(A) Application for designation as an economic revitalization area shall meet at least one of the following criteria:
(1) The property is or has become undesirable for, or impossible of, normal development and occupancy because of lack of development, cessation of growth, deterioration of improvements or character of occupancy, age, obsolescence, substandard buildings or other factors which have impaired the values or prevent a normal development of property or use of property; or
(2) The property includes a facility or group of facilities that are technologically, economically or energy obsolete and where said obsolescence may lead to a decline in employment and tax revenues.
(B) Applications shall also address at least one of the following development objectives for real property development:
(1) The generation of use of vacant or under-utilized land;
(2) The rehabilitation or replacement of obsolete, deteriorated, vacant or under-utilized buildings;
(3) The retention or expansion of job opportunities; or
(4) The preservation of historically or architecturally significant property.
(C) Tax abatement may be allowed for projects in the following categories:
(1) Manufacturing: property consisting of new, improved or expanded building or structure but not including land;
(2) Warehousing as a part of the renovation of vacant manufacturing structures or the construction of a new facility;
(3) New research and/or high technology facilities;
(4) Renovation of vacant manufacturing structures; and
(5) Retail facilities located in an economic development target area as defined in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-7.
(D) (1) Tax abatement may be granted for new manufacturing equipment as defined in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-1 and as described in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-4.5.
(2) Tax abatement for new manufacturing equipment may be granted for a period of five years which:
(a) Is used in the direct production, manufacture, fabrication, assembly, extraction, mining, processing, refining or finishing of other tangible personal property;
(b) Was acquired by its owner for the use described under division (A) above and was never before used by its owner for any purpose in this state; and
(c) Is installed in an economic revitalization area.
(E) Tax abatement will not be granted for a project that does not meet the qualifications of I.C. 6-1.1-12.1.
(F) The project must begin within 12 months of the date of passage of the tax abatement resolution.
(G) The value of real estate improvements or new manufacturing equipment must be at least $50,000.
(H) Data relating to current taxes, projected taxes with and without tax abatement, and the tax deferral shall be provided as a part of the application.
(I) For a real property tax abatement application, a site plan must be submitted with the application. For new manufacturing equipment tax abatement, the application shall include information concerning the new manufacturing equipment specific enough to allow the equipment to be identified.
(J) For tax abatement in an economic development target area relating to a retail business, the application shall also include a designation of whether the structure or land is located within a registered historic district, and, in the case of a structure, whether it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, listed on the Register of Indiana Historic Sites and Historic Places or has been determined to be eligible for listing on the Indiana Register by the Indiana State Historic Preservation Officer. In addition, the favorable recommendation on creating an economic development target area in the geographic area encompassing the land or building by the Town Economic Development Commission, pursuant to I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-7, must accompany the application.
(Ord. 1994-15, passed 7-13-1994)