N.J. Admin. Code § 5:23-4.17 - Municipal enforcing agency fees
(a) Ordinance: The
municipality shall set enforcing agency fees by ordinance for the following
activities: plan review, construction permit , certificate of occupancy ,
certificates of continued occupancy, demolition permit, elevator permit and
sign permit.
1. The municipality shall
include in any such ordinance all fees pertaining to the operations of the
enforcing agency , including those for which the department has not set
standards, such as fees for reinstatement of lapsed permit. All minimum fees
shall be stipulated. Fees may be rounded to nearest dollar amount if the
municipality 's ordinance so provides.
(b) On or before February 10 of each year, in
a municipality that budgets according to the calendar year (January 1 to
December 31), or on or before August 10 of each year, in a municipality that
budgets according to the State fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), the
construction official shall , with the advice of the subcode officials and in
consultation with the municipal finance officer, prepare and submit to the
governing body a report detailing the receipts and expenditures of the
enforcing agency and indicating his or her recommendations for a fee schedule,
based on the operating expense of the agency.
1. The report shall be structured in
accordance with (c) below and with such guidelines as shall be issued from
time-to-time by the Commissioner so as to accurately portray true enforcing
agency expenses in general and for structures of different use groups. This
report shall serve as the basis for the ordinance to be enacted by the
municipality , as it may deem appropriate, establishing the fee
schedule.
2. A copy of the
construction official 's report recommending a fee schedule and setting forth
enforcing agency revenues and expenses shall be filed with the Department when
prepared and a copy of the ordinance, together with the fee schedule, shall be
filed with the Department when enacted or amended.
3. The appropriation and expenditure of
construction code fee revenues generated from the fee schedule established
pursuant to (b)1 above shall be audited annually by an independent auditor
acceptable to the Department and a copy of the auditor's report shall be
provided to the Department when it is issued to the municipality . Submission of
a copy of the annual municipal audit required to be submitted to the Division
of Local Government Services at the time that it is required to be submitted to
that Division shall constitute compliance with this requirement provided,
however, that the annual municipal audit tests and contains an opinion that all
expenditures of construction code fees have been made for purposes herein
permitted.
4. The report shall also
include the measures taken by the municipality pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
5:23-4.4(e) to ensure
inspections are performed in a timely manner. This report shall take into
account projected work and agency resource needs for the next budget
year.
(c) Costs: The fee
schedule shall be calculated to reasonably cover the municipal costs of
enforcing the regulations.
1. It is the
purpose and intent of this subsection to facilitate the accumulation by
municipalities of the funds necessary to offset future construction code
enforcement expenses, to ensure that construction code revenue is used only for
construction code enforcement purposes, and to provide a means of making such
revenue readily available for such purposes from year to year.
2. All fees collected pursuant to the fee
schedule established in accordance with (b)1 above shall be appropriated in
accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Construction Code Act and the
Local Budget Law to be applied solely to meet the municipal costs of enforcing
the regulations, which costs shall be defined as including only the following:
i. Salaries and employee benefits for
licensed code enforcement officials and inspectors and clerical personnel
assigned to the enforcing agency , in an amount proportionate to the time spent
in performing work for the enforcing agency provided, however, that detailed
time records are kept where employees divide their time between Uniform
Construction Code and Non-Uniform Construction Code duties;
ii. Cost of motor vehicles in an amount
proportionate to their use by or for the enforcing agency . Payments for this
purpose may be in the form of mileage reimbursement paid to employees for use
of their own motor vehicles, cost of purchase of motor vehicles by the
municipality for the exclusive use of the enforcing agency (which cost may not
be amortized), depreciation and operating expenses of motor vehicles made
available to the enforcing agency by another municipal agency, and cost of
rental of motor vehicles for use by the enforcing agency ;
iii. Direct costs in support of the agency
such as equipment , supplies, furniture, office equipment maintenance ,
standardized forms, printing, and safety equipment that are supplied directly
to the enforcing agency for its sole use ;
iv. Professional expenses of enforcing agency
personnel that are directly related to the enforcement of the regulations,
including publications, membership dues, license fees, and authorized travel to
conferences, meetings and seminars;
v. Fees for services performed under contract
by private on-site inspection agencies;
vi. Documented charges for legal services
required in connection with construction code enforcement litigation;
vii. Fees for the annual audit of the
dedicated fund by an independent auditor; and
viii. Subject to the limitations set forth in
(c)3 below, indirect, overhead, and other expenses of the municipality in
support of the enforcing agency , including:
(1) Legislative and Executive
expenses;
(2) Administration,
including personnel, payroll, and general training services provided to the
agency in common with all other municipal offices;
(3) Central services shared jointly with
other municipal offices, such as telephone, reproduction, centralized computer
services, etc.;
(4) Insurance
except for group insurance premiums included under employer fringe
benefits;
(5) General building
maintenance expenses;
(6) Finance,
including bookkeeping, purchasing, and auditing;
(7) Office space expenses, including rent or
interest and debt service on municipal capital facilities; and
(8) Such other expenses as may be properly
allocable to construction code enforcement.
