(a) Definitions. In this Section, the following words have the following meanings:
Director means the Director of the Department of Finance or the Director’s designee.
High-rise residential apartment building means a multi-family building with an occupied floor that is more than 8 stories above ground level and is used primarily for dwelling units for rent to the public.
Metro station means a mass transit train station owned and operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Qualifying development means a project where at least 50% of the project consists of the construction of one or more high-rise residential apartment buildings located on land leased from WMATA at a metro station. A qualifying development must include at least 25% of the moderately priced dwelling units required by Chapter 25A affordable to households at 50% of the area median income.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority or WMATA means the regional transit instrumentality of the State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of Columbia created by Compact and described in Md. Transportation Code Ann. §10-204, as amended.
(b) When authorized by state law, the Director must offer a payment in lieu of taxes for a qualifying development.
(c) The payment in lieu of taxes must exempt 100% of the real property tax that would otherwise be levied for a period of 15 years. The Director may begin the payment in lieu of taxes in the year a use and occupancy permit is issued for the qualifying development or in the second year property tax for the qualifying development is levied, regardless of subleases or assignments executed by the lessee. The payment in lieu of taxes must not include an exemption for any tax levied under an applicable special taxing area law.
(d) Any payment accepted by the Director must conform to guidelines included in a regulation adopted by the Executive under method (1) to implement this Section. The regulation must require the developer of the qualifying project, as a condition of receiving a payment in lieu of taxes under subsection (c), to agree in writing that, to the best of its knowledge, information, and belief:
(1) none of the contractors or subcontractors hired to perform work on the qualifying development site had three (3) or more final, non-appealable penalties assessed against it in the amount of $5,000.00 or more in the 3 years prior to being hired for the project for violations of applicable wage and hour laws, including the County’s prevailing wage law and any applicable Maryland wage and hour laws; and
(2) at least 25% of the workers constructing the qualifying project were residents of the County while performing the work.
The regulation must also require the developer to provide quarterly reports to the Executive during construction demonstrating compliance with the conditions for receiving a payment in lieu of taxes.
(e) A developer of a qualifying project who violates the guidelines included in the regulation adopted under subsection (d) has committed a Class A violation.
(f) This Act must be known as the “Housing at Metrorail Stations Act.”
(g) Sunset. A qualifying development is eligible and includes all buildings within its preliminary plan so long as the preliminary plan’s approval occurs before December 31, 2032. For single buildings not part of a multi-building preliminary plan, the building is eligible so long as the sketch or site plan approval occurs before December 31, 2032. (2020 L.M.C., ch. 32, §1.)