Bill Text: NJ A2743 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes municipality to provide for imposition and collection of special assessment to secure developer's recovery of cost of certain improvements in connection with redevelopment project.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-01 - Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [A2743 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A2743-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes municipality to provide for imposition and collection of special assessment to secure developer's recovery of cost of certain improvements in connection with redevelopment project.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning certain municipal assessments, designated as Special Assessment Development Improvement Act, amending P.L.1960, c.183, and supplementing title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Sections 1 through 10 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be known and may be cited as the "Special Assessment Development Improvement Act."
2. (New section) As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Assigned special assessment payments" means all special assessment payments made, or required to be made, by an owner pursuant to a special assessment agreement, which, upon the assignment by the municipality to the lead developer under the special assessment agreement pursuant to section 5 of P.L. , c. , (C. ) have or will become payable to the lead developer as reimbursement for the cost of a special assessment development improvement undertaken by the lead developer on behalf of all owners.
"Development project" means an economic redevelopment and growth grant incentive project or a redevelopment project. "Development project" also means two or more contiguous economic redevelopment and growth grant incentive projects, two or more contiguous redevelopment projects, or contiguous projects comprising one or more economic redevelopment and growth grant projects, and one or more redevelopment projects.
"Economic development and growth grant project" means a project for which an incentive grant has been approved pursuant to section 4 or section 5 of P.L.2009, c.90 (C.52:27D-489d or 52:27D-489e).
"Lead developer" means any owner that enters into, or proposes to enter into, a special assessment agreement with a municipality pursuant to P.L. , c. , and that thereafter undertakes a special assessment development improvement in connection with a development project covered by that agreement.
"Owner" means any property owner, other than a lead developer, that enters into, or proposes to enter into, a special assessment agreement with a municipality pursuant to P.L. , c. . The term "owner" shall also include every subsequent owner, other than a lead developer, of any parcel subject to a duly recorded special assessment agreement. If any parcel is at any time converted into a condominium form of ownership, the term "owner" shall include each and every owner of a condominium interest in such parcel, other than a lead developer, each as to its allocable share of the total special assessment attributable to such parcel, as that allocable share shall be determined in accordance with the special assessment agreement.
"Redevelopment project" shall have the meaning prescribed for that term under the "Local Redevelopment and Housing Law," P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.).
"Special assessment" means an assessment upon the lands or improvements to such lands, or both, benefitted by improvements undertaken pursuant to P.L. , c. , imposed in accordance with an ordinance adopted as provided in section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. ).
"Special assessment agreement" means an agreement entered into between a lead developer and a municipality concerning the undertaking of a special assessment development improvement and the special assessment of the costs thereof against the benefitted properties, as provided in section 4 of P.L. , c. .
"Special assessment development improvement" means any or all of the following items which are part of, or are necessary for the completion of, a development project in a municipality: demolition of existing structures, site preparation, environmental remediation, installation of utilities, construction of sidewalks and roadways, development of parks or open space, and such off-site improvements as may be required by the municipality in connection with the development of the development project.
3. (New section) In connection with any development project, one or more owners may request that a special assessment development improvement be undertaken, at the expense of such owners, by a lead developer. Such request shall be made to the municipality in which the development project is located, in an application signed by all such owners, setting forth a description of the property owned by each owner, a description and cost of each element of the proposed special assessment development improvement to be undertaken, and an allocation of such costs among all owners, which allocation shall be made in proportion to the relative benefits accruing to each owner from the undertaking of such special assessment development improvement. The request shall identify the lead developer that shall be requested to undertake such special assessment development improvement on behalf of the owners, and which shall be undertaken by the lead developer in connection with its development project. The request shall also contain an undertaking by each such owner to pay its share of the cost of such special assessment development improvement, in the manner provided in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The request shall also contain the agreement by the lead developer to undertake such special assessment development improvement at the cost stated therein, provided that the special assessment shall be approved by the municipality.
