Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon and the Borough Council fired off copies of their resolution in support of changing legal advertising laws to enable a borough to publish their legal advertising on a local government’s official website at their meeting last week. Their action calls on state legislators to take swift action that would save thousands of dollars for municipalities yet still keep the public informed.
For many years, municipalities and all public entities have been required to publish all their legal notices, including ordinances, meeting dates, in a newspaper circulating in their area.
That has become more difficult over the years, Broullon pointed out, both with the closure of many newspapers as well as the expense to residents to purchase newspapers. Newspapers themselves have made many adjustments to meet the higher cost of publication, including a local weekly which several months ago changed its status from a profit-making organization to a nonprofit organization. Printing legals that are required by the borough means taxpayers are funding a non-profit without knowing specifically what they are supporting with their tax dollar.
With the need on some occasions to print a legal notice within 48 hours, it is often necessary for a municipality to use a daily newspaper, whose overall circulation makes the legal fee even higher.
The costs for legal advertising run into thousands of dollars for Monmouth County taxpayers, as well. Meeting legal requirements to advertise for foreclosure sales, as an example, cost more than $3,000 in a recent issue of a local weekly newspaper.
Last December, the legislation passed P.L.2024 c.106, which allowed publication of required public notices and legal advertisements in newspapers for an extended period regardless of format. That action was taken as a temporary solution that allowed local governments to comply with public notice requirements in time for annual reorganization meetings last January.
However, with the March 1 provision imposed on that law, Broullon is calling for the Legislature to act quickly and enable municipalities to save legal advertising money quickly.
“ Local government officials serve as the stewards of property taxpayer dollars and should no longer be required to subsidize the newspaper industry with revenues college from publishing legal notices,” the resolution, which was passed unanimously said.
The resolution cited changes that have taken place in the newspaper industry that indicate changes for the legal advertising policy should also change. “The media has become almost exclusively digitized and struggled to retain staff, resources and publications,” Broullon said, making it increasingly difficult for government officials to comply with the current public notice requirements.
Allowing municipalities to public all their legal notices on its own official website, she continued, “will streamline an antiquated and overly burdensome process and save valuable time, resources and property taxpayer dollars.”
Broullon and the Highlands council are urging state officials to pass the necessary legislation that would authorize municipalities, as well as counties, school districts and all local governments to make public their legal notices “in a clear, transparent and timely manner “ on an official website.
