[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Franklin as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former Art. I, Prohibition of Awarding
Contracts to Certain Contributors, adopted 10-28-2003 by Ord. No.
3405, was repealed 3-27-2018 by Ord. No. 4222-18. This ordinance also
provided for the adoption of N.J.S.A. 19:44A-1 et seq., the New Jersey
Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act, by reference.
A.
Any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding,
the Township of Franklin (hereinafter "Township") or any of its purchasing
agents or agencies or those of its independent authorities, as the
case may be, shall not enter into an agreement, amend an agreement,
or otherwise contract with any redeveloper for the planning, replanning,
construction or undertaking of any redevelopment project, including
the acquisition or leasing of any public property in conjunction with
the redevelopment of any area within the Township pursuant to the
Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, if that redeveloper has made
any contribution of money or pledge of a contribution, including in-kind
contributions, during the applicable time period as specified below,
to a campaign committee of any Township candidate or holder of public
office within the Township having responsibility for arranging, entering
into, or approving the redevelopment agreement, or for appointing
those who enter into the agreement on behalf of the Township, or to
any municipal political campaign committee, or to any Somerset County
party committee, or to any political action committee which regularly
engages in the support of municipal elections and/or municipal parties
or which engages in the support of Township municipal campaigns (PAC).
For purposes of this section, the "applicable time period" shall be
defined as the time period between the date that the property which
is the subject of the redevelopment project has been included in a
memorializing resolution adopted by the governing body directing the
Planning Board to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine
if the site is in need of redevelopment pursuant to and in accordance
with the New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A.
40A:12A-1 et seq., and the date of entering into the redevelopment
agreement.
B.
All redevelopment agreements or amendments thereto entered into by the Township shall contain a provision prohibiting redevelopers as defined in Subsection C to solicit or make any contribution of money or pledge of a contribution, including in-kind contributions, to any Township candidate or holder of public office within the Township having responsibility for arranging, entering into, or approving the redevelopment agreement, or for appointing those who enter into the agreement on behalf of the Township, or to any Township political campaign committee, or to any Township or Somerset County party committee, or to any political action committee which regularly engages in the support of municipal elections and/or municipal parties or which engages in the support of Township municipal campaigns (PAC), between the time of first communication between that redeveloper and the municipality regarding a redevelopment project and the later of the termination of negotiations or the completion of all matters specified in the redevelopment agreement.
C.
As defined in N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-3, a "redeveloper"
means any person, firm, corporation or public body that shall enter
into or propose to enter into a contract with a municipality or other
redevelopment entity for the redevelopment or rehabilitation of an
area in need of redevelopment, or an area in need of rehabilitation,
or any part thereof, under the provisions of this Act, or for any
construction or other work forming part of a redevelopment or rehabilitation
project. For the purposes of this article, the definition of a "redeveloper"
includes all principals who own 10% or more of the equity in the corporation
or business trust, partners, and officers in the aggregate employed
by the provider as well as any affiliates or subsidiaries directly
controlled by the redeveloper. Spouses and adult children at home
shall also be included. For the purposes of this article the definition
of "redeveloper" shall exclude any person, firm, or corporation that
is the owner of the real property that is the subject of the redevelopment
agreement. In order to qualify for this exclusion, the owner of the
real property must be the sole owner of all the real property which
is the subject of the redevelopment contract or agreement on the date
they were designated the redeveloper, and no provision of the redevelopment
contract or agreement shall:
(1)
Require or in any way authorize the use of the powers
of eminent domain by the redevelopment entity or the Township;
(2)
Provide for any tax abatement, tax exemption;
(3)
Require the expenditure or contribution of any public
funds;
(4)
Provide for redevelopment area bond financing;
(5)
Provide for the establishment of a revenue allocation
district; or
(6)
Provide for an Urban Enterprise Zone grant.
D.
For the purposes of this section, the office that
is considered to have responsibility for arranging and entering into
the redevelopment agreement under the Act shall be:
(1)
The Township Council, if the redevelopment agreement
requires approval or appropriation from the Council, or a public officer
who is responsible for arranging and entering into the redevelopment
agreement, if that public officer is appointed by Council; or
(2)
The Franklin Township Redevelopment Agency, if it
is the designated redevelopment entity.
No contribution of money or any other thing
of value, including in-kind contributions, made by a redeveloper to
any Township candidate for Mayor or Township Council or Township political
campaign committee shall be deemed a violation of this section nor
shall an agreement for redevelopment projects of any kind whatsoever
be disqualified thereby if that contribution or agreement was made
by the redeveloper prior to the effective date of this section.
A.
It shall be the municipality's continuing responsibility
to give notice of this section when the municipality gives notice
of redevelopment pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-6 and when the municipality
adopts a resolution directing the Planning Board to prepare a redevelopment
plan and at the time that the municipality adopts the ordinance to
implement the redevelopment plan.
B.
Prior to arranging and entering into the redevelopment agreement with any redeveloper, the Township or any of its purchasing agents or agencies or independent authorities, as the case may be, shall receive a sworn statement from the redeveloper that the redeveloper has not made any contribution in violation of § 54-6A above. Furthermore, the redeveloper shall have a continuing duty to report any violations of this article that may occur while arranging and entering into the redevelopment agreement, and until all specified terms of the agreement have been completed. The certification required under this subsection shall be made prior to entry into the agreement with the municipality and shall be in addition to any other certifications that may be required by any other provision of law.
A.
The contribution and disclosure requirements in this
article shall apply to all redevelopers as well as professionals,
consultants or lobbyists contracted or employed by the business entity
ultimately designated as the redeveloper to provide services related
to:
(1)
Lobbying of government officials in connection with
the examination of an area and its designation as an area in need
of redevelopment or in connection with the preparation, consultation
and adoption of the redevelopment plan;
(2)
Obtaining the designation or appointment as redeveloper;
(3)
Negotiating the terms of a redevelopment agreement
or any amendments or modifications thereto; and
(4)
Performing the terms of a redevelopment agreement.
B.
It shall be a breach of the consultant's contract,
and shall require immediate termination, for a consultant to violate
the contribution limits and disclosure requirements in this article.
C.
A redeveloper who participates in, or facilitates,
the circumvention of the contribution restrictions through consultants
or professionals shall be deemed to be in breach.
A redeveloper or municipal candidate or officeholder or municipal or county party committee or PAC referenced in this article may cure a violation of § 54-6 of this Act, if, within 30 days after the date on which the applicable ELEC Report is published, the redeveloper notifies the Municipal Council in writing and seeks and receives reimbursement of a contribution from the municipal candidate or municipal or county political party or PAC referenced in this article.
A.
It shall be a breach of the terms of the Township
redevelopment agreement for a redeveloper to: a) make or solicit a
contribution in violation of this article; b) knowingly conceal or
misrepresent a contribution given or received; c) make or solicit
contributions through intermediaries for the purpose of concealing
or misrepresenting the source of the contribution; d) make or solicit
any contribution on the condition or with the agreement that it will
be contributed to a campaign committee of any candidate or holder
of the public office of Township; e) engage or employ a lobbyist or
consultant with the intent or understanding that such lobbyist or
consultant would make or solicit any contribution which if made or
solicited by the redeveloper itself would subject that entity to the
restrictions of this article; f) fund contributions made by third
parties, including consultants, attorneys, family members, and employees;
g) engage in any exchange of contributions to circumvent the intent
of this article; or h) directly or indirectly, through or by any other
person or means, do any act which would subject that entity to the
restrictions of this article.
