[Adopted 12-30-1976 by Ord. No. 76-11 (Ch.
85, Art. I, of the 1974 Township Code)]
This article shall be known as the "Oxford Township
Home Improvement Taxation Exemption Ordinance."
The following words and terms, when used in
this article, shall have the following meanings, unless the context
clearly indicates otherwise:
APPLICATION
A written request for the exemption filed with the Tax Assessor
on forms devised by the Director of the Division of Taxation.
ASSESSOR
The Oxford Township Tax Assessor.
COMPLETION
Substantially ready for the use for which it was intended.
DWELLING
Any building or part of a building used, to be used or held
for use as a home or residence, including accessory buildings located
on the same premises, together with the land upon which such 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. 55:13A-1 et seq.). A "dwelling" shall include individual
residences within a horizontal property regime or a condominium but
shall not include general common elements or common elements of 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.).
[Amended 10-21-1993 by Ord. No. 93-11]
EXEMPTION
That amount to be deducted from the Assessor's full and true
value of home improvements.
HOME IMPROVEMENT
The improvement of a dwelling which does not change its permitted
use, and shall include the modernization, rehabilitation, renovation,
alteration or repair of a dwelling.
Real property must meet the following qualifications
in order to gain the exemption:
A. It must contain a building (or buildings) which was
constructed more than 20 years prior to the time of application for
the exemption and is used or being held for use, in whole or in part,
as a home or residential dwelling which is a constituent part of the
real property.
B. The application must be filed with the Assessor within
30 days, including Saturdays and Sundays, following the completion
of the improvements.
The following conditions shall apply to all
claims for the exemption at the time of application:
A. Claims for the exemption shall be in writing upon
forms prescribed by the Director of the Division of Taxation and must
be filed with the Tax Assessor within 30 days following completion
of the home improvement.
B. The Tax Assessor shall provide copies of the prescribed
application forms at the request of any claimant.
C. When required by the Assessor, claimants for the exemption
must submit such data in support of their claims as he might request.
D. Additional claims for the exemption may be submitted
and approved with regard to dwellings with respect to which a previous
home improvement exemption was granted in an amount less than $10,000;
provided, however, that the total deduction for any dwelling unit
shall not be in excess of the maximum of $10,000.
[Amended 10-21-1993 by Ord. No. 93-11]
The following procedures shall apply upon allowance
of exemption:
A. Every application for exemption of one or more improvements
which qualify shall be approved and allowed by the Assessor, but in
no case may the exemption exceed the maximum of $10,000 per dwelling
unit.
[Amended 10-21-1993 by Ord. No. 93-11]
B. A claim for the exemption, once filed on the prescribed
form and allowed by the Assessor, shall continue in force for a period
of five years following January 1 of the year in which the exemption
was allowed.
C. The granting of any exemption shall be recorded and
made a permanent part of the official tax record.
D. With respect to improvement or improvements which
do not qualify, the Assessor shall notify the claimant of the disallowance
of the claim, in writing, within 20 days after disallowance and shall
note therein the specific reasons for the disallowance.
[Adopted 8-16-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-09]
The Township hereby authorizes the utilization of tax exemption in accordance with Article
VIII, Section I, Paragraph 6, of the New Jersey Constitution and establishes the eligibility of residential and multiple dwellings, commercial and industrial structures for five-year tax exemptions to the maximum degree permitted by N.J.S.A. 40A:21-1 et seq. throughout the redevelopment area.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ASSESSOR
The officer of the Township charged with the duty of assessing
real property for the purpose of general taxation.
COMMERCIAL OR INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
A structure or part thereof used 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 Township Committee determines will tend to maintain or provide
gainful employment within the Township, assist in the economic development
of the Township, maintain or increase the tax base of the Township,
and maintain or diversify and expand commerce within the Township.
However, it shall not include any structure or part thereof used or
to be used by any business relocated from another qualifying municipality
unless the total square footage of the floor area of the structure
or part thereof used or to be used by the business at the new site,
together with the total square footage of the land used or to be used
by the business at the new site, exceeds the total square footage
of that utilized by the business at its current site of operations
by at least 10%; and the property that the business is relocating
to has been the subject of a remedial action plan costing in excess
of $250,000 performed pursuant to an administrative consent order
entered into pursuant to authority vested in the Commissioner of Environmental
Protection under N.J.S.A. 13:1D-1 et seq., the Water Pollution Control
Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10A-1 et seq., the Solid Waste Management Act, N.J.S.A.
