52:27BBB-2 Findings, declarations relative to municipal rehabilitation and economic recovery

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. There exists in certain municipalities a continuing state of fiscal distress which endures despite the imposition of a series of measures authorized pursuant to law;

b. Economically impoverished, those municipalities have a history of high crime rates, including arson, that has necessitated the maintenance of large police and fire departments, at enormous taxpayer cost in municipalities without a sound tax base;

c. The past fifty years have witnessed the depopulation of those municipalities characterized by such problems;

d. Spending power on the part of residents of these municipalities is severely limited and local businesses thereby suffer from the lack of an indigenous client base so that rebuilding the fortunes of city residents in order to recreate a viable urban economy will require a considerable period of time;

e. Notwithstanding the prosperity which has been experienced elsewhere throughout New Jersey in recent years, the unemployment rate in these municipalities is substantially higher than that of most other municipalities;

f. While the rest of New Jersey has enjoyed increased land values, the ratable base in these municipalities has declined steadily during the 1990's, marked by their low equalized value per capita which can be about one-half that of other cities;

g. Coupled with this economic deprivation, many of these municipalities are characterized by a lack of internal audit controls, accountability and oversight, evidenced by the fact that although real estate taxes comprise over two-thirds of locally generated revenues, many of these municipalities do not rigorously enforce collection and receive but a portion of their levy;

h. Although the State has experienced a period of tremendous prosperity and economic growth over the past few years, such municipalities continue to languish without any obvious signs of improvement;

i. These municipalities have experienced a substantial budget deficit for many years which has only been addressed through extraordinary payments of State aid;

j. While State aid dollars which have been directed toward such municipalities have served to address their structural deficits, they have not, and cannot, function as an economic impetus toward the rebuilding of those municipalities;

k. Because a significant proportion of the population of such municipalities lacks adequate health insurance coverage, causing many to seek basic care in municipal emergency rooms, municipal hospitals are heavily dependent upon State assistance commonly referred to as "charity care" for reimbursement. Such health services are crucial to the overall health of the infrastructure and social growth and stability of qualified municipalities. Moreover, the demand for such health services has necessitated planning for a major expansion of medical school programs within qualified municipalities;

l. Given the high crime rates in these municipalities, if economic recovery is to be successful, it is vital that municipal residents feel that their basic safety is assured; accordingly, the State will continue to commit to assist such municipalities in maintaining not less than that number of police officers employed by the municipality at the time of the determination by the commissioner that the municipality fulfills the definition of a qualified municipality and in creating working relationships between State agencies, local law enforcement and the community to identify and develop strategies to improve the quality of life and the security of residents in qualified municipalities;

m. In order to ensure the long-term economic viability of such municipalities, it is critical that the Legislature encourage, to the extent possible, the production of market-rate housing within the municipality so as to expand the local tax base and provide a greater diversity of income levels among municipal inhabitants;

n. When faced with analogous situations, other states have employed extraordinary measures to provide leadership and oversight for struggling cities and the necessary tools to spur an economic revival within those cities; and

o. In light of the dire needs faced by such municipalities and the lack of progress in addressing those needs either governmentally or through private sector initiative, and given the successful interventions on the part of other states in analogous circumstances, it is incumbent upon the State to take exceptional measures, on an interim basis, to rectify certain governance issues faced by such municipalities and to strategically invest those sums of money necessary in order to assure the long-term financial viability of these municipalities.

L.2002,c.43,s.2; amended 2002, c.108, s.2.