LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 4935
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: JANUARY 27, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Concerns electronic transmission of crash reports.
Type of Impact: Decrease in annual State expenditures; indeterminate impact on local
expenditures.
Agencies Affected: Department of Transportation, New Jersey Motor Vehicle
Commission, and law enforcement agencies.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Annual Impact
State Expenditure Decrease Approximately $2.2 million
Local Expenditures Indeterminate Impact
 The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that the bill would reduce annual State
expenditures associated with the processing of motor vehicle accident reports by
approximately $2.2 million. These cost savings would be realized from the elimination of
certain contracted labor, which is currently needed to convert handwritten accident reports into
electronic form.
 By requiring local law enforcement agencies to electronically transmit accident reports, the
bill may result in marginal, short-term cost increases for law enforcement agencies that
currently do not submit electronic accident reports. However, the OLS notes that the adoption
of electronic reporting by law enforcement agencies may also reduce annual expenditures
through the elimination of certain labor costs.
 The Department of Transportation is not expected to incur increased expenditures associated
with the development of an electronic platform because the department has already developed
a platform (i.e., the New Jersey Crash Records Portal) to effectuate the electronic transmittal
of these reports.
Office of Legislative Services Legislative Budget and Finance Office
State House Annex Phone (609) 847-3105
P.O. Box 068 Fax (609) 777-2442
Trenton, New Jersey 08625 www.njleg.state.nj.us
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BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill provides that the Department of Transportation would be responsible for the collection
of motor vehicle accident reports. The bill also requires law enforcement agencies to electronically
transmit all accident reports to the department. The department would also be required to adopt
rules and regulations to effectuate the electronic transmission of these reports.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS concludes that the bill would reduce annual State expenditures associated with the
processing of motor vehicle accident reports by approximately $2.2 million. As noted below, the
bill would also impact the expenditures of local law enforcement agencies depending on the
manner in which each agency processes and electronically transmits its motor vehicle accident
reports.
Under current law, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is required to supply law
enforcement agencies with the forms necessary to document motor vehicle accidents. After a law
enforcement agency investigates a motor vehicle accident, the agency is required to prepare a
written report of the accident using the forms supplied by the commission and forward the written
report to the commission. Under current practice, the department is responsible for collecting
accident reports from State and local law enforcement agencies. Under this bill, all accident
reports would be forwarded to the department using forms developed by the department.
Importantly, law enforcement agencies would also be required to electronically transmit all
accident reports to the department using an electronic format prescribed by the department.
Impact on State Expenditure
This bill is expected to impact State expenditures associated with the processing of motor
accident reports by: (1) transferring the responsibility for performing these functions from the
commission to the department; and (2) requiring each accident report to be submitted and
processed through electronic means. As mentioned, the OLS notes that the department already
oversees a Crash Records Unit within the Bureau of Transportation Data and Support, which unit
is currently responsible for collecting motor vehicle accident reports from law enforcement
agencies. Because the department already possesses substantial experience in performing these
functions, the transfer of administrative responsibility is not expected to impact total State
expenditures.
Importantly, the electronic processing of motor vehicle accident reports is expected to reduce
annual State expenditure by approximately $2.2 million due to the elimination of certain contracted
labor. According to an audit report completed by the Office of the State Auditor on the operations
of the Crash Records Unit, which report was submitted on September 28, 2022, the State Auditor
noted that the processing of written accident reports is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Specifically, the audit report stated that “[a]fter the unit manually sorts the crash reports received,
they are sent to a state contract vendor … [who] converts the data to an electronic format and scans
the paper crash reports to create a digital image. These services cost the department $2.2 million
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in calendar year 2019.” Based on this finding, the OLS determines that the electronic transmittal
of motor vehicle accident reports would eliminate the need for a contracted vendor to convert
written accident reports into electronic form, which contracted labor currently costs roughly $2.2
million per year.
Additionally, the State Auditor’s report also noted that the department launched the New Jersey
Crash Records Portal in July 2021 to enable law enforcement agencies to submit electronic
accident reports, free of charge, to the department. Accordingly, the department is not expected
to incur increased expenditures associated with the development of an electronic platform because
the department has already developed a platform to effectuate the requirements of the bill.
Impact on Local Expenditure
Subject to any rules and regulations that may be adopted by the department, a local law
enforcement agency may satisfy the requirement to electronically transmit motor vehicle accident
reports by: (1) continuing to prepare handwritten accident reports and converting these reports into
an electronic form for transmittal to the department; or (2) preparing only electronic accident
reports and transmitting these reports to the department.
Depending on the manner in which these accident reports are prepared and transmitted, the
fiscal impact of the bill may vary by law enforcement agency. For example, the bill may result in
marginal, short-term cost increases for any local law enforcement agency that currently does not
submit electronic accident reports. However, for any law enforcement agency that already
prepares or submits electronic accident reports, the bill would not be expected to increase
expenditures. For context, the State Auditor’s report indicated that as of March 31, 2022, 18 of
536 law enforcement agencies submitted accident reports through the New Jersey Crash Records
Portal.
Additionally, the OLS notes that law enforcement agencies that exclusively prepare and
transmit electronic accident reports may experience annual expenditure decreases due to the
elimination of labor costs associated with the conversion of handwritten reports into electronic
form. However, without knowing how many law enforcement agencies will elect to implement
this practice, the OLS is unable to predict the magnitude of these potential cost savings.
Section: Authorities, Utilities, Transportation and Communications
Analyst: Joseph A. Pezzulo
Senior Research Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).