[Adopted 12-21-2001 by Ord. No. 2001-35 (Ch. 211, Art. I, of the 1992
Code)]
The Township of Cranford, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:21-1 et seq.,
makes known its intention to utilize the tax exemption and abatement
provision enacted by the New Jersey Legislature to authorize five-year
exemptions and abatements for multiple dwellings and commercial projects,
or projects combining both uses.
Terms used as defined terms herein shall have the meaning assigned
to such terms at N.J.S.A. 40A:21-3 or as set forth below:
A tax agreement entered into between a developer and the
Township under the Five-Year Exemption and Abatement Law, including
all amendments and supplements thereto.
The information required to be submitted by a developer seeking an exemption and/or abatement and conforming to the requirements of § 379-4 hereof.
The Tax Assessor of the Township.
An audit prepared by a certified public accountant presenting
the revenues, operating expenses and fund balances relating to a project.
The Chief Financial Officer of the Township.
The Township official responsible for approving construction
permits for any property.
The person or entity who or which is seeking or receiving
an exemption, including an assignee in any case where the Township
Committee has approved the assignment thereof.
The person or persons, if any, designated by the Township
Committee to conduct the development review required by this article.
The Five-Year Exemption and Abatement Law (N.J.S.A. 40A:21-1
et seq.), as amended and supplemented.
The real property and the improvements thereon which are
the subject of an agreement and are located within an area in need
of rehabilitation or redevelopment.
The real property and the improvements subject to an agreement.
The Tax Collector of the Township.
The Township of Cranford, in the County of Union, New Jersey.
The Administrator of the Township.
The attorney at law appointed by the Township to serve as
the Municipal Attorney.
The Clerk of the Township.
The Township Committee of the Township.
A developer of property located in an area in need of rehabilitation
or redevelopment in the Township of Cranford may avail himself of
the opportunity to receive a five-year tax exemption and/or abatement
as provided in this article as follows:
No exemption or abatement shall be granted nor any agreement
considered unless the developer shall first have filed an original
and seven copies of an application with the Township Assessor with
the application fee.
A.Â
Application fee. No application for an exemption and/or abatement
submitted pursuant to this article shall be accepted unless it is
accompanied by full payment of the required application fee. The fee
shall be in the amount of $2,500 for projects with a total project
cost less than $1,000,000; and $5,000 for projects with a total project
cost greater than $1,000,000 but less than $5,000,000; and $7,500
for all projects with a total project cost in excess of $5,000,000.
These fees shall be received as compensation for the legal review
and related work of the Township's departments and agencies in
reviewing the application. All checks shall be certified and made
payable to the Township of Cranford. This application fee shall be
nonrefundable and may be waived by a resolution of the Township Committee.
B.Â
Contents of application. At a minimum, applications for an exemption
and/or abatement shall provide the Township Committee with the following
information:
(1)Â
A general description of a project for which exemption and/or abatement
is sought, a finding that the project accords with the applicable
redevelopment plan and Master Plan of the Township and an estimated
schedule of completion for the project.
(2)Â
A legal description of all real estate necessary for the project.
(3)Â
Plans, drawings and other documents as may be required by the governing
body to demonstrate the structure and design of the project.
(4)Â
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.
(5)Â
A statement of the reasons for seeking an exemption and/or abatement
on the project, and a description of the benefits to be realized by
the developer if an exemption and/or abatement is granted.
(6)Â
Estimates of the cost of completing the project.
(7)Â
A statement showing:
(a)Â
The real property taxes currently being assessed at the project
site;
(b)Â
Estimated tax payments that would be made annually by the developer
on the project during the period of the agreement; and
(c)Â
Estimated tax payments that would be made by the developer on
the project during the first full year following the termination of
the agreement.
(8)Â
If the project is a commercial or industrial structure, a description
of any lease agreements between the developer and proposed users of
the project, and a history and description of the users' businesses.
(9)Â
If the project is a multiple dwelling, a description of the number
and types of dwelling units to be provided, a description of the common
elements or general common elements, and a statement of the proposed
initial rentals or sales prices of the dwelling units according to
type and of any rental lease or resale restrictions to apply to the
dwelling units respecting low- or moderate-income housing.
(10)Â
Such other pertinent information as the Township Administrator
may require.
