(A) Divisions (B)(1) and (B)(2) below are hereby adopted by the Town Council as the guidelines and principles for consideration of a statutorily compliant request for tax abatement and an application score sheet.
(B) Contemporaneous with the submission of a statutorily compliant request for tax abatement, a petitioner shall submit to the Clerk-Treasurer of the town a non-refundable application fee of $500 before any further consideration or processing of the application will take place.
(1) (a) Guidelines and principles for consideration of property tax abatement in the town. These principles are factors and considerations for evaluating application for economic revitalization areas and tax abatement, and will be used in determining the length of abatement within each category.
1. Firms receiving tax abatement are expected to give local construction firms and local suppliers of goods and services the opportunity to do business whenever possible.
2. Firms that create a technology based product or service or use advanced technology in manufacturing will be given a higher priority.
3. The number of jobs retained and/or created per dollar of investment will be an important consideration.
4. The level of wages and benefits will be an important consideration for all applications.
5. Projects that will require variances or special exceptions will require additional review.
6. Adverse environmental impacts will negatively affect the consideration of abatement.
7. Any need for additional public infrastructure or other additional public support for the project will be considered in determining the length of the abatement. Support of additional infrastructure will be considered as a local incentive to the company applying.
8. The time period of depreciation of equipment will be considered in the length of abatement for equipment.
9. Economic revitalization areas (ERAs) designated by the Town Council for personal property will include a memorandum of understanding that may provide for the repayment to the town of all or a portion of the tax savings realized through the designation in the event that the ERA is terminated because the property is removed from the town.
10. A limited tax abatement may be considered in a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District.
(b) Guidelines for consideration of property tax abatement in the town.
1. Projects will be considered for abatement only if the proposed new investment is at least $1,000,000 and development has not begun and/or equipment has not been ordered.
2. In addition, if the applicant is not the owner, authorization of the application must be obtained from the owner.
3. The length of the abatement period for real estate will be considered by the guidelines in the categories below:
6 to 10 years | Manufacturing/real estate improvement |
6 to 10 years | Technology based/real estate improvement |
3 to 7 years | Manufacturing equipment (tangible personal property used in the direct production, manufacture, fabrication, assembly, extraction, mining, processing, refining or finishing of other tangible personal property) |
3 to 7 years | Research and development equipment (tangible personal property, such as laboratory equipment, research and development equipment, computers and computer software, telecommunications equipment or testing equipment) |
3 to 7 years | Logistical distribution equipment (tangible personal property, such as racking equipment, scanning or coding equipment, separators, conveyors, fork lifts or lifting equipment, transitional moving equipment, packaging equipment, sorting and picking equipment or software for technology used in logistical distribution) |
3 to 7 years | Information technology equipment (tangible personal property that consists of equipment, including software, used in the fields of information processing, office automation, telecommunication facilities and networks, informatics, network administration, software development and fiber optics) |
3 to 7 years | Office/real estate improvements |
3 to 7 years | Retail/real estate improvements |
(2) Industrial tax abatement application score sheet:
Industrial Tax Abatement Application Score Sheet
Company Name: Application Date:
Project Description:
PROJECT COMPOSITION: POINTS
3 points possible - use only the applicable scenario with the
highest point value
SCORE
ACTIVITY DETAIL:
5 points possible - if more than one scenario applies, use only the scenario with the
highest point value.
SCORE
TOTAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT: POINTS
5 points possible
SCORE
(a) Projects score 15 or more points are those most beneficial to the town. These projects will be considered for abatements up to seven years on personal property and up to ten years on real estate improvements.
(b) Projects scoring ten points or more provide some benefit to the town. These projects shall be considered for abatement up to three years on personal property and up to six years on real estate improvements.
(c) Projects scoring less than ten points are not eligible for abatement utilizing these criteria and scoring system.
(d) Before an abatement time period is approved, the applicant must demonstrate that the depreciated life of the improvement is greater than the abatement period.
(e) The applicant must also show the eventual realized tax benefit to the community using the current tax rate.
(Ord. 071310, passed 7-13-2010)