In Grabowsky v. Twp. of Montclair, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that municipal officials could be disqualified from voting on redevelopment matters if they belong to organizations that may be impacted by the project. Under the newly established conflict of interest rule, when a public official serves in
A New Jersey appeals court recently addressed a municipality’s solid waste collection obligations under N.J.S.A. 40:66-1.3(a). In Kiejdan Family LLC v. Borough of Woodbine, the court held that the borough’s policy of requiring curbside pickup from a multifamily apartment complex, rather than providing reimbursement for such services, was arbitrary and
A New Jersey trial court recently held that the City of Wildwood’s “cap bank” ordinance, which allows the municipality to bank and utilize permitted appropriations in future years, is not subject to referendum. The case is Baltuskonis v. City of Wildwood. The Facts of the Case In 2014, the Wildwood
In 388 Route 22 Readington Realty Holdings, LLC v. Township of Readington, the New Jersey Supreme Court addressed the circumstances under which a municipality may exercise its discretion to repurchase unused sewer capacity. While the state’s highest court ultimately upheld the sewer ordinance, it concluded that its blanket policy of
In Walker v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington, the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court recently upheld the decision of the Burlington County Board of Chosen Freeholders to deny an application to operate a solid waste transfer station and material recovery facility. The decision
The Local Finance Board of the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) recently adopted N.J.A.C. 5:30-3.8, which requires New Jersey municipalities to incorporate a user-friendly budget into all introduced (approved) and adopted annual municipal budgets. The goal is to increase the financial transparency of local government and enhance everyday citizens’
The New Jersey Assembly recently approved legislation that would require local governments and authorities to obtain a financing cost estimate from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (NJEIT) for certain projects. The NJEIT, which was first established in 1986, is an independent State financing authority that provides low interest-rate loans
The Appellate Division recently issued a decision critical of the Government Records Council’s (GRC) handling of an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. The case, Katon v. Department of Law and Public Safety, involved records related to the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) investigation into intelligence-gathering conducted by the
