2. The Legislature finds that the various statutes authorized by Article VIII, Section I, paragraph 6 of the New Jersey Constitution permitting municipalities to grant for periods of five years exemptions or abatements, or both, from taxation in areas in need of rehabilitation have proven to be effective in promoting the construction and rehabilitation of residential and commercial and industrial structures in areas threatened with economic and social decline. There exists, however, a need to consolidate and make more coherent the most useful features of those various statutes in order to promote the most effective and coordinated use of the various authorizations afforded to municipalities and to include in-fill construction in a comprehensive strategy of rehabilitation of these areas by permitting exemptions and abatements for construction of new single family and multiple dwellings. It is the purpose of this act to permit municipalities the greatest flexibility possible within the constitutional limitations to address problems of deterioration and decay while preserving the salient features of the existing tax exemption and abatement programs.

L.1991,c.441,s.2.