All exemptions and abatements shall be approved by ordinance
of the Township Committee authorizing an agreement for tax exemption
and/or tax abatement for a particular property for a period of five
years.
A.Â
Waiver by Township Administrator. Notwithstanding § 379-4B above, the Township Administrator and/or Township Committee is authorized to waive any of the application requirements set forth herein, if the Township Administrator determines that, due to the nature of the project, such information is not available or not necessary to fulfill the purposes of this article. The Township Administrator and/or Township Committee shall grant such waivers under this section in writing, and such writing shall be filed with the application.
B.Â
Distribution of application. Upon receipt of any application, the
Assessor shall forward one copy of the application to the Township
Administrator, one copy to the Development Officer, one copy to the
Chief Financial Officer, one copy to the Tax Collector, one copy to
the Township Committee and two copies to the Township Attorney. The
original of the application shall be retained by the Assessor and
shall be placed on permanent file within his office.
C.Â
Development review. Upon receipt of an application, the Development
Officer shall conduct a complete review of the proposed project. Such
review shall consider the property and suitability of the description(s),
plan(s) and estimate(s) submitted, the degree to which the project
complies with the Township's developmental goals as expressed
in the applicable rehabilitation plan, and the degree of economic
necessity for an exemption or abatement. Based on the review, the
Development Officer shall submit a recommendation as to the approval
or disapproval of the application to the Township Attorney. Such recommendation
shall include any changes to the project as may be deemed necessary
by the Development Officer, as well as a detailed explanation as to
any analysis conducted in arriving at the recommendation.
D.Â
Financial review.
(1)Â
Upon receipt of an application, the Chief Financial Officer shall
conduct a financial review of the application, including a cost and
benefit analysis of the proposed project. In addition, the Chief Financial
Officer shall obtain written substantiation of the items contained
within the application. Those certifications shall include the following:
(a)Â
Certification of the Assessor as to the taxes levied on the
real property included within the project in both the year in which
the application was filed and the immediately preceding year.
(b)Â
Certification of the Tax Collector as to the current status
of payments due for property taxes and/or municipal liens of any type
arising from real property included within the project or from any
other specified property owned by the developer as well as the current
status of payments due for any tax agreement in force and effect to
which the developer is a party.
(c)Â
Certification as to the status of payments due for water and/or
sewer services provided to the real property included within the project
or other real property within the Township in which the developer
has an interest.
(2)Â
Based upon the review, the Chief Financial Officer shall submit a
recommendation as to the approval or disapproval of the application
to the Township Attorney. Such recommendation shall include a detailed
explanation as to the analysis conducted in arriving at the recommendation.
E.Â
Legal review.
(1)Â
Upon receipt of an application, the Township Attorney shall conduct
a review as to the form and legality of the application. In addition,
the Township Attorney shall obtain written certifications from Township
officials as necessary to substantiate the items contained within
the application.
(2)Â
The Township Attorney shall also review those agreements then in
force and effect to determine the extent to which each party to the
application is a party to any of those agreements.
(3)Â
The Township Attorney shall make a determination as to the propriety
of the application. Applications shall be deemed proper in those cases
where they are presented in the proper form and satisfy the requirements
of this article and all other applicable statutes and ordinances and
for which no delinquency has been found in any of the payments due
to the Township as certified by those officials indicated earlier
in this section.
(4)Â
In those cases where an application is deemed proper, the Township
Attorney shall prepare an ordinance in the form necessary to authorize
the exemption or abatement and shall prepare the form of the agreement
which would be so authorized. All such agreements shall be in the
form filed with the Township Clerk at the time of adoption of this
article. The ordinance shall be signed by the Township Attorney as
to form and legality and submitted, together with the form of the
agreement, the original application, the certifications, and the recommendation
of the Chief Financial Officer and the Development Officer, to the
Township Administrator for his/her consideration.
(5)Â
In those cases where an application is deemed improper, the Township
Attorney shall prepare correspondence outlining those aspects of the
application found to be deficient and shall forward that correspondence,
together with the original application, the certifications, and the
recommendation of the Chief Financial Officer and the Development
Officer, to the Township Administrator for his consideration.
F.Â
Township Administrator review.
