Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statements No. 68 and No. 75 address reporting requirements for pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) information, respectively. The audited financial information for each of these statements is released annually by the Division of Pensions and Benefits in the State Treasury. Because Local Finance Board regulations require local authorities, including fire districts, to follow the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) form of accounting, authority and fire district audits must contain the most current GASB 68 and 75 information applicable to the year being audited in order to be complete. Notwithstanding N.J.S.A.

40A:5A-15 of the Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law requiring all authority audits to be completed within four months after the close of the fiscal year, the Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) recognizes that the GASB

68 and 75 reporting delay has hindered the completion of a number of authority and fire district audits through no fault of their own. As such, the Division does not consider CY2023 audits awaiting the most current GASB 68 or 75 reports for purposes of completion to be late.

The Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) in partnership with Rutgers Center for Government Services (CGS) announces the publication of Version 2.1 of the N.J. Local Public Contracts Law and Regulations Reference Guide.

Fire district auditors of record are now able to submit the annual audit and related documents through the Financial Automation Submission & Tracking (FAST) system. Access to the fire district audit module is currently being limited to the auditor of record for each fire district.

Fire districts are reminded that the 2022 audit and all required supporting documentation were due on September 29, 2023, per LFN 2023-10. The audit and supporting documents are required to be uploaded and submitted through the FAST system to begin the

2024 budget review process. Fire district officials must click the "submit button" in FAST to successfully transmit their audit and budget package to the Division. Uploading the budget and supporting documentation without clicking the "submit button" does not constitute proper submission and may result in delays in the review process and the adoption of the fire district budgets.

Please do not send paper copies of the audit or budget to the Division as they will not be accepted.

Municipal Clerks: please forward this message to any fire districts located within your municipality. 

Auditors: please forward to your fire district clients.

P.L. 2019, c. 366 (N.J.S.A. 34:1A-1.16) authorized the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) to create a list on its website, dubbed the Workplace Accountability in Labor List (The WALL), of any person found in violation of any State wage, benefit, and tax laws and against whom a final order has been issued by the NJDOL for such violation.  Any person or business named on The WALL is prohibited from contracting with any contracting unit until the liability for violations of State wage, benefit, and tax laws have been paid in full. 

P.L. 2022, c. 3, signed into law on March 9, 2022, required the State Department of the Treasury (Treasury) to develop, based on credible information available to the public, a list of persons and entities engaging in prohibited activities in Russia or Belarus (Russia-Belarus list). On August 4, 2023, a company obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, which enjoins the State from enforcing N.J.S.A. 52:32-60.1 against that company on the ground that the statute is likely inconsistent with federal law. Due to the ongoing litigation, Treasury has removed the Russia-Belarus list from its website, and the State (along with its agencies and instrumentalities) has voluntarily suspended further implementation of the Russia-Belarus law until further order of the Court.

While the State continues to defend the law in court, in light of the Court's decision and the Russia-Belarus list being taken down, contracting units under the Local Public Contracts Law, Public School Contracts Law, and County College Contracts Law are not required to enforce the Russia-Belarus vendor/contractor certification requirement at this time.

There have been reports that some municipalities are allowing Contractors to bid on Design-Build projects who are not DPMC classified in the Design Build trade (C007) and therefore are not approved to perform work as a Design Build Contractor in accordance with P.L. 2021, c. 71. For Design Build projects undertaken by local governments and boards of education, N.J.A.C. 5:34-10.7(5) requires the bidder on a project to be classified with DPMC in the Design-Build trade (C007). No other DPMC trade classifications are allowable or appropriate for the prime contractor/bidder on a Design-Build project. See the DLGS Design-Build regulations at for further details. In the near future, DLGS will be issuing a Local Finance Notice with further guidance on the design build process.

Notice sent to: Procurement Officials; Municipal & County CFOs; Administrators/Managers; Authority Officials; Fire District Officials; Auditor Listserv

The Director of DLGS has extended to September 29, 2023 the deadline for all local units with a calendar year budget cycle to complete and file their 2022 audits.  This extension applies to counties, calendar year municipalities, and all calendar year authorities, including fire districts. The Order is available on the DLGS Rules and Regulations webpage. 

For the annual audits of counties and calendar year municipalities only, the Division is authorizing inclusion of the GASB 68 and GASB 75 information most recently published by the Division of Pensions and Benefits.

Counties and calendar year municipalities do not need to wait for the 2022 audited GASB 68 & GASB 75 information to be issued before completing and filing their audits. Authorities and fire districts are still required to include the 2022 audited GASB 68 and GASB 75 information in their CY2022 audits.

The Division of Local Government Services (DLGS) has been notified that the GASB 75 pension reports as of June 30, 2021 have been posted to the Division of Pensions and Benefits website. DLGS, encourages all Districts to submit their 2023 Introduced Budget along with either a final or draft copy of your 2021 audit schedules to expedite the DLGS budget review process.

Fire districts are reminded that the budget, audit, and all supporting documentation are required to be uploaded and submitted through the FAST system in order to begin the budget review process.  Fire district officials must click the submit button in FAST to successfully transmit their budget package to the Division.  Uploading the budget and supporting documentation without clicking the submit button does not constitute proper submission and may result in delays in the review process and the adoption of fire district budgets. 

Municipal Clerks, please forward this message to any fire districts located within your municipality.  Auditors, please forward to your fire district clients.

The Director of the Division of Local Government Services has adopted regulatory amendments implementing certain changes relevant to DLGS-licensed positions.  These changes include:

-              The ability to bank up to 50% of surplus continuing education (CEU) contact hours earned during a license renewal cycle extended pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:27D-18.5 into the next renewal cycle.

                This carry over allowance is effective one time only.

-              Commencing with qualified purchasing agent (QPA) license renewals due by December 31, 2022: 

          -     increasing from 20 to 25 the total number of CEU contact hours a QPA must earn during a license renewal cycle; and

          -     increasing the minimum required number of CEU contact hours for the "procurement procedures" category from two (2) to five (5).

-              Creating a new optional continuing education category for QPAs on compliance with public works contracting laws.

-              Requiring a contracting unit to notify its auditor whenever a QPA vacates the position, unless the auditor makes an annual inquiry on whether a contracting unit has appointed a QPA or temporary QPA.