The following words and terms used in this subchapter shall
have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
"Act" means the Tenants' Property Tax Rebate Act,
54:4-6.2 et seq.
"Amount to be rebated" means the total of the property tax
reduction plus any property tax credit applied to the property through the
Regional Efficiency Aid Program or through a local miscellaneous revenue
credit.
"Assessment reduction" means a decrease in the amount of
assessed value of qualified real rental property resulting from:
1. An agreement between an owner of qualified
property and a municipal taxing authority;
2. An abatement, exemption, or change in
assessment imposed administratively by a municipal tax assessor or county board
of taxation; or
3. A judgment
entered by a county board of taxation, the tax court, or another court of
competent jurisdiction.
"Base year" means calendar year 1998. If any of the following
events occur, "base year" shall then mean:
1. Any calendar year after 1998 in which
property taxes levied for qualified real rental property exceed the property
taxes levied for 1998 for that property;
2. The first calendar year after 1998 during
which qualified real rental property is first offered for rent or
lease;
3. The first full calendar
year after 1998 in which qualified real rental property is no longer subject to
a tax exemption or tax abatement program;
4. A calendar year subsequent to 1998 for
which the property tax calculation reflects an assessment reduction from the
prior base year assessment; or
5. A
calendar year subsequent to 1998 in which the property taxes paid in the
base
year and the property taxes paid in the current year do not reflect consistent
budgetary and tax item components because sewer, solid waste or similar
services provided through a taxing entity budget and reflected in the tax rate
are changed to a separately billed user fee.
"Current year" means the calendar year in which a property
tax reduction is realized and rebates are calculated.
"Director" means the Director of the Division of Local
Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs.
"Local agency" or "local enforcement agency" means the
municipal rent leveling board, where one exists, or the tax collector where one
does not.
"Local miscellaneous revenue credit" means a property tax
reduction provided through a property tax credit applied to a property tax bill
pursuant to
40A:4-27.3.
"MOD IV" means the New Jersey Property Tax System
administered by the State Division of Taxation. It is mandated for use by every
municipal assessor, authorized for use by private data centers serving
municipalities, and designed for use by tax collectors in preparing tax bills
and Notices of Tax Reduction.
"Notice of Tax Reduction," "Tax Reduction Notice," or
"Notice" means the document tax collectors send to owners whose taxes in the
current year are lower than those in the base year, or who have received a
Regional Efficiency Aid Program property tax credit, or where the municipality
has provided a local miscellaneous revenue credit. It includes the base year
and current tax and the property tax reduction amount as computed by the MOD IV
system, any REAP property tax credit, any local miscellaneous revenue credit, a
plain language summary of the law and rules, and an owner's rent rebate
certificate.
"Owner" means a person who owns qualified property.
"Property tax reduction" means the difference, between
property taxes paid or payable on any qualified property in the base year, and
the lower taxes paid or payable in the current year, except that such
calculation shall be exclusive of any property tax credit applied to the
property through the Regional Efficiency Aid Program or through a local
miscellaneous revenue credit.
"Qualified property" or "qualified real rental property"
means any building or structure, or complex of buildings and structures, in
which five or more housing units are rented or leased or offered for rent or
lease for residential purposes, except:
1. Hotels, motels, and other guesthouses
serving transient or seasonal guests;
2. Buildings or structures which are subject
to an abatement agreement under which reduced or no property taxes are paid on
the improvements pursuant to statute, notwithstanding that payments in lieu of
taxes are paid in accordance with the agreement;
3. Buildings or structures located in
municipalities in which a rent control ordinance that:
i. Does not provide for an automatic increase
in the amount of rent permitted to be charged by a property owner upon an
increase in the amount of property tax levied upon the property is in effect
for the base year and the current year; or
ii. Provides for both an automatic increase
and decrease in the amount of rent permitted to be charged by a property owner
upon a change in the amount of the total property tax levied on a parcel, which
total shall include the effect of any local miscellaneous revenue credit or
REAP credit;
4. Dwelling units in a residential
cooperative or mutual housing corporation;
5. Dwelling units in a condominium, other
than those occupied by qualified tenants under the "Tenant Protection Act of
1992," P.L. 1991, c.509 (2A:18-61.4 0 et seq.);
6. Dwelling units in a continuing care
retirement community; and
7.
Dwelling units within residential health care facilities, assisted living
facilities, facilities with a Class C license pursuant to the Rooming and
Boarding House
Act of 1979, P.L. 1979, c.496 (
55:13B-1 et seq.), or similar
facilities for which occupancy is conditioned on receipt of medical, nursing or
personal care services for the residents and the cost thereof is included in
the rent.
"Regional Efficiency Aid Program" or "REAP" means the
Regional Efficiency Aid Program, N.J.S.A. 54:4-8.7 6 et seq.
"Rent rebate certificate" means an owner's written assurance
to a local agency of rebates to be made to tenants. It includes certification
that the owner has posted notice of the rebates prominently for inspection by
tenants or has otherwise notified them, and that the owner has started making
the rebates and will complete them.
"Tax bills" means the property tax bills mailed by the tax
collector that include, at a minimum, the third installment of taxes for the
calendar year; however, if the bill for the third installment is an estimated
bill issued pursuant to
54:4-66.2 et seq., it shall mean
the tax bill for the fourth installment.
"Tenant rebate" means a deduction from rent equal to an
owner's tax reduction divided among tenants according to the rent they pay. It
may be made as a credit against rent payable or as a refund of rent paid, at
the option of the owner.
"Transient" means individuals whose residence at a rooming or
boarding house is on a temporary basis for a period lasting no more than 90
days.
