.5 million in expenditures in the budget.  From the just over $48 million in spending t...