[Adopted 12-2-1997 by Ord. No. 2228 (Ch.
225, Art. III, of the 1979 Code)][1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: The provisions of this
article were readopted 11-27-2007 by Ord. No. 2517 for an additional
ten-year period.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
That portion of assessed value of a property as it existed
prior to construction of a building or structure thereon which is
exempted from taxation pursuant to this article.
A portion or all of a municipality which has been determined
to be an area in need of rehabilitation or redevelopment pursuant
to the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1 et
seq., a blighted area as determined pursuant to the Blighted Areas
Act, N.J.S.A 40:55-21.1 et seq.,[1] or which has been determined to be in need of rehabilitation
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.72 et seq., 54:4-3.95 et seq. or 54:4-3.121
et seq.[2]
The officer of a taxing district charged with the duty of
assessing real property for the purpose of general taxation.
A structure or part thereof for the manufacturing, processing
or assembling of material or manufactured products or for research,
office, industrial, commercial, retail, recreational, hotel or motel
facilities or warehousing purposes or for any combination thereof
which the governing body determines will tend to maintain or provide
gainful employment within the municipality, maintain or increase the
tax base of the municipality and maintain or diversify and expand
commerce within the municipality. It shall not include any structure
or part thereof used or to be used by any business relocation from
another qualifying municipality.
Substantially ready for the intended use for which a building
or structure is constructed, improved or converted.
A property created or recorded as a condominium pursuant
to the Condominium Act, N.J.S.A 46:8B-1 et seq.
The provision of a commercial or industrial structure or
the enlargement of the volume of an existing commercial or industrial
structure by more than 30%, but shall not mean the conversion of an
existing building or structure to another use.
A housing corporation or association wherein the holder of
a share or membership interest thereof is entitled to possess and
occupy, for dwelling purposes, a house, apartment or other unit of
housing owned by the corporation or association or to purchase a unit
of housing owned by the corporation or association.
A building or part of a building used, to be used or held
for use of a home or residence, including an accessory building located
on the same premises, together with the land upon which the building
or buildings are erected, and which may be necessary for the fair
enjoyment thereof, but shall not mean any building or part of a building
defined as a "multiple dwelling" pursuant to the Hotel and Multiple
Dwelling Law, N.J.S.A. 55:12A-1 et seq. A dwelling shall include,
as they are separately conveyed to individual owners, individual residences
within a cooperative, if purchased separately by the occupants thereof,
and individual residences within a horizontal property or regime or
a condominium, but shall not include general common elements or common
elements or such horizontal property regime or condominium as defined
pursuant to the Horizontal Property Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8A-1 et seq.,
or the Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq., or the cooperative,
if the residential units are owned separately.
That portion of the assessor's full and true value of any
improvement, conversion, alteration or construction not regarded as
increasing the taxable value of a property pursuant to this article.
A property submitted to a horizontal property regime pursuant
to the Horizontal Property Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8A-1 et seq.
A modernization, rehabilitation, renovation, alteration or
repair which produces a physical change in an existing building or
structure that improves the safety, sanitation, decency or attractiveness
of the building or structure as a place for human habitation and which
does not change its permitted use. In the case of a commercial or
industrial structure, it shall not include ordinary painting, repairs
and replacement of maintenance items or an enlargement of the volume
of an existing structure by more than 30%. In no case shall it include
repair of fire or other damage to a property for which payment of
a claim was received by any person from an insurance company at any
time during the three-year period immediately preceding the filing
of an application pursuant to this article.
The entire City of Garfield is hereby designated
as an area in need of rehabilitation and in which one- and two-family
dwelling units may be eligible for tax exemption pursuant to this
article.
No exemption shall be granted pursuant to this
article with respect to any property for which property taxes are
delinquent or remain unpaid or for which penalties for nonpayment
of taxes are due.
A.
The following procedure shall govern applications
for tax exemptions for improvements within the City of Garfield:
(1)
An application for an exemption for improvements as
set forth in this article shall be made to the Assessor upon a form
approved by the Mayor and Council and the Assessor.
(2)
Every application for exemption shall be filed with
the Assessor within 30 days, including Saturdays and Sundays, following
the completion of the improvement, conversion, alteration or construction.
(3)
Every application for exemption, or exemption and
abatement, which is filed within the time specified, shall be approved
and allowed by the Assessor to the degree that the application is
consistent with the provisions of this article, provided that the
improvement qualifies as an improvement pursuant to the provisions
of N.J.S.A. 40A:21-1 et seq.
B.
The granting of an exemption, or exemption and abatement
shall be recorded and made a part of the official tax records of the
taxing district, which records shall contain a notice of the termination
date thereof.
Applicants for tax exemption on commercial and
industrial structures shall provide to the Assessor an application
setting forth:
A.
A general description of the property for which the
exemption is sought.
B.
The legal description of all real estate necessary
for the property.
C.
Plans, drawings and other documents as may be required
by the Assessor to demonstrate the structure and design of the property.
D.
Estimates of the cost of completing such property.
E.
A statement showing:
(1)
The real estate property taxes currently being assessed
at the property.
(2)
The estimate tax payments that would be made annually
by the applicant on the property during the period of tax exemption.
(3)
The estimate tax payments that would be made by the
applicant on the property during the first full year following the
termination of the tax exemption.
F.
A description of any lease agreements that would be
made by the applicant on the property during the first full year following
the termination of the tax exemption.
G.
Such other pertinent information as the Assessor may
require.
A.
