The Honorable Mayor and Members of the Township Council Township of Jackson Jackson, New Jersey 08527
We have audited the financial statements of the Township of Jackson in the County of Ocean for the year ended December 31, 2013. In accordance with requirements prescribed by the Division of Local Government Services, Department of Community Affairs, State of New Jersey, the following are the General Comments and Recommendations for the year then ended.
N.J.S.A.40A:11-4 - Every contract or agreement, for the performance of any work or furnishing or hiring of any materials or supplies, the cost or the contract price whereof is to be paid with or out of public funds not included within the terms of Section 3 of this act, shall be made or awarded only by the governing body of the contracting unit after public advertising for bids and bidding therefore, except as is provided otherwise in this act or specifically by any other Law. No work, materials or supplies shall be undertaken, acquired or furnished for a sum exceeding in the aggregate $17,500 except by contract or agreement. The Township employs a qualified purchasing agent.
It is pointed out that the governing body of the municipality has the responsibility of determining whether the expenditures in any category will exceed the statutory minimum within the fiscal year. Where question arises as to whether any contract or agreement might result in violation of the statute, the solicitor's opinion should be sought before a commitment is made.
The minutes indicate that resolutions were adopted authorizing the awarding of contracts or agreements for "Professional Services," per N.J.S.A.40A:11-5.
Inasmuch as the system of records did not provide for an accumulation of payments for categories for the performance of any work or the furnishing or hiring of any materials or supplies, the results of such an accumulation could not reasonably be ascertained. Disbursements were reviewed, however, to determine whether any clear-cut violations existed.
The examination of expenditures did not reveal any individual payments, contracts or agreements in excess of $3,900 "for the performance of any work or the furnishing or hiring of any materials or supplies", other than those where bids had been previously sought by public advertisement or where a resolution had been previously adopted under the provision of (N.J.S.A.40A:11-6.1).
127