FUNDS
39A:F-1. Funds
a. Highway Safety Fund: There is established in the General Fund a separate, nonlapsing, dedicated account to be known as the "Highway Safety Fund." All fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed and collected as a result of the enforcement of 39:3-20.3 and 50 percent of all fines and penalties imposed and collected in enforcement of 39:5B-29, and the increase from the doubling of fines imposed and collected pursuant to 39: 4-203.5 in designated safe corridor areas shall be forwarded to the State Treasurer for deposit into the Highway Safety Fund account. The fund shall be administered by the Department of Transportation which shall establish a grant program to fund local law enforcement agencies for special enforcement efforts associated with this subsection. The department shall annually, in conjunction with the Division of State Police, submit a report on the results of the safe corridor areas and a list of highway safety projects and programs paid for by the fund within the past year to the Senate Transportation Committee and the Assembly Transportation Committee, the President and minority leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and the minority leader of the General Assembly. The moneys in the account shall be used exclusively for highway safety projects and programs, including education, enforcement, capital improvements and such other related measures and undertakings as the Department of Transportation and the Division of State Police may deem appropriate to foster highway safety.
b. Omnibus Safety Enforcement Fund: There is created in the Department of the Treasury a separate, non-lapsing revolving fund to be known as the "Omnibus Safety Enforcement Fund." This fund is to be the depository for monies collected from certain fines imposed pursuant to 39:3-19.1, 39:3-29, and 39:3-79.22. The money in the fund shall be administered by the State Treasurer and all interest on monies deposited in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, monies in the fund shall be utilized exclusively by the MVC to administer and enforce the provisions of this Title, or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto. Beginning in the fiscal year next following the effective date of this act, the State Treasurer shall annually allocate the money pursuant to this section to the commission.
c. Pedestrian Safety Enforcement and Education Fund: There is created in the Division of Highway and Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety a nonlapsing revolving fund to be known as the "Pedestrian Safety Enforcement and Education Fund." This fund shall be a repository for moneys provided pursuant to 39:4-36(c) and shall be administered by the Division of Highway and Traffic Safety. Moneys deposited in the fund, and any interest earned thereon, shall be used for the purpose of making grants to municipalities and counties with pedestrian safety problems. Priority in awarding grants shall be given to municipalities and counties requesting funds in order to take remedial steps for intersections that have been identified as demonstrating pedestrian safety problems in accordance with 39:4-36.3 et al.
d. Motor Vehicle Inspection Fund: There is established in the General Fund a special dedicated, non-lapsing fund to be known as the "Motor Vehicle Inspection Fund," which shall be administered by the State Treasurer. The State Treasurer shall deposit into the "Motor Vehicle Inspection Fund" $11.50 from each motor vehicle registration fee received by the State. This fee shall be considered a service charge of the MVC and shall be subject to the calculation of proportional revenue remitted to the MVC pursuant to 39:2A-36. The Legislature shall annually appropriate from the fund an amount necessary to pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of the implementation and operation of the motor vehicle inspection program. The State Treasurer shall:
(1) Pay to a private contractor or contractors contracted to design, construct, renovate, equip, establish, maintain and operate official inspection facilities under a contract or contracts entered into with the State Treasurer pursuant to 39:8-44(a) from the fund the amount necessary to meet the costs agreed to under the contract or contracts; and
(2) Transfer from the fund to the MVC as provided pursuant to 39:2A-36 and the DEP the amounts necessary to finance the costs of administering and implementing all aspects of the inspection and maintenance program, and to the Office of Telecommunications and Information Systems in the Department of the Treasury the amount necessary for computer support upgrades;
Moneys remaining in the fund and any unexpended balance of appropriations from the fund at the end of each fiscal year shall be reappropriated for the purposes of the fund. Any interest earned on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
e. There is established in the General Fund a separate, nonlapsing, dedicated account to be known as the "Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Fund" (CVEF). That Fund shall be administered by the MVC . All fees and other monies collected pursuant to this act or any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto shall be forwarded to the State Treasury for deposit into the CVEF account. The MVC shall receive 40 percent of this fund annually, which monies shall be considered revenue of the MVC. All remaining fees and other monies deposited in the CVEF account shall be used to fund the costs of administering the programs and activities of the Department of Law and Public Safety, the Department of Transportation, the MVC and the Department of Environmental Protection established or specified in this act and in 39:3-20(f), subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury. A municipality may be eligible for periodic grants from the CVEF in such amounts as the MVC, in consultation with the COT, may determine pursuant to rule or regulation to subsidize costs of prosecuting and trying actions pursuant to this act.
Source: 39:3-20.4; 39:3-79.23; 39:3-79.24; 39:4-36.2; 39:8-2; 39:8-75.
COMMENT
Subsection (a) is the former 39:3-20.4. When enacted, it was included with registration provisions, but since it applies to funds generated from sources other than registration fines, it seemed more appropriate to relocate it.
Subsection (b) is the former 39:3-79.23 and 39:3-79.24. Those provisions appeared to be duplicative. If additional language is needed in order to fully include both of those sections, it will be added.
Subsection (c) is the former 39:4-36.2.
Subsection (d) is the former 39:8-2(j).
Subsection (e) is the former 39:8-75.
For ease of inclusion of provisions like these in the future, it may make sense to have a section, like this one, where funding provisions can be inserted. A review will be conducted of the other funding provisions in the Title to see if others should be moved to this chapter.