O-2010-3245 adopting new Guidelines and Criteria Governing Tax Abatement Agreements

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Section 66-141. DEFINITIONS (a) "Abatement" means the full or partial exemption from ad valorem taxes of certain real property (including fixed -in-place machinery & equipment) in a reinvestment zone designated for economic development purposes. (b) "Eligible Jurisdiction" means the city and any school district, college district or other taxing district eligible to abate its taxes according to Texas law that levies ad valorem taxes upon and provides services to property located within the proposed or existing reinvestment zone. (c) "Agreement" means a contractual agreement between a property owner and/or lessee and an eligible jurisdiction for the purposes of tax abatement. (d) "Base Year Value" means the assessed value of eligible property on January 1 preceding the execution of the agreement plus the agreed upon value of eligible property improvements made after January 1, but before the execution of the agreement, or the sales price, if the property was conveyed subsequent to January 1, whichever is greater. (e) "Commercial Office Facility" means office buildings utilized by or rented primarily to non - retail users. These buildings are designed as garden, mid -rise or high-rise structures. (f) "Department" shall mean the department of finance of the city. (g) "Economic Life" means the number of years a property improvement is expected to be in service in a facility. (h) "Employee" means a person whose employment is both permanent and fulltime, who works for and is an employee of the Owner or an employee of a Contractor, who works a minimum of 1,750 hours per year exclusively within the Zone, who receives industry standard benefits, and whose employment is reflected in the Owner's (and Contractor's, if applicable) quarterly report filed with the Texas Workforce Commission; but excluding any direct contract (seasonal, part- time, and full-time equivalent). (i) "Expansion" means the addition of buildings, structures, fixed machinery or equipment for purposes of increasing production capacity. (j) "Facility" means property improvements completed or in the process of construction which together comprise an integral whole. (k) "Manufacturing Facility" means buildings and structures, including fixed -in-place machinery and equipment, the primary purpose of which is or will be the manufacture of tangible goods or materials or the processing of such goods or materials by physical or chemical change. (1) "New Facility" means a property, previously undeveloped, which is placed into service by means other than or in conjunction with expansion or modernization.