4. (New section) The governing body of the municipality may thereupon adopt an ordinance providing for the undertaking of such special assessment development improvement by the lead developer, and the special assessment of the cost thereof against each owner, all of which shall be evidenced by a special assessment agreement to be entered into among the municipality, the lead developer, and each owner. Said ordinance shall be adopted in accordance with chapter 56 of title 40 of the Revised Statutes (R.S.40:56-1 et seq.); provided, however, that:
a. The specific amount to be assessed against each owner shall be the amount set forth in the contract as that owner's allocable portion of the cost thereof, not to exceed in the aggregate the actual cost of the special assessment development improvement, and by executing that contract, each owner shall be deemed to have accepted that the amount set forth in the contract is the actual benefit conferred. Accordingly, the procedures otherwise applicable to determining the actual benefit conferred on the property shall not be applicable.
b. The provisions of R.S.40:56-35 shall be applied so that if any installment of a special assessment shall remain unpaid for 30 days after the time in which it shall become due, the municipality may provide, by ordinance, either that (1) the whole assessment or any unpaid balance thereof shall become due and be immediately payable; or (2) any subsequent installments which would not yet have become due except for the default shall be considered as not in default and that the lien for the installments not yet due shall continue.
c. The ordinance shall require that the special assessments be payable in yearly installments, with legal interest thereon, beginning not sooner than the date of completion of the special assessment development improvement as certified to the municipality pursuant to section 8 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and continuing over a period of years up to but in no event exceeding thirty years from the date of execution and recordation of the special assessment agreement.
5. (New section) The ordinance shall also provide that the special assessment shall constitute an automatic, enforceable, and perfected municipal lien for all purposes, including the federal bankruptcy code, regardless of whether or not the amount of the special assessments has been determined at the time the lien attaches to any interest in the land, leasehold estate, or improvements, as applicable. The certification process contained in section 8 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) to determine the amount of the special assessment payments due shall not affect the commencement or validity of the lien established under P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
6. (New section) Payments of the special assessment shall be assigned directly by the municipality to the lead developer, as reimbursement for the cost of undertaking the special assessment development improvement. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the assignment shall be an absolute assignment of all the municipality's right, title, and interest in the special assessment payments, together with the rights and remedies provided to the municipality under the special assessment agreement, including, but not limited to, the right of collection of payments due. Pursuant to the absolute assignment, the lead developer, or any assignee or pledgee thereof, in lieu of the municipality, shall be authorized to conduct a sale of the land or improvements thereon, or both, or any leasehold interests in the land or improvements thereon, or both, to satisfy delinquencies in any special assessment payments. The sale shall be held in accordance with the "tax sale law", R.S.54:5-1 et seq.; provided, however, that notwithstanding any provision of that law, the lead developer or its assignee or pledgee is authorized to issue a tax sale certificate making sale of any interest, including any interest less than a fee interest, that is subject to the lien established under P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). Prior to conducting a sale of the lands or improvements or issuing a tax sale certificate as authorized under this section, the lead developer or its assignee or pledgee shall provide the governing body of the municipality with written notice of the proposed sale or issuance at least five working days prior to the date of the proposed sale or issuance. Any interest that is subject to the lien established under P.L. , c. shall not be transferred, conveyed, assigned, disposed of, or sold, whether by tax sale or otherwise, free and clear of the special assessment agreement and any special assessments due thereunder while any amounts remain payable thereunder, regardless of the consent of the parties or order of any court, whether in law or in equity, unless any such transfer or conveyance is provided for under the terms and conditions set forth in the special assessment agreement. Any purchaser, transferee, successor, grantee, or assignee of such interest, whether at tax sale or otherwise, shall take title to such interest subject to the obligations imposed by the special assessment agreement. Special assessments assigned by a municipality to a lead developer as provided hereunder shall not be included in the general funds of the municipality, nor shall they be subject to any laws regarding the receipt, deposit, investment, or appropriation of public funds and shall retain such status notwithstanding enforcement of the special assessment by the municipality or assignee as provided herein. Special assessments assigned by a municipality to a lead developer pursuant to P.L. , c. shall not be considered public funds for any purpose including, but not limited to, laws relating to public contracting, and shall not be considered financial assistance for purposes of P.L.2009, c.136 (C.52:18-42 et al.).
7. (New section) The municipality or the lead developer shall record, either simultaneously or at a different time, any ordinance enacted by the municipality relating to the payment of special assessments and, either simultaneously with the ordinance or at a different time, a copy of the special assessment agreement. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, upon recordation of both the ordinance and the special assessment agreement, the lien thereof shall be perfected for all purposes in accordance with law and the lien shall thereafter have such priority as any other lien for special benefit assessments upon real property; provided, however, that in the event any ordinance or special assessment agreement is amended or supplemented in a way which increases the amount of special assessments, the lien as to that increase shall be perfected and apply upon the recordation of the amended or supplemented ordinance and special assessment agreement. Except as set forth in this section, no amendment or supplement to the ordinance or special assessment agreement thereafter recorded shall affect the perfection or priority of the lien established upon original recordation thereof. Payments required to be made in accordance with a special assessment agreement entered into under P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be a continuous lien on the land against which the ordinance is recorded on and after the date of recordation of both the ordinance and the special assessment agreement, whether or not those recordations shall have occurred simultaneously. All subsequent special assessments thereunder, interest and penalties and costs of collection which thereafter fall due or accrue shall be added and relate back to and be part of the initial lien.
