Faulkner Act


The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor of Montclair, New Jersey, U.S., and former chairman of the Commission on Municipal Government.

Overview

The Faulkner Act offers four basic plans and two procedures by which the voters of a municipality can adopt one of these plans. The Act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municipal affairs. Twenty-one percent of the municipalities in New Jersey, including the four most populous cities all govern under the provisions of the Faulkner Act. More than half of all New Jersey residents reside in municipalities with Faulkner Act charters.
In all Faulkner Act municipalities, regardless of the particular form, citizens enjoy the right of initiative and referendum, meaning that proposed ordinances can be introduced directly by the people without action by the local governing body. This right is exercised by preparing a conforming petition signed by 10% of the registered voters who turned out in the last general election in an odd-numbered year. Once the petition is submitted, the local governing body can vote to pass the requested ordinance, and if they refuse, it is then submitted directly to the voters.

History

The Faulkner Act was created to provide municipalities with greater flexibility than provided in New Jersey's traditional forms of government and to expand on the reforms provided in the Walsh Act and the 1923 Municipal Manager Law.
As originally enacted in 1950, the Faulkner Act provided for three forms of government: mayor–council, council–manager, and small municipality. Within each form, letter codes designated predefined aspects of each form and its individual arrangement of options, such as partisan or nonpartisan elections, concurrent or staggered terms, all at large or a combination of ward and at large seats.
In 1981, the Faulkner Act was significantly amended. The letter codes were eliminated, and the number of varieties within each plan was greatly increased. The council–manager plan was amended to include the option of having a mayor chosen by the electorate. A new form, mayor–council–administrator, was added. Municipalities were also given greater flexibility to amend their Faulkner Act charter without having to place the entire charter on the ballot.

Forms of government

There are four forms available to municipalities through the Faulkner Act:

Mayor–council

The mayor–council form features a mayor with strong powers and a city council with five to nine members. Municipalities under this plan establish three to ten executive departments, headed by a director appointed by the mayor with the consent of the council.
This form of government provides for election of a mayor and five, seven, or nine council members. All council members may be elected at large, or some may be elected by wards; they may be partisan or nonpartisan, and serve four-year concurrent or staggered terms. There may be up to ten administrative departments. Mayors in this system are vested with broad executive power.
The following municipalities have adopted mayor–council system under the Faulkner Act:
MunicipalityCounty
Atlantic CityAtlantic
Avalon BoroughCape May
Bayonne CityHudson
Berkeley TownshipOcean
Brick TownshipOcean
Bridgeton CityCumberland
Bridgewater TownshipSomerset
Burlington CityBurlington
Burlington TownshipBurlington
Camden CityCamden
Cherry Hill TownshipCamden
Clark TownshipUnion
Delran TownshipBurlington
Denville TownshipMorris
East Brunswick TownshipMiddlesex
Edison TownshipMiddlesex
Elizabeth CityUnion
Ewing TownshipMercer
Florence TownshipBurlington
Gloucester TownshipCamden
Hamilton TownshipMercer
Harrison TownHudson
Hawthorne BoroughPassaic
Hillside TownshipUnion
Hoboken CityHudson
Irvington TownshipEssex
Jackson Township Ocean
Jefferson TownshipMorris
Jersey CityHudson
Lincoln Park BoroughMorris
Little Falls TownshipPassaic
Long Branch CityMonmouth
Mahwah TownshipBergen
Manchester TownshipOcean
Marlboro TownshipMonmouth
Mine Hill TownshipMorris
Monroe TownshipGloucester
Monroe TownshipMiddlesex
Morristown TownMorris
Mount Olive TownshipMorris
Mountainside BoroughUnion
Mullica TownshipAtlantic
Newark CityEssex
New Brunswick CityMiddlesex
North Caldwell BoroughEssex
North Plainfield BoroughSomerset
OaklynCamden
Ocean CityCape May
Old Bridge TownshipMiddlesex
Orange City TownshipEssex
Parsippany-Troy Hills TownshipMorris
Passaic CityPassaic
Paterson CityPassaic
Pemberton TownshipBurlington
Perth Amboy CityMiddlesex
Phillipsburg TownWarren
Plainfield CityUnion
Piscataway TownshipMiddlesex
Rahway CityUnion
River Vale TownshipBergen
Robbinsville Township Mercer
Rockaway TownshipMorris
Saddle Brook TownshipBergen
Sea Isle City Cape May
South Amboy CityMiddlesex
Spotswood BoroughMiddlesex
Tinton Falls BoroughMonmouth
Toms River TownshipOcean
Trenton CityMercer
Vernon TownshipSussex
Vineland CityCumberland
Washington TownshipBergen
Washington TownshipGloucester
Wayne TownshipPassaic
West Orange TownshipEssex
West Windsor TownshipMercer
Wildwood CityCape May
Woodbridge TownshipMiddlesex

Council–manager

The council–manager plan places complete responsibility for municipal affairs in the council. The council appoints a municipal manager who is the chief executive with broad authority. While the council–manager plan is quite similar to the 1923 Municipal Manager Law, the Faulkner Act version does not provide tenure for the municipal manager, who can be removed by a vote of the council.
The council consists of five, seven, or nine members elected either at-large or a combination of at-large and by wards for four-year terms. The mayor, who is either elected at-large or by council from among its members for a four-year term, chairs the council, but has no appointment or veto power. The council hires a manager, who serves as the chief executive and administrative official. The manager prepares the budget, appoints and removes department heads, and attends council meetings, but does not have a vote.
The following municipalities have adopted council–manager system under the Faulkner Act:
MunicipalityCounty
Aberdeen TownshipMonmouth County
Asbury ParkMonmouth County
BellevilleEssex County
BrigantineAtlantic County
Byram TownshipSussex County
Cape MayCape May County
Cedar GroveEssex County
Deptford TownshipGloucester County
East Windsor TownshipMercer County
Eastampton TownshipBurlington County
Evesham TownshipBurlington County
Fair LawnBergen County
Franklin TownshipSomerset
Galloway TownshipAtlantic County
Howell TownshipMonmouth County
KeansburgMonmouth County
Lawrence TownshipMercer County
LivingstonEssex County
Lower TownshipCape May County
Maple Shade TownshipBurlington County
Medford TownshipBurlington County
MontclairEssex County
Moorestown TownshipBurlington County
Mount Holly TownshipBurlington County
Mount Laurel TownshipBurlington County
Mountain LakesMorris County
NewtonSussex County
Ocean TownshipMonmouth County
Pequannock TownshipMorris County
Randolph TownshipMorris County
Red Bank BoroughMonmouth County
RidgewoodBergen County
RingwoodPassaic County
Roxbury TownshipMorris County
South Brunswick TownshipMiddlesex County
Sparta TownshipSussex County
Springfield TownshipBurlington County
TeaneckBergen County
VeronaEssex County
WashingtonWarren County
WeehawkenHudson County
Willingboro TownshipBurlington County