3. Indirect and overhead expenses charged to
the construction code fee revenues shall not exceed 12 percent of all other
costs of the enforcing agency unless the indirect and overhead expenses of the
municipality exceed 12 percent of the entire municipal budget, in which case
indirect and overhead expense may be charged to construction code fee revenues
in proportion to the general municipal overhead and expense ratio. A detailed
written justification for any charge for indirect and overhead expenses in
excess of 12 percent shall be prepared and made available for inspection both
by the Department and by the public.
4. This subsection shall not be construed as
precluding the use of money from the general fund of the municipality to pay
costs of code enforcement when the construction code fee revenues generated
from the fee schedule established pursuant to (b)1 above are insufficient for
that purpose or when necessary to compensate the enforcing agency for work done
without fee pursuant to statute or ordinance.
(d) The fee for development-wide inspection
of homes after issuance of a certificate of occupancy ordered pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
5:23-2.35 shall be an amount equal to twice
the hourly base salary paid to any licensed code official performing the work
or the hourly fees charged to the municipality by a professional contracted to
provide such services pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
5:23-2.35, subject to the accounting
procedures and limits set forth below.
1.
Such charges or fees shall be only those that are reasonable and necessary in
order to ascertain whether a violation exists or to verify that any work
performed has abated the violation.
2. The municipality shall place in escrow all
monies paid by the developer for this purpose. The escrow shall be held in any
account maintained by the municipality in the same manner as that established
for the deposit of escrow funds paid for professional review services,
inspection fees and performance and maintenance guarantees as provided for at
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.1.
3. The developer shall post an initial
deposit in the amount of $ 200.00 per home or an amount determined by the
municipality to be necessary to cover the estimated cost of two months'
inspection activity, whichever is greater. At monthly intervals, the developer
shall increase the amount in the escrow fund so that it shall be sufficient to
pay the cost of the next two months' inspection activity or the cost of
completing the inspections, whichever is less.
4. Standards for hourly charges for
development-wide inspection of homes after issuance of a certificate of
occupancy shall be as follows:
i. Hourly
charges shall be limited only to municipal or consulting professional charges
for inspections, review of plans and supporting documents and preparation of
reports and documents and shall accurately reflect the hours engaged in these
activities.
ii. The only costs that
shall be added to any such charges shall be actual out-of-pocket expenses of
any consulting professional engineer or registered architect hired for this
purpose including normal and typical expenses incurred in performing
inspections and reviewing plans and supporting documents for the required
corrective work.
iii. The developer
shall not be billed and no charge shall be made to any escrow account or
deposit for any municipal clerical or administrative functions, overhead
expenses, meeting room charges, or any other municipal costs and expenses
except as provided for in this subsection, nor shall a municipal enforcing
agency professional add any such charges to his expenses.
iv. Where licensed municipal code officials
perform these inspections, the fee shall be 200 percent of the hourly base
salary of the inspector(s) multiplied by the number of hours spent on
inspections and review of plans and supporting documents for any necessary
corrective work.
5.
Payments shall be charged to the escrow, and shall be made by the Chief
Financial Officer of the municipality , and a final accounting shall be
provided, in accordance with the procedure set forth in paragraphs c and d of
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2. Payments shall be made from any
such escrow by the Chief Financial Officer only upon approval by the
Construction Official .
6. Appeals
of any charges levied by the municipality pursuant to this subsection shall be
made to the construction board of appeals , in accordance with the procedures
set forth in
N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2a and N.J.A.C.
5:23A.
(e) Interlocal
enforcement: When two or more municipalities or a county and one or more
municipalities enter into an agreement to administer and enforce this chapter
pursuant to
N.J.A.C.