8. (New section) Following recordation of the ordinance and the special assessment agreement, the lead developer may proceed to undertake the special assessment development improvement. Upon completion of the special assessment development improvement, the lead developer shall certify to the municipality the completion thereof and the actual cost thereof. Such certification shall also include an allocation of the total amount to be assessed against the owners, which shall be the lesser of the actual cost thereof as so certified to the municipality and the maximum cost thereof as provided in the ordinance and the special assessment agreement, against each owner. Upon receipt and approval by the municipality, the municipality shall thereupon notify each owner of the actual amount to be assessed against such owner, in the manner generally provided in chapter 56 of Title 40 of the Revised Statutes (C.40:56-1 et seq.).
9. (New section) The special assessment agreement shall provide that all amounts payable thereunder shall, upon collection and receipt by the municipality, be promptly paid over to the lead developer, as assignee of the municipality, as reimbursement for the cost of the special assessment development improvement undertaken by the lead developer on behalf of all owners. A lead developer that has entered into a special assessment agreement with a municipality and any such other owners pursuant to P.L., c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) may, upon notice to and consent of the municipality and each such other owner, pledge and assign as security or support for any loan or bond, including but not limited to any bond issued by a county improvement authority pursuant to the county improvement authorities law, P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-44 et al.), any or all of its right, title, and interest in and to such special assessment agreement and in the assigned special assessment payments thereunder, and the right to receive same, along with the rights and remedies provided to the lead developer under such agreement and section 6 of P.L. , c. (C. ). Any such assignment shall be an absolute assignment for all purposes, including the federal bankruptcy code, and thereafter may not be modified except as provided by the terms of the instrument or by the terms of the pledge or assignment. Any pledge of assigned special assessment payments made by the lead developer shall be valid and binding from the time when the pledge is made and filed in the records of the municipality. The assigned special assessment payments so pledged and thereafter received by the lead developer shall immediately be subject to the lien of the pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act, and the lien of any pledge shall be valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the lead developer irrespective of whether the parties have notice thereof. Neither the special assessment agreement nor any other instrument by which a pledge under this section is created need be filed or recorded except with the municipality. Proceeds of bonds of a county improvement authority loaned to a lead developer and secured by a pledge of assigned special assessment payments shall be considered public funds for purposes of laws relating to public contracting, but shall not be considered financial assistance for purposes of P.L.2009, c.136 (C.52:18-42 et al.).
10. (New section) In the event that any parcel is, at the time of execution of a special assessment agreement, subject to a long-term lease having a duration at least as long as that of the special assessment agreement, the special assessment agreement may provide that the leasehold interest, and not the fee interest, is deemed to be benefitted from the special assessment redevelopment project, in which event the term "owner" shall mean the owner of said leasehold interest, and the parcel subject to the special assessment agreement shall be deemed to be the leasehold interest. In such event, notwithstanding any other applicable law, for the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a municipal lien on a leasehold estate shall constitute a lien against the leasehold estate only, unless the special assessment agreement specifically provides for a lien on the underlying fee interest in the land. In any case, enforcement of a municipal lien on a leasehold estate shall be limited to an in rem proceeding only.
