Faulkner Act (mayor–council)

New Jersey municipal government
Traditional forms
Borough	Township
City Town Village
Modern forms
Walsh Act commission
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

The Faulkner Act, or Optional Municipal Charter Law, provides for New Jersey municipalities to adopt a mayor–council government.

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]

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 election in an odd-numbered year. 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.

References