The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently ruled that the New Jersey Division of Property Management and Construction (Division) acted properly when it awarded a contract for the lease of office space to the lowest bidder. The state’s highest court also concluded that the Director of the Division correctly determined
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently addressed what happens when the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and attorney-client privilege intersect. In O’Boyle v. Borough of Longport, the state’s highest court specifically addressed the application of the common interest rule to litigation documents requested under OPRA and the common
Recently proposed legislation could reduce the legal costs of New Jersey municipalities. Assembly Bill Number 2997 would eliminate awards of punitive damages against municipalities as well as employees of municipalities acting within the scope or under color of their office, employment, or agency. In a civil lawsuit, compensatory damages are
On June 24, 2014, Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill that extends the cap on how much compensation arbitrators can award police and firefighters who have reached a contract negotiation impasse with their local municipalities. The law (A-3424) took effect immediately and is retroactive to April 2, 2014. Under existing
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to consider whether an Arizona town’s sign ordinance violates the First Amendment, as applied to a local church. Under long-standing First Amendment precedent, content-based restrictions on speech are closely scrutinized and upheld only if they are “narrowly tailored” to a “compelling government interest.” Reed
In 510 Ryerson Road, Inc. v. Borough of Lincoln Park, the Tax Court of New Jersey highlighted the standard of review in Chapter 91 reasonableness hearings. In doing so, it held that an assessment that relied on the recommendations of a valuation firm was reasonable, given that the assessor performed
New Jersey continues to see record rates of foreclosed properties. To help address the resulting neighborhood blight, municipalities now have a new tool to address abandoned properties. Assembly Bill No. 347, which took effect on July 14, 2014, authorizes municipalities to impose penalties on creditors that fail to timely remedy
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Sen. Joseph Kyrillos, R-Monmouth, recently introduced legislation that would cap sick leave payouts for retiring municipal employees at $15,000. S-2318 would apply to sick leave accrued after the effective date of the legislation and not time that has already been banked. Existing laws impose