(1)Â
Upon receipt of an application and recommendations from the Township
Attorney, the Township Administrator shall determine the action to
be taken in regard to that application. When the application has been
deemed proper by the Township Attorney, the Township Administrator
shall determine whether to recommend the adoption of the authorizing
ordinance and its attachments by the Township Committee or to recommend
the rejection of the application as not being in the best interests
of the Township. Where the application has been deemed improper by
the Township Attorney, the Township Administrator shall determine
whether the deficiencies can be remedied and, if so, may direct the
developer and/or the appropriate municipal official as to the actions
required. If the deficiencies cannot be remedied or if the application
is deemed not in the best interests of the Township, the Township
Administrator may recommend the rejection of the application without
condition.
(2)Â
In those cases where the Township Administrator affords the developer
the opportunity to remedy specific deficiencies, the application may
be reconsidered after correction by submission to the Assessor of
the corrected application, after which the process outlined in this
article shall be followed again. No fee shall be charged for consideration
of such resubmitted applications.
(3)Â
In those cases where the Township Administrator has recommended rejection
of an application without condition and where such action has been
ratified by the Township Committee, the application may only be reconsidered
by reapplication to the Township Assessor, which application shall
be treated in its entirety as a new application and for which an application
fee shall be charged.
(4)Â
The recommendation of the Township Administrator to the Township
Committee, whether for acceptance or rejection, shall occur within
120 calendar days after the date of the receipt of a complete application.
Each project which has been approved an exemption or abatement
shall be evidenced by a tax agreement between the Township of Cranford
and the developer. The agreement shall be in a form approved by the
Township and shall contain the representations that are required by
this article, together with such other information required by the
Township Attorney, and shall be on file in the office of the Tax Assessor.
The agreement shall provide for the developer to make payments to
the municipality in lieu of full property tax payments of an annual
amount to be computed pursuant to the formula set forth in N.J.S.A.
40A:21-10c.
A.Â
Form of agreement. All agreements for an exemption and/or abatement
shall be in the form appropriate to the nature of the exemption and/or
abatement. Such agreements shall at a minimum set forth the identification
of the affected property, the nature and magnitude of the improvements
to be constructed thereon, the consideration to be paid to the Township
and the conditions thereon, the duration of the agreement and the
grounds for its termination. The agreement shall in all cases further
provide that any change made in the ownership of the project or which
would materially change the terms of the agreement shall under the
agreement be void unless approved by the Township Committee by ordinance.
The agreements shall require timely payment of all municipal taxes,
fees and charges arising out of the agreement or in any way arising
out of the affected property. The agreement shall provide that the
failure to comply with the payment requirements or with any substantive
condition of the agreement shall permit the Township to unilaterally
terminate the agreement and/or to exercise such other remedies as
may be provided by statute, this article or the agreement.
B.Â
Execution of agreement. Upon authorization by the Township Committee,
it shall be the responsibility of the Township Clerk to ensure that
the agreement is fully executed. No agreement shall be considered
to be in force and effect unless and until it has been signed by the
developer and the Mayor, after which it shall be dated and certified
by the Township Clerk by her/his signature and the affixing of the
Township Seal.
C.Â
Distribution of executed agreements. Once an agreement has been fully
executed, the Township Clerk shall be responsible to distribute executed
copies thereof to the developer, the Tax Assessor, the Construction
Official, the Township Administrator and the Township Attorney. The
Township Clerk shall retain one executed copy, which shall be placed
on permanent file within her/his office, where it shall be available
for examination by the public during regular business hours. Additionally,
the Township Clerk shall also file a copy with the Director of the
Division of Local Government Services within the New Jersey Department
of Community Affairs.
After the completion of construction and the issuance of a final
certificate of occupancy, the project shall be maintained and operated
consistent with the terms of the agreement until its termination.
Throughout the term of the agreement it shall be administered according
to the procedures set forth as follows:
A.Â
Billing and payment in lieu of taxes.
(1)Â
Throughout the term of the agreement, the Tax Collector shall bill
the developer each quarter. Such bills shall reflect the payments
in lieu of taxes required under the agreement. Regardless of the date
of issuance, all such bills shall be deemed to have been issued on
the first day of each calendar quarter and to be due and payable within
30 calendar days thereafter.
(2)Â
All payments due to the Township arising out of the agreement which
are not paid as of the date due shall be subject to the same charges
for penalties and interest as arrears then in affect for nonpayment
of property taxes.