13:1E-1 et seq., and the Spill Compensation and Control Act, N.J.S.A.
58:10-23.11 et seq.
COMPLETION or COMPLETED
Substantially ready for the intended use for which a building
or structure is constructed, improved or converted, which shall ordinarily
mean the date upon which a certificate of occupancy, whether temporary
or final, is issued.
CONDOMINIUM
A property created or recorded as a condominium pursuant
to the Condominium Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8B-1 et seq.
CONSTRUCTION
The provision of a new dwelling, multiple dwelling or commercial
or industrial structure or the enlargement of the volume of an existing
multiple dwelling or commercial or industrial structure by more than
30% but shall not mean the conversion of an existing building or structure
to another use.
CONVERSION or CONVERSION ALTERATION
The alteration or renovation of a nonresidential building
or structure, or hotel, motel, motor hotel or guesthouse, in such
manner as to convert the building or structure from its previous use
to use as a dwelling or multiple dwelling.
COOPERATIVE
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.
COST
When used with respect to exemptions for dwellings or multiple
dwellings, only the cost or fair market value of direct labor and
materials used in improving a multiple dwelling or of converting another
building or structure to a multiple dwelling or of constructing a
dwelling or of converting another building or structure to a dwelling,
including any architectural, engineering and contractor's fees associated
therewith, as the owner of the property, following completion of the
project, shall cause to be certified to the Township Committee by
an independent and qualified architect licensed in the State of New
Jersey or a certified construction cost audit by an independent certified
accountant licensed in the State of New Jersey.
DWELLING or DWELLING USE
A building or part of a building used, to be used or held
for use as a home or residence, including accessory buildings located
on the same premises, together with the land upon which such 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. 55:13A-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 regime or a
condominium but shall not include general common elements or common
elements of 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 of a cooperative,
if the residential units are owned separately.
EXEMPTION
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 the law.
HORIZONTAL PROPERTY REGIME
A property submitted to a horizontal property regime pursuant
to the Horizontal Property Act, N.J.S.A. 46:8A-1 et seq.
IMPROVEMENT
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 or work
and which does not change its permitted use. In the case of a multiple
dwelling, it includes only improvements which affect common areas
or elements or three or more dwelling units within the multiple dwelling.
In the case of a multiple dwelling or commercial or industrial structure,
it shall not include ordinary painting, repairs and replacements of
maintenance items or an enlargement of the volume of an existing structure
by more than 30%. In no case shall it include the 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.
MULTIPLE DWELLING or MULTIPLE-DWELLING USE
A building or structure meeting the definition of "multiple
dwelling" set forth in the Hotel and Multiple Dwelling Law, N.J.S.A.
55:13A-1 et seq., and, for the purpose of improvement or construction,
the general common elements and common elements of a condominium,
a cooperative or a horizontal property regime.
MUNICIPAL CHARGES
Property taxes, assessments, water or sewer charges and any
other charge for which a lien may be created, together with interest
and penalties thereon, including all advertising fees and costs of
sale.
An additional improvement, conversion or construction
completed to a property already granted an exemption during the period
in which the exemption is in effect shall be eligible for an additional
exemption just as if such property had not received a previous exemption.
The additional improvement, conversion or construction shall be considered
as separate for purposes of calculating the exemption, except that
the assessed value of any previous improvement, conversion or construction
shall be added to the assessed valuation as it was prior to that improvement,
conversion or construction for the purpose of determining the assessed
value of the property from which any additional exemption is to be
subtracted.
The Tax Collector shall include an appropriate
notice in the mailing of the annual property tax bills to property
owners advising them of the availability of tax exemptions under this
article.
No application for tax exemption shall be filed
for an exemption to take initial effect for tax year 2007 or any tax
year thereafter unless this article is readopted by the Township Committee
in accordance with N.J.S.A. 40A:21-4.