By Thomas J. Hastie, Jr. As our calendars turn to April, your municipality has prepared and introduced its 2023 budget and begun the adoption process. During this time, municipal finance officials became adept at using the concept of a penny to help explain the impact of tax increases on property owners and anticipated revenue through the municipality. Simply put, a penny on a dollar is the amount of additional revenue a municipality would realize if it increased its municipal tax…

Responsibilities of local governments for drinking water supplies and wastewater treatment Drinking Water The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) formally adopted drinking water standards that establish limits for the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perflourooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), the so-called ‘forever chemicals,’ in public water supplies.  As a result, drinking water now has a tougher regulatory limit of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) requiring municipalities to implement more effective water treatment practices.  The requirement for monitoring public water…

Author: Thomas J. Hastie, Esq., Public Finance Chair, Malamut & Associates, LLC After years of attractive interest rates, the great interest rate reckoning may have finally arrived.  Or not.  The truth is we really do not know.  Since the end of 2021, many financial and economic experts have documented a rise in the municipal market data index, with a resulting rise in actual interest rates for municipal bonds and short-term notes.  And while the expectation is that rates will continue…