(3)Â
The Tax Collector shall accept all payments made pursuant to such
billings and shall maintain books of account as to each agreement.
Except as otherwise required by law, the Tax Collector shall apply
payments received to amounts due in the following order: amounts due
for penalties and interest for payments in lieu of taxes; then, amounts
due for payments in lieu of taxes. The developer shall be responsible
to make timely payments directly to the Tax Collector.
B.Â
Annual audits. Where required by law or where required by the agreement,
the developer shall submit an annual audit prepared by a certified
public accountant of the financial performance of the project. Such
audit shall be submitted each year within 90 days after the end of
the fiscal year of the project to the Tax Assessor with a simultaneous
copy to the Township Clerk for archival purposes. The Assessor shall
review each audit upon submission and make a determination as to any
adjustment required in the payment in lieu of taxes.
C.Â
Noncompliance. During the term of the agreement, if the developer
fails to comply with the requirements for submission of audits and/or
timely payments of amounts due, the Tax Collector shall be responsible
to enforce the terms of the agreement through the following procedure.
Such procedure shall not be the sole remedy permitted to the Township,
but rather shall be used in addition to such other remedies as may
be permitted under law and by the terms of the agreement.
(1)Â
In the case where any payment due to the Township pursuant to the
agreement, whether arising from taxes or payments in lieu of taxes,
is in arrears for a period of six months or more, the Tax Collector
shall notify the developer that unless the total amount due, including
penalties and interest and subsequent charges, is brought to a current
status within a period of 30 days from the date of the notification,
the agreement shall be rescinded. If the developer fails to comply
with such notice, the Township Tax Collector shall make recommendation
to the Township Attorney.
(2)Â
In the event of any nonpayment as outlined above, in addition to
the remedies outlined therein, the developer in signing the agreement
agrees that the Township shall have the same rights of liens and foreclosure
against the project as though the nonpayment were the property taxes.
The Township may exercise such rights by following the same steps
as set forth in law for the collection of delinquent property taxes.
(3)Â
In the case where any audit required to be submitted pursuant to
the agreement is delinquent for a period of three months or more from
the date due, the Assessor shall notify the developer that unless
the audit is submitted in proper form within 30 days from the date
of notification, the agreement shall be rescinded. If the developer
fails to comply with the requirements of the notice, the Assessor
shall recommend the Township Attorney prepare an ordinance rescinding
the agreement and after its adoption shall thereafter treat the project
as fully taxable.
In addition to the payments required in lieu of property taxes pursuant to § 379-7 of this article, the developer or owner of property which has qualified for an exemption and/or abatement shall be liable for all real estate taxes assessed and levied against the land on which the exempt and/or abated improvements are located.
No exemption and/or abatement shall be granted pursuant to this
article with respect to any property for which real estate taxes or
other municipal charges are delinquent or remain unpaid, or for which
penalties and interest for nonpayment of taxes are due.
The payment in lieu of property taxes shall be made in quarterly installments according to the same schedule as real property taxes are due and payable. Failure to make these payments shall result in the termination of the exemption and/or abatement. In addition to the remedy set forth herein, the payment authorized by § 379-7 of this article shall be enforced in the same manner as is provided for in real property taxes.
The exemption and abatement of real property taxes provided
pursuant to this article shall apply to property taxes levied for
municipal purposes, school purposes, county/government purposes, and
for the purposes of funding any other property tax exemptions or abatements.
All projects subject to tax agreements 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 provision, zoning, planning and building code requirements.
The added assessment provisions of Section 3 of P.L. 1941, c.
397 (N.J.S.A. 54:4-63.3), and the omitted assessment provisions of
Section 9 of P.L. 1947, c. 413 (N.J.S.A. 54:4-63.20), and Section
1 of P.L. 1968, c. 184 (N.J.S.A. 54:4-63.31), shall not be applicable
to any improvements that are exempt from taxation under this article.
Any property which is granted an exemption and/or abatement
pursuant to this article shall be subject to an inspection by the
Township on an annual basis to ensure that the property is in compliance
with all ordinances, regulations, and safety codes of the Township.
Any property which is determined to be in violation of any ordinance,
regulation, and/or safety code of the Township shall be subject to
any penalties and fines, or any other remedial action permitted by
state law.
