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State issues a 'Best Practices Checklist' to 587 county and municipal governments

The Christie administration is sending the governments of New Jersey’s 566 cities and towns and 21 counties to summer school and failure to follow instructions will cost them state aid.

The administration on Thursday issued a 2011 Best Practices Checklist to each local government as part of an effort to make them operate more efficiently, strengthen their accountability, and better manage their finances. This is the second year of the initiative.

Governments will need to meet an established percentage of the checklist items in order to receive all or part of their final state aid payment.

“In these difficult fiscal circumstances, every level of government – local, county and state – must set budget priorities that are responsible, that focus on providing essential programs and services, and that don’t waste taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars,” Gov. Chris Christie said in a statement released by his office. “The Best Practices Initiative has proven to be an effective tool at getting local governments to budget within their means, improve their operations, and find ways to eliminate waste, abuse and fraud. By focusing on efficiency, enacting a real cap on property taxes, providing significant budget savings from our historic pension and health benefits reform, and doubling direct property tax relief to residents, we are finally giving New Jersey families the lasting property tax relief they need.”

The initiative was authorized through the 2011-12 budget enacted on June 30. Last year, an 88-question survey of good government guidelines was considered by state officials as successful, with 374 of the state’s 535 calendar year municipalities indicating their adherence or commitment to implement 85 percent or more of the best practices.

The 2011-12 checklist includes 50 questions in categories such as general and financial management including budget preparation and disclosure, Health insurance, personnel and public safety. In an effort to track the progress of municipalities’ adoption of and conformance with best practices standards, some of last year’s lowest-scoring questions were included in this year’s survey. Responses are due on Sept. 1 for local governments that operate on a calendar year budget and April 2 for governments that operate on a fiscal year budget.

This year, for the first time, county governments will be asked to voluntarily fill out a modified version of the checklist. Counties generally comprise a smaller portion of local tax bills than municipalities and school districts, but they are large, regional operating entities with budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars and workforces numbering in the thousands.

“While counties will not be penalized this year for choosing not to complete the survey, we are strongly encouraging them to use this opportunity to self-critique their operations and consider how other local governments are conducting business,” state Community Affairs Commissioner Lori Grifa said. “This is especially important since counties, like municipal governments, now operate within the constraints of the state’s 2 percent tax levy cap. Local governments will benefit from their efforts to complete the Best Practices Checklist because it encourages new ways of thinking about providing services and controlling costs.”