Chapter 3.16
ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREAS
Sections:
3.16.020 General standards and requirements.
3.16.030 Real estate tax deduction.
3.16.040 Manufacturing equipment tax deduction.
3.16.010 Application process.
A. Time of Filing. A person seeking declaration of an area within the county but outside the corporate limits of the city of Evansville as an economic revitalization area shall file an application with the Evansville department of metropolitan development on the form or forms which may be prescribed from time to time by the department. The application must be filed with the department prior to commencement of project in the affected area or ordering of any equipment. Commencement of the project shall mean prior to the issuance of county building permit. Ordering equipment shall means issuance of a purchase order for equipment or other commitment to purchase or obtain the equipment by the applicant.
B. Submission Requirements. The application form shall be submitted in a quantity as may be specified by the department. The application form shall be accompanied by a like number of preliminary resolutions and confirming resolutions, a check made payable to the department of metropolitan development in the amount of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) as a nonrefundable application fee, a copy of the applicant’s most recent audited financial statement (in no event more than two years from date of application), and a cash flow projection for the project for the period of the proposed tax abatement.
C. Resolution Requirements.
1. Preliminary Resolution. The preliminary resolution shall be of essentially the same form and content as that in the sample resolution attached to the resolution codified in this chapter, and incorporated herein by reference. It should specifically address the following:
a. The common address and the legal description of the property to be declared as an economic revitalization area shall be included in section 1 of the resolution.
b. Whether the declaration is for the purpose of property tax deduction for property, new manufacturing equipment, or both, shall be included in section 2 of the resolution.
c. The declaration of the economic revitalization area shall be limited to the current and one subsequent calendar years, which shall be spelled out (i.e., 1986 and 1987), in section 3 of the resolution.
2. Confirming Resolution. The confirming resolution shall be essentially the same form and content as that in the sample resolution attached to the resolution codified in this chapter, and incorporated herein by reference. It should specifically address the following:
a. The common address and legal description of the property shall be included in section 1 of the resolution.
b. The resolution number of the preliminary resolution and the date of its passage shall be included in section 2 of the resolution.
D. Staff Review. The department on behalf of the county is directed to solicit review comments from appropriate departments and agencies, including, but not limited to, the area plan commission, the county engineer, the county surveyor, the county drainage board, the Evansville urban transportation study. The staff shall review each application for completeness and accuracy, gather and provide additional information needed by the county council to make an appropriate decision, analyze the application and supplemental material, and comment generally on the acceptability or unacceptability of the request for economic revitalization area declaration.
(Prior code § 94.01)
3.16.020 General standards and requirements.
A. Declaration of an economic revitalization area will be considered for projects in the following categories:
1. New manufacturing;
2. Warehousing, as a part of the renovation and reuse of vacant manufacturing structures;
3. New research or high technology facilities;
4. Renovation of vacant manufacturing facilities;
5. Office building, which will be substantially (at least seventy-five (75) percent) occupied by the developer, the total construction or rehabilitation cost of which equals or exceeds one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) exclusive of land and acquisition cost;
6. New manufacturing equipment, if the total cost of the equipment equals or exceeds fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00).
B. An application for declaration as an economic revitalization area shall meet one or more of the following criteria:
1. The property, or area, is undesirable for, or impossible of, normal development and occupancy because of a lack of development, cessation of growth, deterioration of improvements or character of occupancy, age, obsolescence, substandard buildings, or other factors which have impaired values or prevent a normal development or use of property.
2. A property or area which includes a facility or a group of facilities that are technologically, economically, or energy obsolete, and where the obsolescence may lead to a decline in employment and tax revenues.
C. An application shall also address at least one of the following development objectives:
1. Generate the use of vacant or under-utilized land;
2. Rehabilitate or replace obsolete, deteriorated, vacant, or under-utilized buildings;
3. Retain or expand job opportunities;
4. Preserve historically or architecturally significant properties.
(Prior code § 94.02)
3.16.030 Real estate tax deduction.
A. Application. Pursuant to IC 6-1.1-12.1-5, the owner of property which has been declared to be an economic revitalization area and who desires to obtain the tax deduction provided by IC 6-1.1-12.1-3 for property must file a certified deduction application, on forms prescribed by the State Board of Tax Commissioners, with the county auditor before May 10, except as otherwise provided in IC 6-1.1-12.1-5(b) or (e), of the year in which the addition to the assessed value is made.
B. Length of Deduction.
1. Property designated as an urban development area or economic revitalization area after December 31, 1978 and before January 1, 1986 are entitled to a deduction for a ten (10) year period, pursuant to IC 6-1.1-12.1-5(d).
2. Property declared to be an economic revitalization area after January 1, 1986 is entitled to a deduction from the assessed value of the property for a period of three years, six years, or ten (10) years as determined in subsections (B)(3) and (4) of this section.
3. Upon verification of the correctness of a certified deduction application by the assessor of the township in which the property is located, the county auditor shall send a copy of the application to the county council. Within sixty (60) days after receiving a copy of the property owner’s certified deduction application from the county auditor, the county council shall pass a resolution, pursuant to IC 6-1.1-12.1-3(b), stating whether the property is entitled to a deduction of three years, six years, or ten (10) years. A certified copy of the resolution shall be sent to the county auditor.
4. In making the determination concerning the length of the deduction, the county council shall refer the application received from the county auditor to the Evansville department of metropolitan development. Existing or new industrial projects shall be entitled to ten (10) year tax abatement on real estate improvements so long as they meet criteria in Section 3.16.020. The department of metropolitan development shall contact the property owner and request a notarized affidavit certifying the number of new, full-time, permanent jobs which have been created as a result of the project for which the tax deduction is sought. Based on the information included in the affidavit, the department of metropolitan development shall prepare a resolution for the county council’s consideration that grants a three-year deduction for projects which have created from one job to twenty-five (25) jobs, a six-year deduction for projects which have created from twenty-six (26) to forty-nine (49) jobs, and a ten (10) year deduction for projects which have created fifty (50) or more jobs. Property owners which do not submit an affidavit shall be considered to have created zero jobs.
(Prior code § 94.03)
3.16.040 Manufacturing equipment tax deduction.
A. Application. Pursuant to IC 6-1.1-12.1-5.5, the owner or property which has been declared to be an economic revitalization area and who desires to obtain the tax deduction provided by IC 6-1.1-12.1-4 for new manufacturing equipment must file a certified deduction application, on forms prescribed by the State Board of Tax Commissioners, with the county auditor and with the State Board of Tax Commissioners. A deduction application must be filed in the year in which the new manufacturing equipment is installed and in each of the immediately succeeding four years.
B. Length of Deduction. Except as provided in IC 6-1.1-12.1-4(c), an owner of new manufacturing equipment is entitled to a deduction from the assessed value of that equipment for a period of five years.
(Prior code § 94.04)