§ 38-238. Board Consideration of Applications.

(a)

Property Appraiser Review. Before the Board takes action on an Application, a copy of the Application, once deemed complete, shall be delivered to the Property Appraiser for review. Within 15 days of receipt of the complete Application, the Property Appraiser shall provide a report to the Board, which shall include the following:

(1)

The total revenue available to the County for the current fiscal year from ad valorem tax sources, or an estimate of such revenue if the actual total available revenue cannot be determined;

(2)

The amount of revenue lost to the County for the current fiscal year by virtue of exemptions previously granted, or an estimate of such revenue if the actual revenue lost cannot be determined;

(3)

An estimate of the amount of revenue which would be lost to the County for the current fiscal year if the exemption applied for was granted had the property for which the exemption is requested otherwise been subject to taxation; and

(4)

A determination as to whether the property for which an exemption is requested is to be incorporated into a New Business or the Expansion of an Existing Business, or into neither, which determination the Property Appraiser shall also affix to the face of the application. Upon request, the Department will provide the Property Appraiser such information as it may have available to assist in making this determination.

(b)

Eligibility Threshold. The threshold for eligibility is whether the Business meets the definition of a New Business or of an Expansion of an Existing Business as provided in Section 38-235 of this article and the minimum eligibility criteria adopted by Board resolution.

(c)

Economic Development Policy Guidelines. In making its determination as to whether to grant the Exemption, and, if granted, the duration and percentage of the Exemption, the Board shall consider:

(1)

Number of current and projected employees of the Business located in the County

(2)

Average Wage of Employees of the Business located in the County

(3)

Amount of Capital Investment

In addition to the above factors, the Board may consider any other activity or factor that promotes the sustainability of Economic Development within the County.

(d)

Ordinance. After consideration of the Application and the Property Appraiser's review, the Economic Development Policy Guidelines, and such other information it deems relevant, the Board, in its sole discretion, may deny the application or choose to adopt an ordinance granting the Exemption to the Applicant for any percentage up to 100 percent of the assessed value of the qualifying property for any number of years up to 10 years. If granted, the ordinance shall include the following information:

(1)

The name and address of the New Business or the Expansion of an Existing Business;

(2)

The name of the owner(s) of the New Business or the Expansion of an Existing Business;

(3)

The total amount of revenue available to the County from ad valorem tax sources for the current fiscal year, the total amount of the revenue lost to the County for the current fiscal year by virtue of exemptions currently in effect, and the estimated amount of revenue attributable to the Exemption granted to the new or expanding business;

(4)

The expiration date of the Exemption, which is ten years or less (depending upon the duration of the Exemption granted) from the date the Board enacts the Ordinance granting the Exemption; and

(5)

A finding that the business meets the definition of a New Business or an Expansion of an Existing Business as set forth in Section 38-235 herein.

If any provision of this article or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or applications. To this end, the provisions of this article are declared severable.

(Ord. No. 2010-034, §§ 1, 2, 4-28-2010; Ord. No. 2010-050, § 3, 6-22-2010; Ord. No. 2017-047, § 2, 11-14-2017)