[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Kinnelon
4-17-2003 by Ord. No. 4-03. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Any person or entity that requests that the Borough undertake an action, including but not limited to, rezoning, vacation of streets, transfer of property, construction, installation, or maintenance of an existing or new improvement, which request specifically benefits a particular individual, entity, or property and results in the Borough incurring fees for professional services as defined in § 47-31M(2) shall be responsible for payment of such fees.
A.
Escrow account. The applicant shall be required to establish
an escrow account with the Borough to cover the reasonable costs of any of
the following activities associated with or resulting from the requested activity:
(1)
Professional review;
(2)
Professional consultation;
(3)
Preparation of documents such as, but not limited to,
drafting resolutions and ordinances;
(4)
Review of documents, including but not limited to insurance
certificates, performance and maintenance guaranties, deeds; and
(5)
Necessary correspondence with the applicant or applicant's
professionals.
B.
Payments made by Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial
Officer of the Borough shall make all of the payments or reimbursements to
the Borough or professionals for services rendered to the Borough for review
of the request, review and preparation of the documents, inspection of the
improvements or other purposes. The amount of the escrow shall be determined
by the Chief Financial Officer, taking into account the scope of the request
and the projected involvement of the Borough's professionals. The escrow deposit
shall be made prior to the time that any costs are incurred by the Borough
for the processing of the request. Except as set forth to the contrary in
this chapter, the escrow shall be administered in the same manner as set forth
in N.J.S.A. 40:55D-53.2 and § 47-31(M)(9) of the Code of the Borough
of Kinnelon.
C.
Additional charges. The only costs that shall be added
to any such charges shall be actual out-of-pocket expenses of any such professionals
or consultants, including normal and typical expenses incurred in processing
and responding to requests and inspecting improvements. The Borough shall
not bill the applicant or charge any escrow account for any clerical or administrative
functions performed by the Borough, overhead expenses, meeting room charges,
or any other Borough costs and expenses, nor shall a Borough staff professional
add any such charges to his bill.
D.
Limitation on charges. If the salary, staff support and
overhead for a Borough professional are provided by the Borough, the charge
shall not exceed 200% of the sum of the products resulting from multiplying
the hourly base salary, which shall be established annually by ordinance,
of each of the professionals by the number of hours spent by the respective
professional upon review of the request and/or inspection of the site of said
action, if necessary. For other professionals, the charge shall be at the
same rate as all other work of the same nature by the professional for the
Borough when the fees are not reimbursed by the applicant.
E.
Review charges. All professional charges for review of
a requested action and review and/or preparation of documents shall be reasonable
and necessary, given the status and progress of the requested action.
F.
Inspection fees. Inspection fees shall be charged for
any inspection reasonably necessary to evaluate the request or check the progress
and work quality of any action undertaken.
G.
Review required by the State of New Jersey. A professional
shall not review items which are subject to approval by any state governmental
agency and not under Borough jurisdiction, except to the extent consultation
with a state agency is necessary due to the effect of state approvals on the
action undertaken.
H.
Change of professionals. If the Borough retains a different
professional or consultant in the place of the professional originally responsible
for the review or inspection of the requested action, the Borough shall be
responsible for all time and expense of the new professional to become familiar
with the requested action and the Borough shall not bill the applicant or
charge the escrow account for any such services.
I.
Payment by voucher. All professional services shall be paid pursuant to the voucher procedure, as established in § 47-31M(9).
J.
Close-out procedures. At the conclusion of any work undertaken at the request of an individual or entity, the escrow account must be closed out according to the procedure specified in § 47-31M(13)(a) through (d).
A.
Any applicant disputing the charges for professional
services shall provide written notification detailing the specific charges
disputed and the reasons for the dispute to the governing body of the Borough
and forward copies to the Chief Financial Officer and the professional whose
charges are being disputed. An applicant shall dispute professional fees within
45 days from receipt of the informational copy of the professional's voucher.
If an informational copy of the voucher is not supplied to the applicant,
the applicant shall dispute the fees within 60 days of receipt of the Borough's
statement of activity against the escrow or deposit.
B.
The governing body or its designee shall attempt to remediate
any disputed charges within a reasonable time period.
