(A) The County Council believes that, pursuant to its Home Rule authority set forth in I.C. 36-1-3-1 et seq., and the authority granted to it under I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-1 et seq., it has the authority to declare areas within the county as Economic Revitalization Areas (ERA) which do not meet the general standards for real property tax abatement set forth in §§ 38.23 through 38.27.
(B) The County Council therefore declares that individuals who desire to petition for real property tax abatement which do not meet the general standards set forth herein, but nevertheless have a business, or business development, that is unique in the total number of jobs created, salary levels of the jobs, total investment in building and equipment, or similar characteristics, may do so by filing proper petitions and forms of declaratory and confirmatory resolutions with the County Auditor. Such forms shall set forth, in detail, the reasons why they believe their circumstances create a unique opportunity for the county, and that they should be granted such abatement and declared an ERA.
(C) The Tax Abatement Committee, as the preliminary review body, shall review such petitions, and declaratory and confirmatory resolutions, on a project-by-project basis, and make its report to the County Council, which shall have the sole, absolute authority as the designating body to declare an area to be an Economic Revitalization Area for tax abatement purposes.
(D) The Tax Abatement Committee, in its report, and the County Council, in its decision, shall make specific findings supporting their conclusion that there is, or is not, a rational basis for the determination that the area should be declared an Economic Revitalization Area.
(E) Real property tax abatement granted under this section shall be limited to the specific amount of years determined by the County Council to be appropriate under the circumstances. The County Council shall have the sole, and absolute, discretion to determine the specific amount of years of tax abatement.
(Council Ord. 97-37, passed 10-7-1997)