11. Section 2 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-45) is amended to read as follows:
2. As used in this act, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
(a) "Authority" shall mean a public body created pursuant to this act;
(b) "Bond resolution" shall have the meaning ascribed thereto in section 17 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-60);
(c) "Bonds" shall mean bonds, notes or other obligations issued pursuant to this act;
(d) "Construct" and "construction" shall connote and include acts of clearance, demolition, construction, development or redevelopment, reconstruction, replacement, extension, improvement and betterment;
(e) "Cost" shall mean, in addition to the usual connotations thereof, the cost of planning, acquisition or construction of all or any part of any public facility or facilities of an authority and of all or any property, rights, easements, privileges, agreements and franchises deemed by the authority to be necessary or useful and convenient therefor or in connection therewith and the cost of retiring the present value of the unfunded accrued liability due and owing by the authority, as calculated by the system actuary for a date certain upon the request of the authority, for early retirement incentive benefits granted by the authority pursuant to P.L.1991, c.230 and P.L.1993, c.181, including interest or discount on bonds, cost of issuance of bonds, architectural, engineering and inspection costs and legal expenses, cost of financial, professional and other estimates and advice, organization, administrative, operating and other expenses of the authority prior to and during such acquisition or construction, and all such other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the financing, acquisition, construction and completion of such public facility or facilities or part thereof and the placing of the same fully in operation or the disposition of the same, and also such provision or reserves for working capital, operating, maintenance or replacement expenses or for payment or security of principal of or interest on bonds during or after such acquisition or construction as the authority may determine, and also reimbursements to the authority or any governmental unit or person of any moneys theretofore expended for the purposes of the authority;
(f) The term "county" shall mean any county of any class of the State and shall include, without limitation, the terms "the county" and "beneficiary county" defined in this act, and the term "the county" shall mean the county which created an authority pursuant to this act;
(g) "Development project" shall mean any lands, structures, or property or facilities acquired or constructed or to be acquired or constructed by an authority for the purposes of the authority described in subsection (e) of section 11 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-54);
(h) "Facility charges" shall have the meaning ascribed to said term in section 14 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-57);
(i) "Facility revenues" shall have the meaning ascribed to said term in subsection (e) of section 20 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-63);
(j) "Governing body" shall mean, in the case of a county, the board of chosen freeholders, or in the case of a county operating under article 3 or 5 of the "Optional County Charter Law," P.L.1972, c.154 (C.40:41A-1 et seq.) as defined thereunder, and, in the case of a municipality, the commission, council, board or body, by whatever name it may be known, having charge of the finances of the municipality;
(k) "Governmental unit" shall mean the United States of America or the State or any county or municipality or any subdivision, department, agency, or instrumentality heretofore or hereafter created, designated or established by or for the United States of America or the State or any county or municipality;
(l) "Local bond law" shall mean chapter 2 of Title 40A, Municipalities and Counties, of the New Jersey Statutes (N.J.S.) as amended and supplemented;
(m) "Municipality" shall mean any city, borough, village, town, or township of the State but not a county or a school district;
(n) "Person" shall mean any person, partnership, association, corporation or entity other than a nation, state, county or municipality or any subdivision, department, agency or instrumentality thereof;
(o) "Project" shall have the meaning ascribed to said term in section 17 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-60);
(p) "Public facility" shall mean any lands, structures, franchises, equipment, or other property or facilities acquired, constructed, owned, financed, or leased by the authority or any other governmental unit or person to accomplish any of the purposes of an authority authorized by section 11 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-54);
(q) "Real property" shall mean lands within or without the State, above or below water, and improvements thereof or thereon, or any riparian or other rights or interests therein;
(r) "Garbage and solid waste disposal system" shall mean the plants, structures and other real and personal property acquired, constructed or operated or to be acquired, constructed or operated by a county improvement authority, including incinerators, sanitary landfill facilities or other plants for the treatment and disposal of garbage, solid waste and refuse matter and all other real and personal property and rights therein and appurtenances necessary or useful and convenient for the collection and treatment or disposal in a sanitary manner of garbage, solid waste and refuse matter (but not including sewage);
(s) "Garbage, solid waste or refuse matter" shall mean garbage, refuse and other discarded materials resulting from industrial, commercial and agricultural operations, and from domestic and community activities, and shall include all other waste materials including sludge, chemical waste, hazardous wastes and liquids, except for liquids which are treated in public sewage treatment plants and except for solid animal and vegetable wastes collected by swine producers licensed by the State Department of Agriculture to collect, prepare and feed such wastes to swine on their own farms;
(t) "Blighted, deteriorated or deteriorating area" may include an area determined heretofore by the municipality to be blighted in accordance with the provisions of P.L.1949, c.187, repealed by P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40:55-21.1 et seq.) and, in addition, areas which are determined by the municipality, pursuant to the same procedures as provided in said law, to be blighted, deteriorated or deteriorating because of structures or improvements which are dilapidated or characterized by disrepair, lack of ventilation or light or sanitary facilities, faulty arrangement, location, or design, or other unhealthful or unsafe conditions;
