N.J.S.A. 52:14-15.9b — Deductions construed as voluntary

52:14-15.9b. Deductions construed as voluntary The making of any such deductions shall be construed to be voluntary payments by said person, and any and all rights of said person existing under the laws of this State shall be and remain the same as if the foregoing deductions were not made, except as provided in this act. L.1946, c. 7, p. 20, s. 2. 52:14-15.9c1. Short title This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Public Employee Charitable Fund-Raising Act." L. 1985, c. 140, s. 1, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c2. Findings The Legislature finds that: a. It is the policy of the State to lessen the burden of government at both the State and local levels, in meeting the needs of human health, welfare and human care services; b. There is a need to provide a convenient channel through which public employees may support the efforts of charitable fund-raising organizations and charitable agencies while minimizing disruption to the workplace and cost to taxpayers that fund-raising may entail; and c. It is necessary to establish a system for the planning and conduct of charitable fund-raising campaigns among public employees in order to ensure that the funds will be collected and distributed in a responsible manner. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 2, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c3. Definitions As used in this act: a. "Affiliated charitable agency" means a charitable agency which is affiliated with a charitable fund-raising organization for the purpose of directly sharing in funds raised by the organization. b. "Campaign manager" means a charitable fund-raising organization which manages a charitable fund-raising campaign. c. "Charitable agency" means a volunteer, not-for-profit organization that provides health, welfare or human care services to individuals. d. "Charitable fund-raising campaign" means an annual payroll deduction campaign organized pursuant to this act to receive and distribute the voluntary charitable contributions of public employees. e. "Charitable fund-raising organization" means a voluntary not-for-profit organization which receives and distributes voluntary charitable contributions. f. "Local unit of government" means any county, municipality, board of education or instrumentality thereof. g. "State" means the State or any instrumentality thereof. h. "Unaffiliated charitable agency" means a charitable agency which provides health, welfare or human care services within New Jersey and which is not affiliated with a charitable fund-raising organization. i. "Undesignated contributions" means funds contributed to a charitable fund-raising campaign with no designation by the contributor as to the recipient charitable fund-raising organization or charitable agency. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 3, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c4. Steering committees a. There is established a State charitable fund-raising campaign steering committee to consist of one representative to be appointed by each charitable fund-raising organization which participates in the State campaign; one representative of a State public employee labor union to be selected jointly by the presidents of the various labor unions representing State employees; and one representative of the executive branch of State government to be appointed and serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The committee shall convene annually at the call of the State Treasurer to elect a chairman from among its members, and shall thereafter convene at the call of the chairman. A chairman shall serve for a term of one year and until the election of a successor and shall be eligible for reelection. Each member of the committee shall have one vote. No motion to take any official action shall be deemed approved if objected to by at least five members. b. There is established in every local unit of government a local charitable fund-raising campaign steering committee to consist of one representative to be appointed by each charitable fund-raising organization which participates in the local campaign, and one representative of the local unit of government to be appointed by the chief executive officer of the unit. The committee may also include two representatives of the employees or the management of the unit as may be designated by the governing body of the unit. Each committee shall convene annually at the call of the chief executive officer of the unit to elect a chairman from among its members, and shall thereafter convene at the call of the chairman. A chairman shall serve for a term of one year and until the election of a successor and shall be eligible for reelection. Each member of a committee shall have one vote and a vote of the majority of the total membership shall be necessary to take official action. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 4, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c5. Duties of committees It shall be the duty of each charitable campaign steering committee to: a. advise the State Treasurer or local disbursing officer in establishing application and review procedures for the participation of charitable fund-raising organizations or charitable agencies in a campaign; b. establish the policies and procedures for the operation of a charitable fund-raising campaign within the committee's unit of government; c. designate one or more charitable fund-raising organizations as a campaign manager, taking into account the demonstrated capability of each organization to provide the level of administrative and other services necessary to conduct a campaign for the unit of government; and d. assign functions to and enlist the cooperation of any charitable fund-raising organizations or charitable agencies as the committee deems necessary. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 5, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c6. Duties of campaign manager It shall be the duty of a campaign manager to: a. conduct and manage the charitable fund-raising campaign in a responsible and equitable manner in accordance with the policies and procedures established by the campaign steering committee; b. produce and distribute campaign materials; c. train and supervise campaign solicitors; and d. maintain an accounting of all funds raised and distributed and provide for the distribution of funds in the manner established by the campaign steering committee. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 6, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c7. Eligibility criteria A charitable fund-raising organization shall be eligible to participate in a charitable fund-raising campaign if it meets the following requirements: a. the organization is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; b. the organization qualifies for tax deductible contributions under section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) or (viii) of the Internal Revenue Code; c. the organization is not a foundation; d. the organization is incorporated under or subject to the provisions of Title 15 of the Revised Statutes or Title 15A of the New Jersey Statutes and the "Charitable Fund Raising Act of 1971," P.L. 1971, c. 469 (C. 45:17A-1 et seq.); e. the organization demonstrates to the satisfaction of the State Treasurer or the appropriate disbursing officer, as the case may be, that a significant portion of funds raised in each of its two fiscal years preceding its application to participate in a campaign consists of individual contributions from citizens of the State; f. the organization shall have raised at least $60,000.00 and distributed that sum among at least 15 charitable agencies in each of its two fiscal years preceding its application to participate in a State campaign; and g. the organization shall have raised at least $25,000.00 and distributed that sum among at least five charitable agencies in each of its two fiscal years preceding its application to participate in a local governmental unit campaign. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 7, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c8. Eligibility of charitable agency A charitable agency shall be eligible to participate in a charitable fund-raising campaign if a. it is an affiliated charitable agency or b. it meets the requirements of subsections a. through e., inclusive, of section 7 of this act. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 8, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c9. Payroll deduction system The State Treasurer, in the case of the State, or the appropriate disbursing officer, in the case of a local unit of government, shall establish a payroll deduction system for the collection and distribution of voluntary charitable contributions by public employees of the State or unit pursuant to an annual charitable fund-raising campaign organized in accordance with this act. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 9, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c10. Authorization for deductions The State Treasurer or appropriate disbursing officer shall make payroll deductions from an employee's compensation in such amounts and on behalf of such participating charitable fund-raising organizations or charitable agencies as the employee shall authorize in writing to the State Treasurer or disbursing officer. An employee may withdraw an authorization at any time upon written notice to the State Treasurer or appropriate disbursing officer. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 10, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c11. Final distribution The State Treasurer and each disbursing officer shall promptly transmit the amounts deducted, and an accounting of the amounts designated to the various charitable fund-raising organizations or charitable agencies, to the respective campaign manager, who shall be responsible for final distribution of the amounts to the designated organizations or agencies. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 11, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c12. Administrative costs; undesignated contributions a. The campaign manager shall be entitled to deduct and expend prior to final distribution not more than 10% of the total amount of contributions for the administrative costs of the charitable fund-raising campaign as approved by the campaign steering committee. The campaign manager shall maintain all funds in an interest bearing account until their distribution. Interest earned on the funds shall be distributed in such manner as the campaign steering committee shall determine. b. Undesignated contributions received in a State campaign shall be distributed by the campaign manager to the charitable fund-raising organizations participating in the campaign in the same proportion as designated contributions to participating fund-raising organizations, including contributions to affiliated charitable agencies, are distributed to the organizations. c. Undesignated contributions received in a local governmental unit campaign shall be distributed by the campaign manager to participating or non-participating charitable fund-raising organizations or charitable agencies in such amounts as the campaign steering committee shall determine. L. 1985, c. 140, s. 12, eff. April 12, 1985. 52:14-15.9c13. Rules, regulations The State Treasurer shall, within 90 days after the effective date of this act and from time to time thereafter, adopt rules and regulations as shall be necessary to implement the provisions of this act, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.). L. 1985, c. 140, s. 13, eff. April 12, 1985.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 52:14-15.9b, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.