Freeholders concerned about New Jersey Association of Counties

Morris County in New Jersey is concerned about its membership in a taxpayer-funded lobbying association.

Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations are groups of similar government entities. These groups facilitate communication between like-governments, such as county-to-county, and represent the collective interests of these governments before the legislature.

The county will be withholding dues of $10,000 to the New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC), pending an independent audit of the agency. The county also wants cuts in pay and benefits to NJAC’s director and staff.

Dues for taxpayer-lobbying groups can range from a low hundred-dollar figure, to several tens of thousands, as the dues for NJAC. In return, organizations offer education, suggestions on adhering to state policy, and legislative updates, as well as legislative representation.

The freeholders involved in questioning the NJAC are not diminishing the importance or legitimacy of such organizations:

“NJAC is worthwhile. It gives counties a voice in Trenton. But I believe some drastic reforms are needed.’’

Freeholder boards in Sussex and Warren counties will also withhold dues. As a result of the attention, the association has hired an auditor to scrutinize the operation and finance and personnel committees were revived.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Taxpayer-funded lobbying is an obscure area, and a lot of the ethical issues are, as of yet, not worked out.

UPDATE: The executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties plans to step down from position as a result of the recent criticism.