(u) "Redevelopment" may include planning, replanning, conservation, rehabilitation, clearance, development and redevelopment; and the construction and rehabilitation and provision for construction and rehabilitation of residential, commercial, industrial, public or other structures and the grant or dedication or rededication of spaces as may be appropriate or necessary in the interest of the general welfare for streets, parks, playgrounds, or other public purposes including recreational and other facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto, in accordance with a redevelopment plan approved by the governing body of a municipality;
(v) "Redevelopment plan" shall mean a plan as it exists from time to time for the redevelopment of all or any part of a redevelopment area, which plan shall be sufficiently complete to indicate such land acquisition, demolition and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, conservation or rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the area of the project, zoning and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, building requirements, the plan's relationship to definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements and provision for relocation of any residents and occupants to be displaced in a manner which has been or is likely to be approved by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to the "Relocation Assistance Law of 1967," P.L.1967, c.79 (C.52:31B-1 et seq.) and the "Relocation Assistance Act," P.L.1971, c.362 (C.20:4-1 et seq.) and rules and regulations pursuant thereto;
(w) "Redevelopment project" shall mean any undertakings and activities for the elimination, and for the prevention of the development or spread, of blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas and may involve any work or undertaking pursuant to a redevelopment plan; such undertaking may include: (1) acquisition of real property and demolition, removal or rehabilitation of buildings and improvements thereon; (2) carrying out plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements; and (3) installation, construction or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds or other improvements necessary for carrying out the objectives of the redevelopment project;
(x) "Redeveloper" shall mean any person or governmental unit that shall enter into or propose to enter into a contract with an authority for the redevelopment of an area or any part thereof under the provisions of this act;
(y) "Redevelopment area" shall mean an area of a municipality which the governing body thereof finds is a blighted area or an area in need of rehabilitation whose redevelopment is necessary to effectuate the public purposes declared in this act. A redevelopment area may include lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves are not detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare, but whose inclusion is found necessary, with or without change in their condition, for the effective redevelopment of the area of which they are a part;
(z) "Sludge" shall mean any solid, semisolid, or liquid waste generated from a municipal, industrial or other sewage treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, or any other such waste having similar characteristics and effects, but shall not include effluent; [and]
(aa) "Beneficiary county" shall mean any county that has not created an authority pursuant to this act;
(bb) "Assigned special assessment payments" shall have the meaning prescribed for that term under section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);
(cc) "Lead developer" shall have the meaning prescribed for that term under section 2 of P.L. , c. ; and
(dd) "Special assessment development improvement" shall have the meaning prescribed for that term under section 2 of P.L. , c. .
(cf: P.L.2002, c.42, s.6)
12. Section 11 of P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-54) is amended to read as follows:
11. The purposes of every authority shall be (a) provision within the county or any beneficiary county of public facilities for use by the State, the county or any beneficiary county, or any municipality in any such county, or any two or more or any subdivisions, departments, agencies or instrumentalities of any of the foregoing for any of their respective governmental purposes, (b) provision within the county or any beneficiary county of public facilities for use as convention halls, or the rehabilitation, improvement or enlargement of any convention hall, including appropriate and desirable appurtenances located within the convention hall or near, adjacent to or over it within boundaries determined at the discretion of the authority, including but not limited to office facilities, commercial facilities, community service facilities, parking facilities, hotel facilities and other facilities for the accommodation and entertainment of tourists and visitors, (c) provision within the county or any beneficiary county of structures, franchises, equipment and facilities for operation of public transportation or for terminal purposes, including development and improvement of port terminal structures, facilities and equipment for public use in counties in, along or through which a navigable river flows, (d) provision within the county or any beneficiary county of structures or other facilities used or operated by the authority or any governmental unit in connection with, or relative to development and improvement of, aviation for military or civilian purposes, including research in connection therewith, and including structures or other facilities for the accommodation of passengers, (e) provision within the county or any beneficiary county of a public facility for a combination of governmental and nongovernmental uses; provided that not more than 50% of the usable space in any such facility shall be made available for nongovernmental use under a lease or other agreement by or with the authority, (f) acquisition of any real property within the county or any beneficiary county, with or without the improvements thereof or thereon or personal property appurtenant or incidental thereto, from the United States of America or any department, agency or instrumentality heretofore or hereafter created, designated or established by or for it, and the clearance, development or redevelopment, improvement, use or disposition of the acquired lands and premises in accordance with the provisions and for the purposes stated in this act, including the construction, reconstruction, demolition, rehabilitation, conversion, repair