5:23-4.6(b) and the Uniform
Shared Services and Consolidation Act (N.J.S.A. 40A:65-1 et seq.), there shall be one uniform
fee schedule which shall be applied by all parties to the agreement. Said fee
shall be collected by the interlocal enforcing agency performing the
administration and enforcement of the regulations. No additional fee shall be
required to be paid or be paid by an applicant to any municipality or county
for any Uniform Construction Code enforcement service. The enforcing agency
shall maintain financial records showing for each municipality the amounts of
money collected and expended in the enforcement of this chapter.
Notes
See: 14 N.J.R. 495(a), 14 N.J.R. 1300(a).
Added (d). Prior to recodification of N.J.A.C. 5:23, this section was codified at 5:23-4.8.
Amended by R.1982 d.402, effective
See: 14 N.J.R. 943(a), 14 N.J.R. 1300(b).
Added to (b)2 that copy of report ... must be filed every two years.
Emergency amendment, R.1989 d.405, effective
See: 21 N.J.R. 2127(b).
In (a): added "certificates of continued occupancy,
In (a)1: added language regarding rounding of dollar amounts in fees.
Adopted concurrent proposal, R.1989 d.512, effective
See: 21 N.J.R. 2127(a), 21 N.J.R. 3086(a).
Provisions of emergency amendment R.1989 d.405 readopted without change.
Amended by R.1990 d.115, effective
See: 21 N.J.R. 3348(a), 22 N.J.R. 352(a).
Requirements added at (c) for the establishment of a mechanism (dedication by rider) to ensure
Amended by R.1990 d.489, effective
See: 22 N.J.R. 1871(a), 22 N.J.R. 3147(a).
Amended to state that appropriation of municipal
Amended by R.1992 d.148, effective
See: 24 N.J.R. 169(a), 24 N.J.R. 1399(a).
Amended by R.1996 d.544, effective
See: 28 N.J.R. 3996(a), 28 N.J.R. 5071(a).
Amended by R.2006 d.355, effective
See: 38 N.J.R. 1789(a), 38 N.J.R. 4175(a).
Added new (d); and recodified former (d) as (e).
Administrative correction.
See: 38 N.J.R. 5355(c).
Administrative correction.
See: 44 N.J.R. 2947(a).
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
(a) Ordinance: The municipality shall set enforcing agency fees by ordinance for the following activities: plan review, construction permit, certificate of occupancy, certificates of continued occupancy, demolition permit, elevator permit and sign permit.
1. The municipality shall include in any such ordinance all fees pertaining to the operations of the enforcing agency, including those for which the department has not set standards, such as fees for reinstatement of lapsed permit. All minimum fees shall be stipulated. Fees may be rounded to nearest dollar amount if the municipality's ordinance so provides.
(b) On or before February 10 of each year, in a municipality that budgets according to the calendar year (January 1 to December 31), or on or before August 10 of each year, in a municipality that budgets according to the State fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), the construction official shall, with the advice of the subcode officials and in consultation with the municipal finance officer, prepare and submit to the governing body a report detailing the receipts and expenditures of the enforcing agency and indicating his or her recommendations for a fee schedule, based on the operating expense of the agency.
1. The report shall be structured in accordance with (c) below and with such guidelines as shall be issued from time-to-time by the Commissioner so as to accurately portray true enforcing agency expenses in general and for structures of different use groups. This report shall serve as the basis for the ordinance to be enacted by the municipality, as it may deem appropriate, establishing the fee schedule.
2. A copy of the construction official's report recommending a fee schedule and setting forth enforcing agency revenues and expenses shall be filed with the Department when prepared and a copy of the ordinance, together with the fee schedule, shall be filed with the Department when enacted or amended.
3. The appropriation and expenditure of construction code fee revenues generated from the fee schedule established pursuant to (b)1 above shall be audited annually by an independent auditor acceptable to the Department and a copy of the auditor's report shall be provided to the Department when it is issued to the municipality. Submission of a copy of the annual municipal audit required to be submitted to the Division of Local Government Services at the time that it is required to be submitted to that Division shall constitute compliance with this requirement provided, however, that the annual municipal audit tests and contains an opinion that all expenditures of construction code fees have been made for purposes herein permitted.
