Faulkner Act (mayor–council)

The Faulkner Act, or Optional Municipal Charter Law, provides for New Jersey municipalities to adopt a mayor–council government in its "strong-mayor" form.

New Jersey municipal government

Traditional types

Town

Modern forms

1923 municipal manager

Faulkner Act forms

Mayor–council

Council–manager

Small municipality

Mayor–council–administrator

Nonstandard forms

Special charter

Changing form of municipal government

Charter Study Commission

This form of government provides for election of a mayor and five, seven, or nine council members. All council members may be elected at large, or some may be elected by wards; they may be partisan or nonpartisan, and serve four-year concurrent or staggered terms. There may be up to ten administrative departments.[1] Mayors in this system are vested with broad executive power.

As in all Faulkner Act municipalities, citizens in the mayor–council system enjoy the right of initiative and referendum, meaning that proposed ordinances can be introduced directly by the people without action by the local governing body. This right is exercised by preparing a conforming petition signed by 10% of the registered voters who turned out in the last General Assembly election. Once the petition is submitted, the local governing body can vote to pass the requested ordinance, and if it refuses, it is then submitted directly to the voters.

The following municipalities have adopted mayor–council system under the Faulkner Act.

Municipality	County
Atlantic City	Atlantic
Avalon Borough	Cape May
Bayonne City	Hudson
Berkeley Township	Ocean
Brick Township	Ocean
Bridgeton City	Cumberland
Bridgewater Township	Somerset
Burlington City	Burlington
Burlington Township	Burlington
Camden City	Camden
Cherry Hill Township	Camden
Clark Township	Union
Delran Township	Burlington
Denville Township	Morris
East Brunswick Township	Middlesex
Edison Township	Middlesex
Elizabeth City	Union
Ewing Township	Mercer
Florence Township	Burlington
Gloucester Township	Camden
Hamilton Township	Mercer
Harrison Town	Hudson
Hawthorne Borough	Passaic
Hillside Township	Union
Hoboken City	Hudson
Irvington Township	Essex
Jackson Township Switched from Township as of July 1, 2006[2]	Ocean
Jefferson Township	Morris
Jersey City	Hudson
Lincoln Park Borough	Morris
Little Falls Township	Passaic
Long Branch City	Monmouth
Mahwah Township	Bergen
Manchester Township	Ocean
Marlboro Township	Monmouth
Mine Hill Township	Morris
Monroe Township	Gloucester
Monroe Township	Middlesex
Morristown Town	Morris
Mount Olive Township	Morris
Mountainside Borough	Union
Mullica Township	Atlantic
Newark City	Essex
New Brunswick City	Middlesex
North Caldwell Borough	Essex
North Plainfield Borough	Somerset
Oaklyn	Camden
Ocean City	Cape May
Old Bridge Township	Middlesex
Orange City Township	Essex
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township	Morris
Passaic City	Passaic
Paterson City	Passaic
Pemberton Township	Burlington
Perth Amboy City	Middlesex
Phillipsburg Town	Warren
Plainfield City	Union
Piscataway Township	Middlesex
Rahway City	Union
River Vale Township	Bergen
Robbinsville Township (known as Washington Township until 2007)	Mercer
Rockaway Township	Morris
Saddle Brook Township	Bergen
Sea Isle City Switched from Walsh Act as of July 1, 2007[3]	Cape May
Somerville Borough	Somerset
South Amboy City	Middlesex
Spotswood Borough	Middlesex
Tinton Falls Borough	Monmouth
Toms River Township	Ocean
Trenton City	Mercer
Vernon Township	Sussex
Vineland City	Cumberland
Washington Township	Bergen
Washington Township	Gloucester
Wayne Township	Passaic
West Orange Township	Essex
West Windsor Township	Mercer
Wildwood City	Cape May
Willingboro Township	Burlington
Woodbridge Township	Middlesex

References

"Faulkner Act (OMCL) Mayor–Council". Types And Forms Of New Jersey Municipal Government. New Jersey State League of Municipalities. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
Minutes of the 163rd Reorganization Meeting Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, Jackson Township, held July 1, 2006. Accessed June 26, 2008.
Burczewski, Ron. "Sea Isle City 11/07/07 Our new government", Cape May County Herald, November 7, 2007. Accessed April 30, 2008.

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[1] "Faulkner Act (OMCL) Mayor–Council". Types And Forms Of New Jersey Municipal Government. New Jersey State League of Municipalities. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-11-14.

[2] Minutes of the 163rd Reorganization Meeting Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine, Jackson Township, held July 1, 2006. Accessed June 26, 2008.

[3] Burczewski, Ron. "Sea Isle City 11/07/07 Our new government", Cape May County Herald, November 7, 2007. Accessed April 30, 2008.