10-02-04 City Council Retreat Agenda

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. (b) The agreement shall stipulate that employees and/or designated representatives of the County will have access to the reinvestment zone during the term of the abatement to inspect the facility to determine if the terms and conditions of the agreement are being met. All inspections will be made only after giving twenty-four (24) hours prior notice and will only be conducted in such manner as to not unreasonably interfere with the construction and/or operation of the facility. All inspections will be made with one or more representatives of the company or individual and in accordance with the facility's safety standards. (c) Upon completion of constructions the County or the jurisdiction creating the reinvestment zone annually shall evaluate each facility receiving abatement to ensure compliance with the agreement and report possible violations to the contract and agreement to the Commissioners Court and the County Attorney and the affected jurisdictions which levy taxes. Section 8 ASSIGNMENT . Tax abatement agreements may be assigned to a new owner or lessee of the facility with the written consent of the Commissioners Court, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. Any assignment shall provide that the assignee shall irrevocably and unconditionally assume all the duties and obligations of the assignor upon the same terms and conditions as set out in the agreement. Any assignment of a tax abatement agreement shall be to an entity that contemplates the same improvements or repairs to the property, except to the extent such improvements or repairs have been completed. No assignment shall be approved if the assignor or the assignee is indebted to the County for ad valorem taxes or other obligations. Section 9. NON-COMPETE AGREEMENTS Tax abatement shall not be granted for projects whose competitive siting consists only of counties that have agreed with Harris County to forego the use of tax incentives to compete for such projects. Sectlon 10. SUNSET PROVISION (a) These Guidelines and Criteria are effective January I, 2002 and will remain in force until December 31, 2003, at which time all reinvestment zones and tax abatement contracts created pursuant to these provisions will be reviewed by the County to detennine whether the goals have been achieved. Based on that review, the Guidelines and Criteria will be modified, renewed or eliminated. (b) This policy is mutually exclusive of existing Industrial District Contracts and owners of real property in areas deserving of special attention as agreed by the affected jurisdictions. edopted January 29,2002 HARRIS COUNTY GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA FOR GRANTING TAX ABATEMENT PAGE 10