4. The report shall also include the measures taken by the municipality pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:23-4.4(e) to ensure inspections are performed in a timely manner. This report shall take into account projected work and agency resource needs for the next budget year.
(c) Costs: The fee schedule shall be calculated to reasonably cover the municipal costs of enforcing the regulations.
1. It is the purpose and intent of this subsection to facilitate the accumulation by municipalities of the funds necessary to offset future construction code enforcement expenses, to ensure that construction code revenue is used only for construction code enforcement purposes, and to provide a means of making such revenue readily available for such purposes from year to year.
2. All fees collected pursuant to the fee schedule established in accordance with (b)1 above shall be appropriated in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Construction Code Act and the Local Budget Law to be applied solely to meet the municipal costs of enforcing the regulations, which costs shall be defined as including only the following:
i. Salaries and employee benefits for licensed code enforcement officials and inspectors and clerical personnel assigned to the enforcing agency, in an amount proportionate to the time spent in performing work for the enforcing agency provided, however, that detailed time records are kept where employees divide their time between Uniform Construction Code and Non-Uniform Construction Code duties;
ii. Cost of motor vehicles in an amount proportionate to their use by or for the enforcing agency. Payments for this purpose may be in the form of mileage reimbursement paid to employees for use of their own motor vehicles, cost of purchase of motor vehicles by the municipality for the exclusive use of the enforcing agency (which cost may not be amortized), depreciation and operating expenses of motor vehicles made available to the enforcing agency by another municipal agency, and cost of rental of motor vehicles for use by the enforcing agency;
iii. Direct costs in support of the agency such as equipment, supplies, furniture, office equipment maintenance, standardized forms, printing, and safety equipment that are supplied directly to the enforcing agency for its sole use;
iv. Professional expenses of enforcing agency personnel that are directly related to the enforcement of the regulations, including publications, membership dues, license fees, and authorized travel to conferences, meetings and seminars;
v. Fees for services performed under contract by private on-site inspection agencies;
vi. Documented charges for legal services required in connection with construction code enforcement litigation;
vii. Fees for the annual audit of the dedicated fund by an independent auditor; and
viii. Subject to the limitations set forth in (c)3 below, indirect, overhead, and other expenses of the municipality in support of the enforcing agency, including:
(1) Legislative and Executive expenses;
(2) Administration, including personnel, payroll, and general training services provided to the agency in common with all other municipal offices;
(3) Central services shared jointly with other municipal offices, such as telephone, reproduction, centralized computer services, etc.;
(4) Insurance except for group insurance premiums included under employer fringe benefits;
(5) General building maintenance expenses;
(6) Finance, including bookkeeping, purchasing, and auditing;
(7) Office space expenses, including rent or interest and debt service on municipal capital facilities; and
(8) Such other expenses as may be properly allocable to construction code enforcement.
3. Indirect and overhead expenses charged to the construction code fee revenues shall not exceed 12 percent of all other costs of the enforcing agency unless the indirect and overhead expenses of the municipality exceed 12 percent of the entire municipal budget, in which case indirect and overhead expense may be charged to construction code fee revenues in proportion to the general municipal overhead and expense ratio. A detailed written justification for any charge for indirect and overhead expenses in excess of 12 percent shall be prepared and made available for inspection both by the Department and by the public.
4. This subsection shall not be construed as precluding the use of money from the general fund of the municipality to pay costs of code enforcement when the construction code fee revenues generated from the fee schedule established pursuant to (b)1 above are insufficient for that purpose or when necessary to compensate the enforcing agency for work done without fee pursuant to statute or ordinance.
(d) The fee for development-wide inspection of homes after issuance of a certificate of occupancy ordered pursuant to 5:23-2.35 shall be an amount equal to twice the hourly base salary paid to any licensed code official performing the work or the hourly fees charged to the municipality by a professional contracted to provide such services pursuant to N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.35, subject to the accounting procedures and limits set forth below.
1. Such charges or fees shall be only those that are reasonable and necessary in order to ascertain whether a violation exists or to verify that any work performed has abated the violation.
2. The municipality shall place in escrow all monies paid by the developer for this purpose. The escrow shall be held in any account maintained by the municipality in the same manner as that established for the deposit of escrow funds paid for professional review services, inspection fees and performance and maintenance guarantees as provided for at 40:55D-53.1.
