This notice is being sent on behalf of the Department of Treasury, Division of Purchase and Property. 

The NJSTART Quarterly Newsletter is your go-to source for the latest updates, important announcements and highlights from the past few months. Each edition is packed with valuable insights, upcoming training & events, NJ State Contract updates, and other valuable resources. 

The Opportunity Zones program was enacted as part of the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and made permanent in 2025. The program incentivizes long-term capital investments into low-income communities. This federal program provides benefits for private investors to support investments in distressed communities through participation in Qualified Opportunity Funds. These funds must directly invest in businesses or property located in low-income census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones by the Governor. 

Investors can defer and reduce federal taxes on capital gains reinvested in Qualified Opportunity Funds that invest in designated Opportunity Zones situated in low-income communities, under rules released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The federal tax incentives available to investors are established under federal law and administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service.

Investors and Qualified Opportunity Funds should consult current federal guidance regarding eligibility requirements and applicable tax benefits. 

The original Opportunity Zone program, authorized in 2017, included 169 tracts across the state of New Jersey. HR1 reformed and made the Opportunity Zone Program permanent and established a new designation cycle every 10 years. Eligible tracts generally must have a poverty rate of at least 20 percent or a median family income of no more than 70 percent of the area (statewide) median, but no more than 125 percent of statewide or metropolitan median income. New Jersey has 516 eligible census tracts and Governor Sherrill may nominate up to 129 Opportunity Zones. Note that the reauthorized program allows for fewer Opportunity Zone tracts than the initial program.

The State is seeking recommendations from municipalities and interested stakeholders regarding Opportunity Zone 2.0 designations. The DCA Opportunity Zones website

Dear Mayor: 

On behalf of Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suarez and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, we invite you to join us for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' Mayors & Legislators Forum Series on Friday, August 28, 2026 at 11 a.m. 

This session will feature a presentation from Division of Local Planning Services Director Keith Henderson, highlighting key resources, best practices, and technical assistance available to support New Jersey's municipalities. 

The presentation will focus on the following topics: 

Master Plans and Redevelopment Plans: Assist with the development, drafting and re-examination of Master Plans, Master Plan Elements and Redevelopment or Rehabilitation Plans. 

-       Land Use and Mapping: Review existing studies and plans, analyze census and other demographic data, create GIS maps, facilitate public focus group meetings, draft land use ordinances, and propose recommendations.

-       Economic Development Plans: Analyze municipal demographic trends including housing conditions, characteristics of residents, neighborhood assets, property values and employment data to create a plan that promotes economic development in the municipality.

-       Administration of the Main Street New Jersey (MSNJ) program and Downtown Business Improvement Zone loan fund.

-       Review of certificates of incorporation, limited partnership, or formation of urban renewal entities formed under the Long-Term Tax Exemption Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:20-1 et seq.)

-       Publishing the DCA Community Asset Map

-       Oversee municipal reporting of annual affordable housing unit completions and collection/expenditure of municipal affordable housing trust funds

-       Review of municipal area in need of redevelopment/rehabilitation determinations

-       Collection of semi-annual municipal land use board rosters

-       Management of Land Use Board member training and certification

REGISTER FOR THE MAYORS & LEGISLATORS RESOURCE SERIES 

P.L. 2025, c. 145 establishes a Summer Termination Program allowing eligible residential customers to avoid service shutoff from June 15 through August 31 for non- payment of water, sewer, and electric. The Summer Termination Program applies to water, sewer, and electric service provided by local units, and operates a similar manner to the Winter Termination Program including eligibility criteria. 

This Notice is being sent on behalf of Rutgers Center for Government Services.

 The Municipal Attorney Diplomate Certificate Program is a collaborative effort between Rutgers University Center for Government Services (CGS) and the New Jersey Institute of Local Government Attorneys (NJILGA). This program offers practical, practice-focused training tailored for attorneys serving New Jersey municipalities and local government agencies.

 Program Highlights:

 -       Tailored for both new and seasoned practitioners.

-       Expert-led instruction on current legal issues and emerging trends in local government.

-       Earn CLE and NJ DCA continuing education credits in each course.

