Treasury Releases List of Spending Items Placed in Reserve

On Jul 3, 2019

The New Jersey Department of the Treasury released the list of spending items in the newly enacted FY 2020 Appropriations Act that have been placed into reserve pursuant to Executive Order No. 73 signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on Sunday.

The executive order authorized the Director of Treasury’s Division of Budget and Accounting (more commonly referred to as the Office of Management and Budget) to immediately identify, and place into reserve, items of appropriation in an amount sufficient to ensure that the state budget remains in balance while maintaining a responsible anticipated surplus balance of $875 million, as well as a Rainy Day Fund deposit of $401 million.

“As directed by the Governor, we have compiled a list of appropriation items that have been placed in reserve until further notice,” said David Ridolfino, acting director of Treasury’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “As noted in the executive order, the items placed in reserve will help the state maintain the surplus goals outlined by the Governor. Our review, pursuant to Executive Order 73, is ongoing and will continue as new or additional information regarding individual items of appropriation is available.”

The executive order (EO) was deemed necessary after the budget passed by the Legislature included up to $235 million in questionable savings items the administration identified as not likely to materialize, as well as initiatives the Legislature added but failed to adequately fund.

The EO laid out the following criteria for consideration by the director in identifying spending items to be placed into reserve, including, but not limited to:

• the amount of the item of appropriation;
• the likely statewide or localized impact of the item;
• the history of state support for the item;
• the timing during the fiscal year of any payment(s) in support of the item; and
• the ability to delay payment until later in the fiscal year while monitoring overall budget performance.

The Governor’s EO stipulated that items for consideration should not be limited to legislative additions to the budget, but instead include all items of appropriation. It also stipulated that the following spending items should not be considered for reservation: items supporting current state-administered programs, services, and benefit levels, particularly items that relate to the health, safety, or welfare of residents.

After weighing all of these factors, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) notified the Governor and treasurer that appropriation items totaling $235 million have been identified and placed into reserve. In total, either a portion or all of the full amount appropriated for 64 line items were placed in reserve.

Pursuant to the EO, the treasurer will monitor whether savings initiatives identified as at risk of non-achievement have actually materialized, and take into consideration monthly revenue collections and other factors, in order to ensure that the estimated Fiscal Year 2020 undesignated fund balance, plus the balance in the Rainy Day Fund, total at least $1.276 billion when added together.

The treasurer and the OMB director are authorized to place additional appropriation items in reserve throughout the fiscal year as long as the conditions that necessitate the EO persist. If, upon notification from the treasurer that amounts in excess of the targeted fund balance are anticipated to be available for expenditure, the director may release items of appropriation from reserve.

DEPARTMENT	LINE ITEM NAME	RESERVE AMOUNT (in 000’s)
Agriculture	Hunters Helping the Hungry	$100
Agriculture	Jersey Fresh	$100
Agriculture	NJ Hemp Farming Fund	$500
Community Affairs	Belleville Twp Recreation Program	$125
Community Affairs	Bergen Family Center Teen Center	$120
Community Affairs	Bergenfield Borough Pedestrian Safety Improvements	$50
Community Affairs	East Brunswick Senior Center	$750
Community Affairs	Ewing Twp Roadway Improvements	$1,000
Community Affairs	Fair Lawn Borough Pedestrian Safety Improvements	$50
Community Affairs	Franklin Twp Stream Restoration	$1,100
Community Affairs	Hamilton Twp (Mercer) Fire District Consolidation (PTRF)	$2,000
Community Affairs	International Youth Organization	$100
Community Affairs	Irvington Twp Camp Irvington Repair and Redevelopment	$3,000
Community Affairs	Little Ferry Borough Traffic Study	$50
Community Affairs	Morris Canal Park, Jersey City	$250
Community Affairs	New Jersey Re-Entry Corporation	$1,000
Community Affairs	NJ Hall of Fame Foundation	$2,500
Community Affairs	NJSHARES S.M.A.R.T. Program	$1,000
Community Affairs	Perth Amboy Green Infrastructure	$250
Community Affairs	Sayreville Borough – Bailey Park Improvements	$500
Community Affairs	South Amboy Intermodal Transit Village	$1,000
Community Affairs	Transitional Aid to Localities (PTRF)	$104,825
Community Affairs	Turtle Back Zoo	$4,000
Community Affairs	Volunteers of America – Re-Entry Services	$1,000
Corrections	Essex County Recidivism Pilot Program	$6,000
Corrections	Essex County-County Jail Substance Use Disorder Programs (PTRF)	$20,000
Corrections	Union County Inmate Rehabilitation Services (PTRF)	$3,500
Education	Governor’s Literacy Initiative	$125
Environmental Protection	Grants for Urban Parks (PTRF)	$4,000
Health	Holy Name Hospital, Teaneck – Palliative Care Pilot Program	$3,000
Health	North Jersey Community Research Initiative	$75
Health	South Jersey Cancer Program – Camden (Cooper)	$15,400
Human Services	New Jersey Elder Index	$200
Human Services	SNAP Administration (PTRF) – Essex County	$7,000
Law and Public Safety	Essex Crime Prevention (PTRF)	$3,000
Legislature	Broadcast Technology Improvements	$350
Legislature	The Council of State Governments	$200
State	Battleship NJ Museum	$1,000
State	Carteret Arts Center	$1,000
State	College Bound	$800
State	Cooper Medical School of Rowan University	$7,000
State	CREATE – Rowan University	$2,000
State	Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission	$100
State	Long Branch Historical Museum – Chapel Restoration	$250
State	Montclair State University – General Operations	$7,503
State	NJ Agricultural Experiment Station	$3,000
State	NJ Civic Information Consortium	$1,000
State	NJ Historic Commission – Celebration of America	$300
State	NJCU – Fort Monmouth Campus	$1,000
State	Ramapo College – General Operations	$1,000
State	Rowan/Cooper Medical School Operations Support	$5,000
State	Rutgers Equine Science Center Operating Support	$95
State	Rutgers New Brunswick School of Engineering – Equipment	$2,500
State	Rutgers University – Camden-Mental Health and Well Being	$170
State	Rutgers/Rowan Joint Board RU Camden Business School	$3,000
State	Stockton University – General Operations	$4,612
State	The College of NJ – General Operations	$1,000
State	Thomas Edison University – General Operations	$1,000
Transportation	Brown Ave/Rt 206, Hillsboro – Large Truck Bypass	$500
Transportation	I-287 Access Ramps from Rt 27 Final Design Costs	$450
Transportation	Restoration of East Orange Train Stations	$1,000
Transportation	Rt 440, Bayonne – Pedestrian Safety Improvements	$250
Transportation	Rt 46/Rt 93 Intersection, Ridgefield – Traffic Study	$250
Treasury	Aid to Independent Colleges and Universities	$1,000
		$235,000

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