The Board of Trustees of the Village of Spring
Valley hereby finds that:
A. The Village of Spring Valley is in need of significant
economic development and needs to attract ratables to increase the
property tax base of the Village to enable the Village to continue
to provide necessary services to its residents.
B. The Village of Spring Valley notes that it has created
an Urban Renewal Agency pursuant to home rule legislation granted
to the Village by New York State, and that pursuant to said legislation
the Village has adopted a Blight Study showing the need for major
improvements to the downtown of Spring Valley and is currently considering
an Urban Renewal Plan, including recommended zone changes to revitalize
downtown Spring Valley by attracting private sector developers to
make significant investments in rebuilding downtown Spring Valley.
C. The Village of Spring Valley also notes that a major
retail area centered on the Spring Valley Marketplace is two-thirds
empty and has been so for some period of time as a result of the opening
of the Palisades Center Mall within a few miles of Spring Valley Village
limits.
D. The Village of Spring Valley further notes that its
other commercial and industrial zoned areas are in significant need
of new business investment either for gut rehabilitation of existing
structures and/or for demolition and rebuilding.
E. The Village of Spring Valley further notes that it
is 100 years old on July 9, 2002, and that many of its commercial
and industrial structures are very old and may also sit on brownfields.
F. The Village of Spring Valley further notes it is necessary
to reduce costs to attract private sector investors into Spring Valley
and that high taxes are an impediment to further business investment.
G. The Village of Spring Valley Board of Trustees therefore
began consideration of adopting and implementing a business investment
property tax exemption pursuant to § 485-b of the New York
State Real Property Tax Law in January of 2002, and has told potential
investors that the Village will consider the adoption of this law
and would make it retroactive to February 1, 2002, so as not to discourage
investment while the Village considered the exact shape of the business
investment exemption it is adopting by the passage of this article.
H. The Village of Spring Valley further notes that many
not-for-profit and other tax-exempt organizations are moving into
the Village because of the large number of commercial vacant structures
in the Village, thus reducing the Village's property tax base.
I. The Village of Spring Valley Board of Trustees appointed
an Industrial and Commercial Incentive Board pursuant to § 485-b
of the New York State Real Property Tax Law to review the Village's
permitted options under state law and to develop a plan for implementation
of a specific exemption, deciding on which sectors of the economy
should be eligible for the exemption, and to decide which geographic
areas would be appropriate for a Village business investment exemption
and to recommend whether the Village should adopt an accelerated strategic
exemption schedule as permitted by state law and to make any other
recommendations to the Village concerning the economic development
of the Village.
J. Said Board having met and recommended to the Village
Board of Trustees the option of said accelerated schedule because
it is necessary to encourage targeted economic development and to
create or retain permanent private sector jobs, and that the value
of the exemptions to be provided is justified by the need to provide
employment opportunities and broaden the tax base of the Village,
and has further recommended that the value of improvements eligible
for the exemption should be in excess of $50,000 and that only certain
sectors of the economy should be eligible for these tax exemptions
and that only certain geographic areas should be targeted for this
exemption as delineated within this article.
K. The Village Board hereby confirms and adopts the findings
of the Spring Valley Industrial and Commercial Incentive Board, and
finds that the adoption of this article will aid the Village in achieving
its economic development objectives and broaden the Village tax base
and upgrade the quality of life for all Village residents by the upgrading
of commercial and industrial structures and the building of new ones
and the addition of permanent jobs that such a process will bring
to the Village.
This article shall be known as the "Spring Valley
Business Investment Partial Exemption Law."
Real property constructed, altered, installed or improved subsequent to February 1, 2002, and whose cost is in excess of $50,000 for the purpose of commercial, business or industrial activity in the economic sectors or subsectors defined in §
237-49 below within the geographic areas of the Village of Spring Valley defined in §
237-50 below shall be exempt from Village taxation and special ad valorem levies, except for special ad valorem levies for fire district, fire protection district and fire alarm district purposes, upon application to the Village Assessor in accordance with the procedures contained in § 485-b
of the New York State Real Property Tax Law, for a period of three
years to the extent of 50% of the increase in assessed value attributable
to such construction, alteration, installation or improvement and
for an additional period of one year in the amount of 40% of said
increase and for an additional period of one year in the amount of
30% of said increase and for an additional period of one year in the
amount of 20% of said increase and for an additional period of three
years in the amount of 10% of said increase and for an additional
period of one year in the amount of 5% of said increase, the amount
of said increase to be computed by the Village Assessor in accordance
with the procedures contained in § 485-b of the New York
State Property Tax Law.
The partial exemption for new business investment
on real property pursuant to this article shall only be granted for
construction, alteration, installation or improvement to real property
within geographic areas within the boundaries of the Village of Spring
Valley and that lie within geographic areas zoned as POR, PO, NB,
GB, HB, PLI, and Mixed Use Districts pursuant to the Spring Valley
Village Code.