or alteration of improvements on or to said lands and premises, and structures and facilities incidental to the foregoing as may be necessary, convenient or desirable, (g) acquisition, construction, maintenance and operation of garbage and solid waste disposal systems for the purpose of collecting and disposing of garbage, solid waste or refuse matter, whether owned or operated by any person, the authority or any other governmental unit, within or without the county or any beneficiary county, (h) the improvement, furtherance and promotion of the tourist industries and recreational attractiveness of the county or any beneficiary county through the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance and operation of facilities for the recreation and entertainment of the public, which facilities may include, without being limited to, a center for the performing and visual arts, (i) provision of loans and other financial assistance and technical assistance for the construction, reconstruction, demolition, rehabilitation, conversion, repair or alteration of buildings or facilities designed to provide decent, safe and sanitary dwelling units for persons of low and moderate income in need of housing, including the acquisition of land, equipment or other real or personal properties which the authority determines to be necessary, convenient or desirable appurtenances, all in accordance with the provisions of this act, as amended and supplemented, (j) planning, initiating and carrying out redevelopment projects for the elimination, and for the prevention of the development or spread of blighted, deteriorated or deteriorating areas and the disposition, for uses in accordance with the objectives of the redevelopment project, of any property or part thereof acquired in the area of such project, (k) any combination or combinations of the foregoing or following, [and] (l) subject to the prior approval of the Local Finance Board, the planning, design, acquisition, construction, improvement, renovation, installation, maintenance and operation of facilities or any other type of real or personal property within the county for a corporation or other person organized for any one or more of the purposes described in subsection a. of N.J.S.15A:2-1 except those facilities or any other type of real or personal property which can be financed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1972, c.29 (C.26:2I-1 et seq.) as amended, and (m) provision of loans to lead developers secured by assigned special assessment payments, in connection with special assessment development improvements within the county or any beneficiary county. A county improvement authority shall also have as its purpose the pooling of loans for any local governmental units within the county or any beneficiary county that are refunding bonds in order to achieve more favorable interest rates and terms for those local governmental units.
(cf: P.L.2002, c.42, s.8)
13. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes municipalities to impose special assessments on the owners of certain "development projects" to secure payment of the cost of various improvements related to the project for the benefit of the developer undertaking those improvements.
The "development projects" covered under the bill are (1) projects for which an economic redevelopment and growth grant incentive has been approved under the "New Jersey Economic Stimulus Act of 2009" (N.J.S.A.52:27D-489a et seq.), (2) redevelopment projects under the "Local Redevelopment and Housing Law" (N.J.S.A.40A:12A-1 et seq.), and (3) two or more contiguous projects in either or both of the previous categories. The improvements, the cost of which may be secured by the special assessment, include demolition of existing structures, site preparation, environmental remediation, installation of utilities, construction of sidewalks and roadways, development of parks or open space, and such off-site improvements as may be required by the municipality in connection with the development of the development project.
The bill provides that the owners of a development project may submit to the municipality in which the project is located a request that a "lead developer" undertake any of the aforementioned kinds of improvements in connection with the development project. The request would include the agreement of the designated lead developer to undertake the improvement on behalf of the owners and the agreement of each owner to pay a share of the cost of the improvement in proportion to the benefits therefrom that would accrue to that owner. The municipality is authorized under the bill to agree with the lead developer and owners (1) to the undertaking of the improvement, and (2) that a special assessment may be imposed against each owner for that owner's allocable portion of the cost.
Under the bill, the governing body of the municipality could then adopt an ordinance providing for the improvement to be undertaken and for the assessment of costs "as evidenced by the agreement." The ordinance is to require that the special assessment payments be payable in yearly installments over a period, not to exceed 30 years, beginning on or after the date on which the improvements are completed, and is to provide that the special assessment shall constitute an "automatic, enforceable, and perfected municipal lien." Either the municipality or the lead developer is to record both the ordinance and a copy of the special assessment agreement.
The municipality is to assign to the lead developer its right to payments of the special assessment and any remedies it may have under the assessment agreement, including the right to collect the payments and, in the event of delinquency in making a payment, to enforce the lien through sale, under the "tax sale law" of the property to which the lien attaches. Assessment payments that a municipality has assigned to a lead developer shall not be included in the general funds of the municipality nor subject to laws regarding the investment or appropriation of public funds; they shall not be subject to laws relating to public contracting nor considered as "financial assistance" under P.L.2009, c.136 (N.J.S.A.52:18-43 et al.).
Upon completion of the special assessment development improvement, the lead developer is to certify to the municipality the improvement is completed and the amount of actual cost, together with an allocation of the amount to be assessed against the owners, which amount shall be lesser of the actual cost so certified or the cost as provided in the ordinance and special assessment agreement. The municipality shall thereupon notify each owner of the actual amount to be assessed against that owner.
