An Act concerning electric school buses and government aggregation of certain energy services, and amending various parts of the statutory law.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. N.J.S.18A:18A-42 is amended to read as follows:
Multiyear contracts.
18A:18A-42. All contracts for the provision or performance of goods or services shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 24 consecutive months, except that contracts for professional services pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection a. of N.J.S.18A:18A-5 shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 12 consecutive months. Any board of education may award a contract for longer periods of time as follows:
a. Supplying of:
(1) Fuel for heating purposes, for any term not exceeding in the aggregate, three years;
(2) Fuel or oil for use of automobiles, autobuses, motor vehicles or equipment, for any term not exceeding in the aggregate, three years;
(3) Thermal energy produced by a cogeneration facility, for use for heating or air conditioning or both, for any term not exceeding 40 years, when the contract is approved by the Board of Public Utilities. For the purposes of this paragraph, "cogeneration" means the simultaneous production in one facility of electric power and other forms of useful energy such as heating or process steam; or
b. Plowing and removal of snow and ice, for any term not exceeding in the aggregate, three years; or
c. Collection and disposal of garbage and refuse, for any term not exceeding in the aggregate, three years; or
d. Data processing service, for any term of not more than seven years; or
e. Insurance, including the purchase of insurance coverages, insurance consultant or administrative services, and including participation in a joint self-insurance fund, risk management program or related services provided by a school board insurance group, or participation in an insurance fund established by a county pursuant to N.J.S.40A:10-6, or a joint insurance fund established pursuant to P.L.1983, c.372 (C.40A:10-36 et seq.), for any term of not more than three years; or
f. Leasing or servicing of automobiles, motor vehicles, electronic communications equipment, machinery and equipment of every nature and kind and textbooks and non-consumable instructional materials, for any term not exceeding in the aggregate, five years; except that contracts for the leasing of fossil fuel school buses may be awarded for any term not exceeding in the aggregate 10 years and contracts for the leasing of electric school buses and related charging equipment and services may be awarded for any term not exceeding the service life of the electric school buses. Contracts awarded pursuant to this subsection shall be awarded only subject to and in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education; or
g. Supplying of any product or the rendering of any service by a company providing voice, data, transmission or switching services, for a term not exceeding five years; or
h. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c.440.)
i. Driver education instruction conducted by private, licensed driver education schools, for any term not exceeding in the aggregate, three years; or
j. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2009, c.4).
k. Any single project for the construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of any public building, structure or facility, or any public works project, including the retention of the services of any architect or engineer in connection therewith, for the length of time authorized and necessary for the completion of the actual construction; or
l. Laundry service and the rental, supply and cleaning of uniforms for any term of not more than three years; or
m. Food supplies and food services for any term of not more than three years; or
n. Purchases made under a contract awarded by the Director of the Division of Purchase and Property in the Department of the Treasury for use by counties, municipalities or other contracting units pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1969, c.104 (C.52:25-16.1), for a term not to exceed the term of that contract;
o. The provision or performance of goods or services for the purpose of producing class I renewable energy, as that term is defined in section 3 of P.L.1999, c.23 (C.48:3-51), at, or adjacent to, buildings owned by any local board of education, the entire price of which is to be established as a percentage of the resultant savings in energy costs, for a term not to exceed 15 years; provided, however, that these contracts shall be entered into only subject to and in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the Board of Public Utilities establishing a methodology for computing energy cost savings and energy generation costs; or
p. The provision or performance of goods or services for the purpose of providing electric school buses, on-site or off-site electric school bus charging infrastructure, and related maintenance and other related services, or any combination thereof for a specified price for a term up to the service life of the vehicle being contracted.
Any contract for services other than professional services, the statutory length of which contract is for three years or less, may include provisions for no more than one two-year, or two one-year, extensions, subject to the following limitations: a. the contract shall be awarded by resolution of the board of education upon a finding by the board of education that the services are being performed in an effective and efficient manner; b. no such contract shall be extended so that it runs for more than a total of five consecutive years; c. any price change included as part of an extension shall be based upon the price of the original contract as cumulatively adjusted pursuant to any previous adjustment or extension and shall not exceed the change in the index rate for the 12 months preceding the most recent quarterly calculation available at the time the contract is renewed; and d. the terms and conditions of the contract remain substantially the same.
All multiyear leases and contracts entered into pursuant to this section, including any two-year or one-year extensions, except contracts for insurance coverages, insurance consultant or administrative services, participation or membership in a joint self-insurance fund, risk management programs or related services of a school board insurance group, participation in an insurance fund established by a county pursuant to N.J.S.40A:10-6 or contracts for thermal energy authorized pursuant to subsection a. above, and contracts for the provision or performance of goods or services to promote energy conservation through the production of class I renewable energy, authorized pursuant to subsection o. of this section, shall contain a clause making them subject to the availability and appropriation annually of sufficient funds as may be required to meet the extended obligation, or contain an annual cancellation clause. All contracts shall cease to have effect at the end of the contracted period and shall not be extended by any mechanism or provision, unless in conformance with the "Public School Contracts Law," N.J.S.18A:18A-1 et seq., except that a contract may be extended by mutual agr