Similar to prior years, municipalities and counties are reminded that certified copies of adopted budgets are typically made available in July, coinciding with the adoption of the State budget. Tax levy certifications are completed concurrently with budget certifications. Once available, a PDF copy of the certified adopted budget is posted in the FAST system and emailed by FAST to the CFO of the municipality.

The next cycle of Project & Expenditure Reports, the 2025 Annual Report (Annual Filers) or First Quarter 2025 Report (Quarterly Filers), must be filed with U.S. Treasury no later than April 30, 2025. Any LFRF funds that are not reported in the Annual 2024 report, or not obligated by the December 31, 2024 deadline, must be returned to US Treasury.

File your Project & Expenditure report with U.S. Treasury in a timely fashion to avoid potential clawback of obligated funds. Do not wait until the last minute. U.S. Treasury will be sending LFRF recipients Financial Instructions to Return Obligated Funds based on the latest Project & Expenditure Report information submitted by the recipient. Review the March 25, 2025 Notice explaining U.S. Treasury efforts to claw back non-obligated or improperly-used funds:

Local Finance Notice 2024-21R, available at https://www.nj.gov/dca/dlgs/lfns/2024/2024-21R.pdf, explains the March 12, 2025 Local Finance Board approval of Liability Insurance and Workers Compensation Insurance as additional appropriations cap exceptions for CY2025 and SFY2026 municipal budgets. This is in addition to the one-time exception approved in December for Garbage and Trash Removal and Disposal. Please review the Local Finance Notice for important details.

The Division has posted Local Finance Notice 2025-03

Municipal Clerks, please forward this notice to Elected Officials:

Municipalities reporting salaries/wages or other expenses for Volunteer Incentive Programs in their budget must utilize FCOA code 25-245. This is an existing user-defined public safety code available on all general appropriation pages. For 2025 budgets, this FCOA code must only be used for Volunteer Incentive Program appropriations. Any other user-defined public safety functions must now utilize codes 25-241 through 25-244. These codes can be utilized more than once in the budget document.

Municipalities are reminded to reference the "Active FCOA Codes for Budget Workbooks" spreadsheet available on the Division's website when selecting FCOA codes for their budget workbooks:

2025 Municipal Information Sheets are now available for reference in the Report Hub section of FAST. The Report Hub is accessed by clicking the "FAST Municipality and County" header in the FAST Portal, and then selecting "Report Hub", which is the last option listed. Levy Cap Reports, Appropriation Cap Calculation Reports, Dedication by Rider Reports, Petty Cash Reports, and State Aid Reports, along with final/certified versions of prior year financial documents, are also available in the Report Hub. As the Division finalizes its transition to the Report Hub, the Fiscal Reports section of the DLGS website should no longer be referenced for the most current versions of the reports mentioned in this notice. Reports of Budget Emergencies will still be available on the Fiscal Reports webpage as Emergency and Special Emergency functions are pending FAST implementation.

Municipal Chief Financial Officers and Construction Officials:

This is a courtesy reminder notice to all municipalities on calendar year budget cycles.

The NJ Uniform Construction Code Regulations – NJAC 5:23-4.17 (b) require that municipalities file a report that accurately portrays the receipts and expenses of the local enforcing agency for code enforcement purposes.  The UCC Annual Report fulfills this requirement and serves as a basis of changes (if any) in the UCC fee ordinance and staffing needs for the next year.

Please read carefully the below FAST system update.

FAST "folders" for the 2025 Budget, 2024 Annual Financial Statement, and 2024 Annual Debt Statement are now available in the FAST portal for Calendar Year Municipalities and Counties.

Municipalities and Counties are required to use the following documents:

-       2025 Municipal Budget (Version 2025.0, used for both introduction and adoption)

-       2025 County Budget (Version 2025.0, used for both introduction and adoption)

-       2024 Municipal and County Annual Financial Statement (Version 2024.0)

-       2025 Municipal User-Friendly Budget (Version 2025.0)

Prior year versions of these templates will not be accepted through FAST. The Municipal Budget, County Budget, and Annual Financial Statement workbooks all contain a "data migration"

that will import prior year data, reducing data entry. Macros in the excel workbook must be enabled in order for this functionality to execute properly. Instructions for this process are included on the first tab of each workbook. Version numbers of documents are always listed on the Key Inputs tab.

The most common debit or credit adjustments result from tax appeal judgments. However, there are other local adjustments of which the municipality must affirmatively notify the county tax board, such as a disabled veteran exemption. The Division of Taxation has provided Form ADC-01, Application and Approval of Assessment Debit and Credit, as a standardized means for municipalities to submit these locally-initiated adjustments to county tax boards.  When submitting Form ADC-01, the tax collector and assessor must sign off with any accompanying governing body resolution attached. Upon receipt, the county tax board will finalize the calculation and add the amount to any tax appeal debits or credits.

Please review the November 12, 2024 Division of Taxation memo, which includes a pdf version of Form ADC-1 and is available on our Tax Collection Resources webpage, for further details. An Excel version of Form ADC-01 is also available.

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

Stay NJ is a new property tax credit program that will go into effect for State Fiscal Year 2026. It was created through P.L.