-       Earn the Rutgers Diplomate in New Jersey Local Government Law Certificate upon completing all seven courses.

This notice is being sent on behalf of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. 

Starting September 10, 2026, the League is partnering with a long-time professional manager, Matt Watkins, founder of NJ Community Solutions, LLC, and NJLM Labor Consultant, to provide practical municipal management instruction. 

The Practical Management Workshop Series represents a significant advancement in the educational support for municipal officials throughout the State. The workshops will offer small group instruction and hands-on learning to educate those working in key local government positions. The workshop series is designed for flexibility and affordability, providing options to select single classes, choose a particular series based on an area of concentration, or enroll in the full 4-part Program. Those who complete the full 4-part Program will be awarded a certificate upon completion. 

This Fall, we are offering the series on Human Relations and the series on Financial Management. 

Presenter:

Matt Watkins, founder of NJ Community Solutions, LLC, and NJLM Labor Consultant 

Registration Fee:

$75.00 per class. See the registration page for more details. 

CEUs:

CEUs are available for CMFOs, CCFOs, CTC, RMCs, CPWMs, QPAs, CPAs, NJ Attorneys, PA Attorneys, and HR Professionals (SHRM). 

To Register for the Program and for More Information:

The Opportunity Zones program was enacted as part of the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and made permanent in 2025. The program incentivizes long-term capital investments into low-income communities. This federal program provides benefits for private investors to support investments in distressed communities through participation in Qualified Opportunity Funds. These funds must directly invest in businesses or property located in low-income census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones by the Governor. 

Investors can defer and reduce federal taxes on capital gains reinvested in Qualified Opportunity Funds that invest in designated Opportunity Zones situated in low-income communities, under rules released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The federal tax incentives available to investors are established under federal law and administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service. Investors and Qualified Opportunity Funds should consult current federal guidance regarding eligibility requirements and applicable tax benefits. 

The original Opportunity Zone program, authorized in 2017, included 169 tracts across the state of New Jersey. HR1 reformed and made the Opportunity Zone Program permanent and established a new designation cycle every 10 years. Eligible tracts generally must have a poverty rate of at least 20 percent or a median family income of no more than 70 percent of the area (statewide) median, but no more than 125 percent of statewide or metropolitan median income. New Jersey has

516 eligible census tracts and Governor Sherrill may nominate up to 129 Opportunity Zones. Note that the reauthorized program allows for fewer Opportunity Zone tracts than the initial program. 

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:65-4(3)b, shared service agreements or renewal/expansion of existing agreements are required to be filed with the Division of Local Government Services ("Division"), for informational purposes.  The Division requests that the lead agency file the required shared service agreement.  Each agreement should be accompanied by a signed, certified resolution of the lead agency and a cover sheet. Please be sure to complete the cover sheet in its entirety. When completing the cost savings estimate, please use the annual (or overall if not annual) estimated amount of money each entity anticipates saving through participation in the shared service. 

If a shared service agreement is a renewal or expansion of an existing agreement, without changes, please note that on the cover sheet. 

Dear Municipal Leaders, Business Administrators, and Housing Professional Staff,

The NJHOMES ABC application is now open! Applications are due July 1.

The NJHOMES ABC initiative seeks municipalities that would like to explore innovative housing models, explore zoning or policy changes, and/or use housing development as a platform for neighborhood and economic revitalization.

NJHOMES provides:

-       education

-       technical assistance

-       funding to municipalities creating affordable housing in their communities

Dear Municipal Clerk:

The Division of Local Government Services and the N.J. League of Municipalities are collaborating with the Bloustein Local unit at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy to conduct a survey on municipal technology use. This will be an update to a similar survey conducted in 2014.

We are asking for your help in forwarding the email below to the person who manages your municipality's technology.

Given the variety of ways municipal governments manage their technology, this could be a full-time or part- time employee, a contractor, an elected official, a volunteer, or more than one person. We realize they may need to consult with others or have someone else do so, but one person needs to coordinate the responses.

One thing we are not covering in this survey is public safety technology. If your municipality has a police department or other public safety service, you do NOT need to forward this survey to those individuals; we will conduct a separate public safety technology survey after this one is complete. Alternatively, if your general government technology is coordinated by, for example, a police officer, please forward this to your police chief.

