Enhance your Forum experience by attending the pre-conference seminar, "Green Purchasing: The Purchasing Professional's Guide to Sustainability" (3 CEUs). Presented by Sustainable Jersey, this informative session explores essential resources for a wide range of sustainable purchasing initiatives, including eco-friendly supplies, clean energy procurement, energy-efficient building upgrades, and fleet electrification. Join us on April 29 from 3:00 - 6:00 PM.

We also offer a Valenti/Stanton Scholarship for the new QPAs. The principal aim of this scholarship is to offer financial support to the recently certified QPAs to attend the Annual Rutgers University Public Purchasing Educational Forum.

TRENTON - The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) today announced the readoption and recodification of its regulations, along with rule amendments to improve and clarify the agency's oversight of public contracting and the NJ Medicaid program and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse of tax dollars. The Notice of Adoption can be found at R.2025 d.021, with recodification at N.J.A.C. 19:70.

The recodified rules, which represent the first amendments since the agency's creation in 2008, clarify the public contracting requirements and processes for governmental entities.

Specifically, OSC's Procurement Division has been renamed the Public Contracting Oversight (PCO) Division (link), the amendments clarify their applicability to cooperative purchasing systems as well as amendments, extensions, modifications, change orders, and renewals of contracts, they clarify the advisory, consultative, and deliberative nature of information communicated between OSC and contracting units during procurement reviews, and they require public entities seeking to award insurance contracts using the extraordinary unspecifiable services exception to bidding (meaning without a publicly advertised bidding process) must submit to OSC insurance broker contracts as part of the procurement review. By law, public entities must continue to send proposed contracts valued between $2.5 million and $12.5 million to OSC for post-award review, and proposed procurements above $12.5 million to OSC for pre-advertisement review, except for contracts funded by EO125 or EO166 which should be submitted to OSC according to the executive order, and emergency contracts meeting the cost threshold which should be submitted to OSC post-award.

The recodified rules were based on feedback from the public and stakeholders to clarify and improve existing policies and procedures.

NJLM OFFERS BUDGETING WEBINARS WITH DIVISION LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES (DLGS)

1. League Professional Development Webinar "A Quick Review of Budget and FAST Updates"

February 26, 2025

10:30am-12:00pm

Location: Your Computer

This webinar will review Budget and FAST Updates including:

-  Review of the Financial Automation Submission Tracking Solution (FAST)

-  Review recent Division of Local Government Local Finance Notices and review recent policies and regulations.

-  Get an update on CY 2025 budget issues and any legislation that may affect them

-  Review current issues affecting finance officers

Presenters:

Christine Zapicchi, Assistant Division Director, DLGS, Department of Community Affairs Matthew Gallello, CMFO, RMC, Administrative Analyst, DLGS, Department of Community Affairs

CEUs: CMFO/CCFO-1.5 Bud; CPWM-1.5 Govt; RMC-1.5 Fin; QPA-1.5 Off Admin; CPA-1.5 Fin; NJCLE-1.8; PACLE-1.5; RPPO/RPPS-2.0 M/S

Registration Information:

The Division of Local Government Services and New Jersey's Shared Services Czars are pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for FY 2025 Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) Grants.

LEAP affords an unprecedented opportunity to incentivize shared services implementation across New Jersey's local government entities, advancing the mission of the Shared Services Program.

LEAP facilitates exploring and establishing shared services by providing counties, municipalities, school districts, commissions, authorities and fire districts assistance for the study or implementation of promising shared services projects undertaken pursuant to the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act.

Applications for LEAP County Shared Services Coordinator, Challenge, and Implementation Grants have a rolling application process. It is recommended that applications be submitted as soon as possible due to the LEAP program's popularity and funding availability of the FY 2025 LEAP appropriation.

Rutgers - School of Public Affairs and Administration is pleased to announce that the State of New Jersey Certified Public Manager program will be offering three cohorts in Fall 2024.

Fall 2024 - In-person Cohorts

-       Lawrence Twp. Fridays starting Oct. 25

-       Atlantic City, Tuesdays starting Nov. 12

Classes are held from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM one day per week for 10 months.

NJ-4 Virtual, Tuesdays starting Oct. 8th One day per week for 10 months, 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM via Zoom, plus 3 hours independent study.

To apply to the NJ CPM program, applicants must complete, prepare, and submit the following:

-       Application Form

-       Professional Resume

-       Supervisor Statement of Approval

-       Personal Statement: Prepare a short essay (one to two typed double-spaced pages) expressing "Why are you interested in applying to the NJ Certified Public Manager Program"

Admission to the New Jersey Certified Public Manager Program is processed on a rolling basis. Classes are held in various locations throughout the southern, central, and northern regions of New Jersey.

In conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL), the Division of Local Government Services reminds local governments and boards of education of two important statutory updates under the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act (N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.25 et seq.) and the Public Works Contractor Registration Act (PWCR Act N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.48 et seq.):

The Prevailing Wage Threshold: Contracts for public work that exceed a threshold of $19,375 as of July 1, 2024, for municipalities, and $2,000 for all other public bodies, are subject to both the Prevailing Wage Act and the PWCR Act.

New Jersey Wage Hub

Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statements No. 68 and No. 75 address reporting requirements for pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) information, respectively. The audited financial information for each of these statements is released annually by the Division of Pensions and Benefits in the State Treasury. Because Local Finance Board regulations require local authorities, including fire districts, to follow the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) form of accounting, authority and fire district audits must contain the most current GASB 68 and 75 information applicable to the year being audited in order to be complete. Notwithstanding N.J.S.A.

40A:5A-15 of the Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law requiring all authority audits to be completed within four months after the close of the fiscal year, the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) recognizes that the GASB

68 and 75 reporting delay has hindered the completion of a number of authority and fire district audits through no fault of their own. As such, the Division does not consider CY2023 audits awaiting the most current GASB 68 or 75 reports for purposes of completion to be late.

The Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) in partnership with Rutgers Center for Government Services (CGS) announces the publication of Version 2.1 of the N.J. Local Public Contracts Law and Regulations Reference Guide.

Authorities and housing authorities submitting post-adoption budget amendments to the Division are required to submit such amendments through the FAST system. Authorities and housing authorities are required to upload a full copy of the amended budget to FAST, not just the amended pages. A copy of the resolution amending the budget after adoption, and any additional documentation regarding the amendment, must also be uploaded as part of the post-adoption amendment submission process. Existing FAST access to the authority and housing authority modules will allow for access to the amendments tab within the adopted budget folder. A user guide regarding this process is available on the FAST webpage

The Local Finance Board recently adopted amendments to N.J.A.C. 5:30-16.2 requiring the following officials to enroll in GovConnect by November 1, 2023: Municipal Business Administrators and Managers, County Administrators and Managers, Certified Public Works Managers (CPWMs), and individuals designated to serve as a local unit's purchasing agent (both QPA and non-QPA). The covered officials will receive GovConnect and E-Government for Government (EGG) notifications via e-mail from the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS).

These EGG Notices provide crucial information to local officials, including updates on new guidance, summaries of important notices, changes in certification requirements, notifications about newly enacted legislation, and important upcoming deadlines.

P.L. 2019, c. 366 (N.J.S.A. 34:1A-1.16) authorized the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) to create a list on its website, dubbed the Workplace Accountability in Labor List (The WALL), of any person found in violation of any State wage, benefit, and tax laws and against whom a final order has been issued by the NJDOL for such violation.  Any person or business named on The WALL is prohibited from contracting with any contracting unit until the liability for violations of State wage, benefit, and tax laws have been paid in full. 

.L. 2022, c. 3, signed into law on March 9, 2022, required the State Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to develop, based on credible information available to the public, a list of persons and entities engaging in prohibited activities in Russia or Belarus (Russia-Belarus list). On August 4, 2023, a company obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, which enjoins the State from enforcing N.J.S.A. 52:32-60.1 against that company on the ground that the statute is likely inconsistent with federal law. Due to the ongoing litigation, Treasury has removed the Russia-Belarus list from its website, and the State (along with its agencies and instrumentalities) has voluntarily suspended further implementation of the Russia-Belarus law until further order of the Court.

While the State continues to defend the law in court, in light of the Court's decision and the Russia-Belarus list being taken down, contracting units under the Local Public Contracts Law, Public School Contracts Law, and County College Contracts Law are not required to enforce the Russia-Belarus vendor/contractor certification requirement at this time.

There have been reports that some municipalities are allowing Contractors to bid on Design-Build projects who are not DPMC classified in the Design Build trade (C007) and therefore are not approved to perform work as a Design Build Contractor in accordance with P.L. 2021, c. 71. For Design Build projects undertaken by local governments and boards of education, N.J.A.C. 5:34-10.7(5) requires the bidder on a project to be classified with DPMC in the Design-Build trade (C007). No other DPMC trade classifications are allowable or appropriate for the prime contractor/bidder on a Design-Build project. See the DLGS Design-Build regulations at for further details. In the near future, DLGS will be issuing a Local Finance Notice with further guidance on the design build process.

Notice sent to: Procurement Officials; Municipal & County CFOs; Administrators/Managers; Authority Officials; Fire District Officials; Auditor Listserv