3. The developer shall post an initial deposit in the amount of $ 200.00 per home or an amount determined by the municipality to be necessary to cover the estimated cost of two months' inspection activity, whichever is greater. At monthly intervals, the developer shall increase the amount in the escrow fund so that it shall be sufficient to pay the cost of the next two months' inspection activity or the cost of completing the inspections, whichever is less.
4. Standards for hourly charges for development-wide inspection of homes after issuance of a certificate of occupancy shall be as follows:
i. Hourly charges shall be limited only to municipal or consulting professional charges for inspections, review of plans and supporting documents and preparation of reports and documents and shall accurately reflect the hours engaged in these activities.
ii. The only costs that shall be added to any such charges shall be actual out-of-pocket expenses of any consulting professional engineer or registered architect hired for this purpose including normal and typical expenses incurred in performing inspections and reviewing plans and supporting documents for the required corrective work.
iii. The developer shall not be billed and no charge shall be made to any escrow account or deposit for any municipal clerical or administrative functions, overhead expenses, meeting room charges, or any other municipal costs and expenses except as provided for in this subsection, nor shall a municipal enforcing agency professional add any such charges to his expenses.
iv. Where licensed municipal code officials perform these inspections, the fee shall be 200 percent of the hourly base salary of the inspector(s) multiplied by the number of hours spent on inspections and review of plans and supporting documents for any necessary corrective work.
5. Payments shall be charged to the escrow, and shall be made by the Chief Financial Officer of the municipality, and a final accounting shall be provided, in accordance with the procedure set forth in paragraphs c and d of 40:55D-53.2. Payments shall be made from any such escrow by the Chief Financial Officer only upon approval by the Construction Official.
6. Appeals of any charges levied by the municipality pursuant to this subsection shall be made to the construction board of appeals, in accordance with the procedures set forth in 40:55D-53.2a and N.J.A.C. 5:23A.
(e) Interlocal enforcement: When two or more municipalities or a county and one or more municipalities enter into an agreement to administer and enforce this chapter pursuant to 5:23-4.6(b) and the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act (40A:65-1 et seq.), there shall be one uniform fee schedule which shall be applied by all parties to the agreement. Said fee shall be collected by the interlocal enforcing agency performing the administration and enforcement of the regulations. No additional fee shall be required to be paid or be paid by an applicant to any municipality or county for any Uniform Construction Code enforcement service. The enforcing agency shall maintain financial records showing for each municipality the amounts of money collected and expended in the enforcement of this chapter.
Notes
See: 14 N.J.R. 495(a), 14 N.J.R. 1300(a).
Added (d). Prior to recodification of N.J.A.C. 5:23, this section was codified at 5:23-4.8.
Amended by R.1982 d.402, effective
See: 14 N.J.R. 943(a), 14 N.J.R. 1300(b).
Added to (b)2 that copy of report ... must be filed every two years.
Emergency amendment, R.1989 d.405, effective
See: 21 N.J.R. 2127(b).
In (a): added "certificates of continued occupancy, certificate of approval" and deleted "moving of building permit ...".
In (a)1: added language regarding rounding of dollar amounts in fees.
Adopted concurrent proposal, R.1989 d.512, effective
See: 21 N.J.R. 2127(a), 21 N.J.R. 3086(a).
Provisions of emergency amendment R.1989 d.405 readopted without change.
Amended by R.1990 d.115, effective
See: 21 N.J.R. 3348(a), 22 N.J.R. 352(a).
Requirements added at (c) for the establishment of a mechanism (dedication by rider) to ensure construction fees are used for no other purpose than to fund annual costs for the operation of enforcing agencies.
Amended by R.1990 d.489, effective
See: 22 N.J.R. 1871(a), 22 N.J.R. 3147(a).
Amended to state that appropriation of municipal construction code fees may be done by rider or by estimates in advance, in accordance with the Local Budget Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:4-1 et seq.
Amended by R.1992 d.148, effective
See: 24 N.J.R. 169(a), 24 N.J.R. 1399(a).
Construction official may report based on the municipality's fiscal year.
Amended by R.1996 d.544, effective
See: 28 N.J.R. 3996(a), 28 N.J.R. 5071(a).
Amended by R.2006 d.355, effective
See: 38 N.J.R. 1789(a), 38 N.J.R. 4175(a).
Added new (d); and recodified former (d) as (e).
Administrative correction.
See: 38 N.J.R. 5355(c).
Administrative correction.
See: 44 N.J.R. 2947(a).