Exemptions from taxation for improvements to commercial
or industrial structures may be granted upon review, evaluation and
approval of each application on an individual basis by the Assessor
of the City of Garfield. The authority of the Assessor to grant said
exemption, however, shall be limited to improvements to the property
up to a maximum improvement of $100,000. For improvements in excess
of $100,000, said exemptions shall only be granted upon review, evaluation
and approval of each application by the governing body.
B.
In determining the value of the property, the City
of Garfield shall regard up to the Assessor's full and true value
of the improvements as only increasing the value of the property for
a period of five years upon the following schedule, notwithstanding
that the value of the property to which the improvements are made
is increased thereby:
C.
During the exemption period, the assessment on the
property shall not be less than the assessment thereon existing immediately
prior to the improvements, unless there is damage to the structure
through action of the elements sufficient to warrant a reduction.
Abatements from taxation for construction of
commercial or industrial structures may be granted upon review, evaluation
and approval of each application on an individual basis by the governing
body and upon execution of an agreement which shall be entered into
between the City of Garfield and the developer in accordance with
the procedures set forth in this article.
An application for tax abatement shall contain
the following:
A.
A general description of a project for which abatement
is sought.
B.
A legal description of all real estate necessary for
the project.
C.
Plans, drawings and other documents as may be required
by the governing body to demonstrate the structure and design of the
project.
D.
A description of the number, classes and type of employees
to be employed at the project site within two years of completion
of the project.
E.
A statement of the reasons for seeking tax abatement
on the project and a description of the benefits to be realized by
the applicant if a tax agreement is granted.
F.
Estimates of the cost of completing such project.
G.
A statement showing the real property taxes currently
being assessed at the project site; the estimated tax payments that
would be made annually by the applicant on the project during the
period of the agreement; and the estimated tax payments that would
be made by the applicant on the project during the first full year
following the termination of the tax agreement.
H.
A description of any lease agreements between the
applicant and proposed users of the project and a history and description
of the user's businesses.
I.
Such other pertinent information as the governing
body may require.
Upon adoption of an ordinance authorizing an
agreement or agreements for tax abatements for a particular project
or projects, the City of Garfield may enter into written agreements
with the applicants for abatement of local real property taxes. An
agreement shall provide for the applicant to pay to the City of Garfield,
in lieu of full property tax payments, an amount equal to a percentage
of taxes otherwise due according to the following schedule:
A.
All tax abatement agreements entered into pursuant
to this article shall be in effect no more than the five full tax
years next following the date of completion of the project.
B.
All projects subject to tax agreement as provided
herein shall be subject to all applicable federal, state and local
laws and regulations on pollution control, worker safety, discrimination
in employment, housing provisions, zoning, planning and building code
requirements.
C.
That percentage which the payment in lieu of taxes
for a property bears to the property tax which would have been paid
had an abatement not been granted for the property under the agreement
shall be applied to the valuation of the property to determine the
reduced valuation of the property to be included in the valuation
of the City of Garfield for determining equalization for county tax
apportionment and school aid during the term of the tax agreements
covering the properties; and at the termination of an agreement for
a property, the reduced valuation procedure under this section shall
no longer apply.
D.
Within 30 days after the execution of a tax agreement,
a municipality shall forward a copy of the agreement to the Director
of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of
Community Affairs.
A.
If during any tax year prior to the termination of
the tax agreement the property owner ceases to operate or disposes
of the property or fails to meet the conditions for qualifying, then
the tax which would have otherwise been payable each tax year shall
become due and payable from the property owner as if no abatement
had been granted. The Tax Assessor shall notify the property owner
and the Tax Collector forthwith and the Tax Collector shall within
15 days thereof, notify the owner of the property of the amount of
taxes due. However, with respect to disposal of the property, where
it is determined that the new owner of the property will continue
to use the property pursuant to the conditions which qualified the
property, no tax shall be due, the exemption and the abatement shall
continue and the agreement shall remain in effect.
B.
At the termination of a tax agreement, a project shall
be subject to all applicable real property taxes as provided by state
law and regulation and local ordinance, but nothing herein shall prohibit
a project, at the termination of an agreement, from qualifying for
and receiving the full benefits of any other tax preference provided
by law.
The Assessor shall determine, on October 1 of
the year following the date of the completion of an improvement or
construction, the true taxable value thereof. Except for projects
subject to tax agreement as provided herein, the amount of tax to
be paid for the first full tax year following completion shall be
based on the assessed valuation of the improvement not allowed an
exemption pursuant to this article. The property shall continue to
be treated in the appropriate manner for each of the five full years
subsequent to the original determination of the Assessor.
No exemption or abatement shall be granted pursuant
to this article, except upon written application therefore filed with
and approved by the Assessor. Every application shall be on a form
prescribed by the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department
of the Treasury and provided for the use of claimants by the City
of Garfield and shall be filed with the Assessor within 30 days, including
Saturdays and Sundays, following the completion of the improvements
or construction. Every application for exemption or abatement which
is filed within the time specified shall be approved and allowed by
the Assessor to the degree that the application is consistent with
the provisions of this article, provided that the improvement or construction
for which the application is made qualifies as an improvement or construction
pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:21-1 et seq. The granting
of an exemption or tax agreement shall be recorded and made a permanent
part of the official tax records of the taxing district, which record
shall contain a notice of the termination date thereof.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:21-20, notice of the
adoption of this article shall be included in the mailing of annual
property tax bills to each owner of a property located in the City
of Garfield during the first year following adoption of this article.
Any such exemption authorized pursuant to this
article shall be approved and determined in accordance with the provisions
of N.J.S.A. 40A:21-1 et seq. and any applicable rules and regulations
promulgated by the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs.
