(A) Application for designation as an economic revitalization area shall meet at least one of the following criteria.
(1) The area has become 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 of property, or use of property.
(2) Any area where a facility, or group of facilities, that are technologically, economically, or energy obsolete are located, and where the obsolescence may lead to a decline in employment and tax revenues.
(B) 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 renovation and/or expansion of vacant manufacturing structures, or the construction of a new facility; and
(3) Renovation of vacant manufacturing facilities.
(C) Tax abatement on the increase in assessed valuation of structures is not available to retail businesses or other facilities, as set out in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-3(e).
(D) Application for deduction from assessed valuation of structures in economic revitalization areas will be made on forms prescribed by the State Board of Tax Commissioners and be accompanied with a statement of benefits form as prescribed by the State Board of Tax Commissioners. A completed statement of benefits form must be submitted to the Council before the hearing specified in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1, or before the installation of the new equipment for which the person desires to claim a deduction.
(E) Tax abatement may be granted for NEW MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT, as defined in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1 and as described in I.C. 6-1.1-12.1-4.5. Tax abatement for new manufacturing equipment may be granted for a period of five or ten years, depending upon the facts and circumstances as set forth in the statement of benefits for new manufacturing equipment which:
(1) Is used in the direct production, manufacture, fabrication, assembly, extraction, mining, processing, refining, or finishing of other tangible personal property;
(2) Was acquired by its owner for use as described in division (E)(1) above, and was never before used by its owner for any purpose in the state; and
(3) Is installed in an economic revitalization area.
(F) Tax abatement will not be granted for a project that does not meet the qualifications of I.C. 6-1.1-12.1.
(G) The project must begin within 12 months of the date of passage of the tax abatement resolution.
(H) Data relating to current taxes, projected taxes with and without tax abatement, and the tax deferral shall be provided as part of the application.
(I) For a real property tax abatement application, a site plan, maps, plats, or simplified description of the area by describing its location in relation to public ways, streams, or otherwise, must be submitted with the application. For new manufacturing equipment tax abatement, the application must include information concerning the new manufacturing equipment specific enough to allow the equipment to be readily identified.
(Council Res. 1992-2, passed 2-18-1992; Council Res. 1997-01, passed 1-2-1997)