40A:4-9. Amendments to budget

40A:4-9. a. Amendments to budgets required by the director may be made prior to the time of holding the public hearing on the budget, without public advertisement.

b. The governing body may amend the budget during or after the public hearing. All amendments shall be read in full and shall be forthwith submitted to the director.

c. Except as provided in subsection e. of this section, no amendment by the governing body shall be effective until taxpayers and all persons having an interest therein shall have been granted a public hearing thereon, if such amendment shall:

1. add a new item of appropriation in an amount in excess of 1% of the total amount of appropriations as stated in the approved budget, or

2. increase or decrease any item of appropriation by more than 10%, or

3. increase the amount to be raised by taxes by more than 5%, unless the same is made to include an emergency temporary appropriation only.

Notice of hearing on any amendment shall be advertised at least three days before the date set therefor. Any such amendment must be published in full or by a summary pursuant to subsection d. of this section in the same manner as an original publication and must be read in full at the hearing and before adoption.

d. The governing body of a municipality or county may satisfy the publication requirements for an amendment by publishing a summary stating the main provisions of the amendment and the location, telephone number and office hours of the principal municipal or county building where copies of the amendment are available and the name of the person or office to be contacted if a person wants to receive a copy of the amendment by mail. The summary shall be published in the manner provided in subsection b. of section 12 of P.L.1995, c.259 (C.40A:4-6.1).

e. Amendments to budgets required by the director after certification of State aid amounts, for the purpose of appropriating State aid revenue to be received by the municipality in the local budget year that may have the effect of reducing the amount required to be raised by taxation for local purposes, may be made without public advertisement or public hearing.

L.1960, c.169, s.1; amended 1964,c.78,s.3; 1995,c.259,s.10.