§ 40A:67-6 — Regional rehabilitation, reentry center, authority, public body politic, corporate.

6. An authority shall be a public body politic and corporate, established as an instrumentality exercising public and essential governmental functions to provide for the public health and welfare. The authority shall have the duties, privileges, immunities, rights, liabilities, and disabilities of a public body politic and corporate and shall have taxing power. The authority shall be a "contracting unit" for purposes of the "Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.), shall have perpetual succession until termination or dissolution in accordance with the agreement, and shall have the powers to: a. adopt and have a common seal and to alter the same at pleasure; b. sue and be sued; c. acquire, own, rent, hold, lease, as lessor or lessee, use and sell or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, or grant a security in, any real or personal property, commodity, or service or interest therein; d. plan, develop, acquire, construct, reconstruct, operate, manage, dispose of, participate in, maintain, repair, extend, or improve a center or satellite facility, and act as agent, or designate one or more other persons employed by or contracting with the center to act as its agent, in connection with the planning, acquisition, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, extension, or improvement of the center, and provision to the members of rehabilitation and reentry services, to meet the needs of the members and the State, which shall include the hiring of experts to perform a population review and projected bed needs; e. make and execute additional contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers; f. employ agents and employees, without regard to the provisions of Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes, but does not preclude employees from entering or becoming party to a collective bargaining agreement; g. contract with any person, entity, or public agency within or outside the State of New Jersey for the construction or operation of the center, or for any interest or share therein, on terms and for a period of time as its committee shall determine; h. incur indebtedness through the issuance of bonds, provide for and secure the payment of any bonds and the rights of the holders thereof, and to purchase, hold, and dispose of any bonds; i. accept gifts or grants of real or personal property, money, material, labor, or supplies solely for the purposes and exclusive use and benefit of the authority, and to make and perform those agreements and contracts as may be necessary or convenient in connection with the procuring, acceptance, or disposition of the gifts or grants; j. make and enforce by-laws or rules and regulations for the management and regulation of its business and affairs and for the use, maintenance, and operation of its properties and to amend its by-laws; k. do and perform any acts and things authorized by P.L.2023, c.346 (C.40A:67-1 et seq.), through or by means of its own officers, agents, and employees, or by contract with any person; l. enter into contracts, execute instruments, and do and perform all things necessary, convenient, or desirable for the purposes of the authority, or to carry out any power expressly authorized under P.L.2023, c.346 (C.40A:67-1 et seq.); m. join organizations, including private or trade organizations, which the committee has deemed to be beneficial to the accomplishment of the authority's purposes; n. invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, including the proceeds from the sale of any bonds, in those obligations, securities, and other investments as the authority deems to be proper and are authorized pursuant to law; and o. introduce an annual budget by January 26th of each year and adopt a budget by February 25th of each year. Procedures for budget introduction and adoption shall be made pursuant to the "Local Budget Law," N.J.S.40A:4-1 et seq., be subject to the cap on calculation of adjusted tax levy by local units pursuant to N.J.S.40A:4-45.45, and shall include the following: (1) an amount to be raised by taxation, which shall be conveyed to the Board of Taxation in each participation county within 15 days of the adoption of the budget; (2) the chief financial officer of the authority shall certify the Average Daily Population (ADP) of the inmates from each participating county, for the previous year, by February 1st of each year; (3) based on the ADP, the chief financial officer of the authority shall certify each county's proportional share of inmates for the previous year. By February 15th of each year, the proportional share for each county shall be conveyed to the appropriate County Board of Taxation, to be used to calculate the amount of taxes to be levied in each of the participating counties. These taxes shall be assessed, levied, and collected within the respective taxing districts in the manner prescribed by law; and (4) in each local budget year in which the function of a county jail is transferred from the county government to the authority, the county shall deduct from its final appropriations upon which its permissible county tax levy is calculated, the amount which the county expended for that function during the last full budget year it was included in the county budget. L.2023, c.346, s.6.