Township of West Milford, NJ Fees

[Amended 10-3-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-35; 10-16-2002 by Ord. No. 2002-39; 5-21-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-22; 12-11-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-51[1]]

The application charge shall be a flat fee to cover administrative expenses and shall be paid in one check. The escrow account shall be established to cover the costs of professional services, including planning review, inspection and engineering review, and shall be paid in a separate check.

The application charge shall be a flat fee to cover administrative expenses. The escrow account shall be established to cover the costs of professional services, including planning review and inspection, engineering review and inspection, legal, Health Department and other expenses connected with the proposed development application. Sums not utilized in the review and inspection process shall be returned to the applicant. At no time shall the application fee or the initial escrow fee exceed $10,000. If additional escrow sums are deemed necessary, the applicant shall be notified of the required additional amount and shall add such sum to the escrow prior to the hearing of the application.

The application charges and escrow charges are set forth in Chapter 414, Fees, Land Development.

[1]

Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

[Amended 4-6-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-11; 4-19-2000 by Ord. No. 2000-6; 3-26-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-006]

In addition to the base application fees set forth pursuant to § 470-26, the applicant shall also pay to the Township of West Milford a review fee escrow deposit in the amount set forth in Chapter 414, Fees, Land Development.

Deposits received from any developer pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a banking institution or savings-and-loan association in New Jersey insured by an agency of the federal government or any other fund or depository approved for such deposits by the State of New Jersey.

(1)

Deposits under $5,000 received from any developer pursuant to this section will be placed in one account and monitored by separate ledger.

(2)

Deposits in excess of $5,000 received from any developer pursuant to this section shall be placed in an account bearing interest at the minimum rate currently paid by the institution or depository on time or savings deposits. The deposits shall be deposited to a review fee trust account identified with the name of the applicant and the filing number of the application for development. The Township shall notify the applicant, in writing, of the name and address of the institution or depository in which the deposit is made and the amount of the deposit. The Township shall not refund an amount of interest paid on a deposit which does not exceed $100 for the year. If the amount of interest exceeds $100, that entire amount shall belong to the applicant and shall be refunded to him by the Township annually or at the time the deposit is repaid, as the case may be, except that the Township shall retain for administrative expenses a sum equivalent to no more than 33 1/3% of that entire amount, which shall be in lieu of all other administrative and custodial expenses.

The review fee escrow deposit shall be applied to defray the actual and reasonable expenses incurred by the Township of West Milford for professional services in connection with the processing of the application for development.

(1)

An applicant shall be responsible to reimburse the Township for:

(a)

All expenses of professional personnel incurred and paid by it necessary to process an application for development before a municipal agency, such as, but not by way of limitation:

[1]

Charges for reviews by professional personnel of applications and accompanying documents.

[2]

Issuance of reports by professional personnel to the municipal agency setting forth recommendations resulting from the review of any documents submitted by the applicant.

[3]

Charges for any telephone conference or meeting requested or initiated by the applicant, his attorney or any of his experts.

[4]

Review of additional documents submitted by the applicant and issuance of reports relating thereto.

[5]

Review or preparation of easements, developer's agreements, deeds or the like.

[6]

Preparation for and attendance at the board meetings under certain circumstances in accordance with the Municipal Land Use Law,[1] including special meetings that were called at the applicant's request.

[1]

Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.

[7]

The preparation of a resolution or memorializing resolution setting forth the findings and conclusions of the municipal agency with respect to the application.

(b)

The cost of expert advice or testimony obtained by the municipal agency for the purpose of corroborating testimony of the applicant's experts, provided that the municipal agency gives prior notice to the applicant of its intention to obtain such additional expert advice or testimony and affords the applicant an opportunity to be heard as to the necessity for such additional advice or testimony and definition of the limitations of the nature and extent thereof.

(c)

All professionals are required to submit their respective vouchers for the professional services rendered in the processing of the applications for development within the statutory time period as provided by the Municipal Land Use Law.

(d)

If the salary, staff support and overhead for a Township professional are provided by the Township (and not through an independent contractor), the charge imposed shall be 200% of the hourly base salary of each Township professional, which salary is established by ordinance.

(2)

If, during the processing of the application, the funds remaining in the escrow account are depleted below a sum equal to 25% of the original deposit or $500, whichever is greater, the applicant shall deposit additional funds to bring the escrow account equal to the larger of either $500 or 50% of the original deposit before the application shall continue to be processed by the approving authority and prior to action on the application. By mutual agreement, the applicant and the approving authority may agree to another payment schedule where the size and scope of the application may warrant it. Upon final disposition of the application, unused funds in the escrow deposit account shall be returned to the applicant, pursuant to the procedure set forth in N.J.S.A. 40:55D53.2. If there should become a delinquency in an escrow account that goes unpaid and the applicant fails to deposit the additional funds as required by this section, such failure shall be considered a violation of this chapter, which payment may be enforced by the land use administrator or his/her designee by way of summary action in municipal court.

[Amended 6-24-2009 by Ord. No. 2009-010]