[Adopted 10-13-1981 by Ord. No. 914; amended in its entirety 1-23-2007 by Ord. No. 1704]
The Borough of Middlesex hereby acknowledges having been duly designated as a "qualified municipality" pursuant to P.L. 1975, c. 104, (N.J.S.A. 40A: 21.1 et seq.), as amended.
The entire municipality of Middlesex is hereby designated as the area in which residential building and commercial and industrial structures may be eligible for tax exemption pursuant to P.L. 1975, c. 104, as amended.
All housing units which are in buildings at least 20 years old and which are otherwise eligible for tax exemption and the improvement expansion or construction of all commercial and industrial structures pursuant to P.L. 1975, c. 104, as amended, the regulations duly promulgated pursuant thereto and this article shall be exempt from taxation for the first $15,000 of otherwise taxable improvements for a period of five years following completion of such improvements.
No exemption of improvements from taxation shall be allowed except pursuant to statute and to duly promulgated regulations of the Department of Community Affairs and the Division of Taxation.
The Tax Assessor of the Borough of Middlesex shall implement P.L. 1975, c. 104, as amended, in the Borough of Middlesex and shall accept and receive applications for exemption of improvements from taxation and shall record such applications and retain them as a permanent part of the municipal tax records.
The Tax Collector shall, within a year of the adoption of this article, supply to each residential and commercial and industrial taxpayer a notice concerning the tax exemption program, which notice shall be in a form approved by the Department of Community Affairs.
Applications for tax exemption and abatement for new construction of commercial or industrial structures shall provide the municipal governing body with an application setting forth:
A. 
A general description of a project for which exemption and 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, class 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 exemption and 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: 1) the real property taxes currently being assessed at the project site; 2) estimated tax payments that would be made annually by the applicant on the project during the period of the agreement; and 3) estimated tax payments that would be made by the applicant on the project during the first 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 users' businesses.
The governing body may enter into written agreements for a particular project or projects with the applicants for the exemption and abatement of local property taxes, which agreements shall provide for the applicant to pay to the municipality in lieu of full property tax payments an amount to be computed by one, but in no case a combination, of the formulas set forth in N.J.S.A. 40A:21-10. And all tax agreements entered into between the Borough pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be in effect for no more than the five full tax years next following the date of completion of the project.