2023, c. 75, which is known as the Stay NJ Act. For purposes of program implementation, the Division of Local Government Services is distributing a survey to all municipalities to gather details about what municipalities will require to implement StayNJ. Survey responses are due by COB Friday August 16, 2024.

Municipalities will use the existing Best Practices Inventory platform to complete and submit the Stay NJ survey.  Municipal Chief Financial Officers (CMFO), Chief Administrative Officers (CAO), and Municipal Clerks listed on the Roster of Officials within the Best Practices Inventory platform will already have access to the Stay NJ survey.  If the CAO or Clerk has changed, the new officials will need to first register for an account. Once registered, the CMFO provides access via the Roster of Officials. CMFO access is provided by the Division.  As there is not a level of system access specific to Tax Collectors, a printable questions sheet is available within the online platform to be provided to the Tax Collector.  Responses provided by the Tax Collector can be entered into the system by any of the three officials that have access. Once all responses have been recorded, any of the three officials with access to the survey will be able to click the "Sign and Submit" tab to submit the survey to the Division of Local Government Services. The submission is not considered successful until this process is complete.

Again, only one of the three assigned roles is required to certify and submit the completed survey.

Please note that the CAO is an individual who, regardless of title, is responsible for the municipality's day-to-day operations.

If a municipality does not have a Business Administrator or Municipal Manager, this person would be whichever individual (e.g., Municipal Clerk, CMFO) is responsible for running day to-day operations. Every municipality has a CAO.

Review the user guide and FAQ for further information:

Notice issued on behalf of the Department of Community Affairs, Local Planning Services

Senate Bill S-3385 was signed into law by Governor Murphy on July 10, 2024.  The new law provides that municipalities that are authorized to retain and expend non-residential affordable housing development fees have 180 days following the March 20, 2024 enactment of P.L.2024, c.2 to provide the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) with an accounting of non-residential fees and residential affordable housing development fees that have been collected and expended since the inception of the municipal authorization to collect and retain the fees.  The revision to the law harmonizes the reporting requirement for non-residential fees with residential development fee reporting requirements also set forth in the new law.  The revised deadline for both types of fee reporting is now September 16, 2024.

We are in the process of developing an on-line reporting system that will streamline and update the existing CTM reporting system previously used by COAH.  We will be sending out periodic updates to keep all municipalities informed on the progress and availability of the new system. In the interim, we encourage all municipalities to continue using the legacy CTM system to report the collection and expenditure of Affordable Housing Trust funds and affordable unit completions.  All data entered into the CTM system, including residential development fees, non-residential development fees, and details on completed affordable units, will be migrated into the new Affordable Housing Monitoring System (AHMS).

As the new AHMS development progresses, we will keep you appraised via future GovConnect communications.

All filings regarding Petty Cash functions for municipalities and counties are now required to be submitted through FAST. This includes the creation of new Petty Cash accounts, changes in monetary amounts or custodians for existing Petty Cash accounts, or the rescinding of existing Petty Cash accounts. Mailed or emailed copies of Petty Cash submissions on previously used forms will no longer be accepted.

Chief Financial Officers with existing CFO level access to FAST will automatically have access to the Petty Cash module. If you already have CFO access, do not request any additional access in FAST.

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.

All Dedication by Rider, Chapter 159 budget amendment, and Chapter 85 budget amendment filings for municipalities and counties are now required to be submitted through FAST. Mailed or emailed copies of Dedication by Rider, Chapter 159, or Chapter 85 submissions on previously used forms will no longer be accepted. 2024 budgets must be adopted in order for a municipality or county to create a Chapter 159 or Chapter 85 form in FAST for 2024.

Chief Financial Officers with existing CFO level access to FAST will automatically have access to the Dedication by Rider and Chapter 159/Chapter 85 modules. If you already have CFO access, do not request any additional access in FAST.

Additional municipal or county staff, such as a Deputy Chief Financial Officer, may be granted access to FAST specifically to upload supporting documents and submit completed forms for Dedications by Rider and Chapter 159/85 submissions, as well as future modules for Petty Cash Funds, and Emergencies/Special Emergencies.  Such access gives the ability to both upload and submit for all four modules - Dedication by Rider, Chapter 159/85, Emergencies/Special Emergencies, and Petty Cash Funds. An "Amendment Preparer" role has been made available on the "Request Access" form in FAST for municipal or county staff to request this level of access. New users will first need to register for an account at:

The Division has posted Local Finance Notice 2024-06

Municipal Clerks, please forward this notice to Elected Officials:

On February 27, 2024, Governor Phil Murphy presented his proposed FY 2025 budget to the State Legislature. Under this budget, no municipality will receive less total State formula aid in support of its CY 2024 or SFY 2025 budget than it received in support of its prior year budget; except for the Municipal Relief Fund Aid issued in CY 2023/SFY 2024 that was a one-time appropriation.

The proposed FY 2025 State budget features a $7.2 million increase in Energy Tax Receipts Aid (ETR). For every municipality, this equates to a 0.5 percent increase over the ETR for CY 2023/SFY 2024. Under the proposed FY2025 State budget, Garden State Trust Aid and Watershed Moratorium Offset Aid would be level.