Welcome to the Atlantic County Legislative Public Records Resource Center. The Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners maintains an accurate record and central repository of the official actions and vital records of the Atlantic County Board of Commissioners.  For your convenience, you may now search and access county resolutions, ordinances and freeholder agendas 24 hours a day, seven days a week dating back to 2009.  If you have any difficulties accessing documents, please contact the Clerk to the Board at (609) 645-5900 for assistance.

Ordinance
As a general rule, an ordinance is necessary when an action is legislative in nature, such as the setting of speed limits on County roads.  Ordinances require action at two freeholder meetings, an introduction known as a first reading and final passage known as the second reading. 

Resolution
A resolution is utilized for actions that are administrative in nature, such as approving contracts entered into by the County.  Resolutions may be finally passed at the meeting at which they are introduced.

Bond Ordinance
Bond Ordinances authorize the County to spend money on capital projects, i.e., road, bridge and building improvement or construction projects.   A Bond Ordinance authorizes the issuance of bonds or notes of the County to pay for the project over a number of years.

Capital Ordinance
Capital Ordinances, like Bond Ordinances, authorize the County to spend money on capital projects, i.e., road, bridge and building improvement or construction projects.  Unlike a Bond Ordinance, a Capital Ordinance authorizes the spending of money from the current year on a project.

About Bonding
The theory of bonding for a project may be analogized to the homeowner's mortgage loan in that the County, by issuing the bonds to pay for a capital project, is able to enjoy the use of the improvement immediately and to pay for the improvement over the course of its useful life.  The basic rationale for bonding is that, if an improvement has a useful life of 10, 20, 30 or 40 years, the improvement should be paid for by all of the users over the entire time period and not merely by the users and taxpayers at the time the project is constructed or purchased.  There are a number of procedures that are undertaken to approve these Ordinances.  Bonding procedures are of great importance because bonds are obligations of the County which are often sold nationally on the bond market.  Bond issues usually involve millions of dollars and represent investments for thousands of people who buy them.  These people have no relationship to the County other than as investors.  As a result, it is imperative that all of the procedures to approve a bond issue are followed rigorously (Excerpts taken from the New Jersey Practice, Volume 34, Local Government Law, Fourth Edition, by Michael A. Pane, Jr.).

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