New Jersey § 58:26-2

§ 58:26-2.

The Legislature finds that the construction, rehabilitation, operation, and maintenance

of modern and efficient water filtration facilities are essential to protecting and

improving the State's water quality; that many of the water filtration systems in

New Jersey must be replaced or upgraded if an inexorable decline in water quality

is to be avoided during the coming decades; that the citizens of this State, in recognition

of the crucial role the construction of new and the upgrading of existing water supply

facilities play in maintaining and augmenting the natural water resources of the State,

and with an understanding that the cost of financing and constructing these systems

is beyond the limited financial resource capabilities of local governments and authorities

and must be borne by the bonding authority of the State and repaid, in part, through

a system of water supply user charges, approved the enactment of the “Water Supply

Bond Act of 1981” (P.L. 1981, c. 261); that the water filtration needs of the State

are so great that the limited funds allocated for this purpose from the “Water Supply

Fund” established by that 1981 bond act are insufficient; that given this inadequate

present level of State funding, alternative methods of financing the construction

of new or the rehabilitation of antiquated or inadequate existing water filtration

systems must be developed and encouraged; that one alternative method of financing

these necessary facilities available to local government units consists of contracting

with private-sector firms for the financing, construction and operation of these systems;

and that for some local government units, contracting for the provision of water supply

services, if done in such a way as to protect the interests of water users and to

conform with environmentally sound water quality standards, will constitute an appropriate

method of securing these needed water filtration systems. The Legislature therefore determines that it is in the public interest to establish

a comprehensive procedure designed to authorize local government units to contract

with private firms for the construction of water filtration systems and the provision

of water supply services.