Please forward this email to the person you think can best complete the survey. We are hoping to have results by July 17.

We appreciate your help with this.

Sincerely,

Michael Rogers, Director

Division of Local Government Services

c: Marc Pfeiffer, Bloustein School

   Lori Buckelew, NJ League of Municipalities

This Notice should be forwarded to the Municipal Technology Coordinator.

Dear Municipal Technology Coordinator:

As described above, the Division is working with the Bloustein School at Rutgers to conduct a survey of municipal governments' use of technology. It is important to highlight that all submitted responses are confidential, not subject to disclosure under OPRA, and that reports will NOT identify individual municipalities.

The survey is comprehensive, and depending on your scope of responsibilities, you may need to consult others in your organization to complete it. To assist with that, we are providing (attached) a PDF of the survey questions to help you coordinate responses with colleagues before entering them online. Note that the survey saves your progress automatically, but only if you return on the same device and browser you used initially.

We recognize there may be sections for which answers are not readily available (e.g., costs for some services). You can skip those, though partial answers are always welcome.

This Notice is being sent on behalf of the Governmental Purchasing Association of New Jersey.

The Governmental Purchasing Association of New Jersey (GPANJ) will be holding its Annual Fall Mini Conference on September 17, 2026.

Windsor Conference Center/Holiday Inn

399 Monmouth St.

East Windsor, NJ 08520

The NJ Division on Civil Rights, DCA, Sustainable Jersey, ACCESSNJ, and the Office of the State Comptroller will be participating in the educational sessions, bringing much needed updates and current information from their offices.

 Five (5) CEU's have been approved by DCA for the following certifications: QPA, RMC, CMFO/CCFO, CTC, and CPWM; Credits have also been approved by Rutgers for RPPO and RPPS Certifications.

A continental breakfast and lunch are included in the registration fee.

OSC PCO Is Transitioning to Fully Electronic Procurement Reviews on July 1, 2026.

The Public Contracting Oversight Division of the Office of the State Comptroller hereby notifies all New Jersey contracting units that notification of procurements and submission of procurement documents under N.J.S.A. 52:15C-10, Executive Order (EO) 166, and EO 125 will be converted to fully electronic processes commencing on July 1, 2026.

This notice is being sent on behalf of the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services.

 DORES RMS would like to announce that the Imaging Registration Application and Renewal Process will be made available and conducted through our online Artemis System beginning July 1, 2026.

 Please join us for a brief training session, Wednesday, June 3rd at 11:00am:

This notice is being sent on behalf of the Department of Treasury, Division of Purchase and Property. 

The NJSTART Quarterly Newsletter is your go-to source for the latest updates, important announcements and highlights from the past few months. Each edition is packed with valuable insights, upcoming training & events, NJ State Contract updates, and other valuable resources.

Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suarez is excited to share the launch of the NJHOMES Affordable Building Club (ABC). NJHOMES ABC was developed to help municipalities navigate their affordable housing needs, and in creating an actionable development strategy with expert guidance. 

ABC is a no-cost, monthly, virtual educational series covering essential affordable housing topics including analyzing housing needs, identifying funding sources, exploring data tools, understanding life-cycle housing, efficient project development, positive community engagement, and more. 

This notice is being issued on behalf of the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration.

Dear Purchasing Agent:  

This is the third and final reminder regarding our study on New Jersey local procurement to determine whether local government agencies (buyers) and small business owners (suppliers) clearly understand each other's needs, wants, and capabilities. We are approaching the data analysis phase, and this is the last opportunity to ensure your experience is represented in the final results.

To those who have already completed the survey or participated in our interviews: We sincerely thank you for your time and contribution; please disregard this message.

This Notice is being sent on behalf of:  Tax Collectors & Treasurers Association of New Jersey.

THE TAX COLLECTORS & TREASURERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY PRESENTS THE 59TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

You are invited to attend the TCTANJ Annual Spring Conference, which will be held in Atlantic City at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino from May 27-29, 2026. The tentative schedule for the conference is attached. Below are the links to sign up for the conference and reserve a room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. 

We look forward to seeing you there.