2018-004 Authorizing the City to be Eligible to Participate in Property Tax Abatements and Approving Guidelines and Criteria for Granting Tax Abatements

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(Updated 01-08-18) POLICY STATEMENT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR TAX ABATEMENT �.....�. .... .... .� � _ Investment, Pa�..� �. t,roll and Job Creation Criteria Ca ital I -_... wwwwwwwwwww. ..........� .......- A tax abatement may be made available to employers who are increasing new capital investment and creating jobs with respect to an authorized facility located anywhere within the area served by the Taxing Jurisdictions based on the following criteria. 1. To be eligible for any tax abatement, there must be a minimum capital investment in the authorized facility of $1,000,000 and at least ten (10) new jobs added to the new employer's labor force. 2. Any project with a capital investment of more than twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), AND accompanied by a newly created minimum annual payroll of two and one-half million dollars ($2,500,000), OR creating more than two hundred twenty-five (225) jobs will be individually negotiated. 3. As specified in state law, no abatement will be granted for more than 10 years and the total abatement shall not exceed 100%. 4. A newly created business must be (or will be) located within an enterprise zone or a designated reinvestment zone. 5. The taxing jurisdictions recognize a significant difference in the valuation of real property versus personal property. Because of depreciation schedules, the abatement of personal property could result in a tax exemption. For this reason, the abatement schedule for personal property versus real property may be different. Each industrial account is looked at and valued on an individual basis by the Lamar County Appraisal District (LCAD). The typical depreciation used for industrial accounts by LCAD is as follows: a. Computers — 3 year life b. Furniture & Fixtures — 10 year life c. Vehicles — 7 to 10 year life (depending on type) d. Machinery & Equipment — 15 year life (maybe longer or shorter depending on the type) For each abatement request the PEDC will evaluate the equipment (personal property) investment and useful life separate from the real estate (real property) investment to determine the length of the abatement for each. If personal property should become obsolete and be replaced while under an abatement agreement, the replacement personal property is not eligible for abatement. The charts below provide capital investment guidelines to qualify for tax abatement and the related schedule and percentage of abatement.