Subject to Connecticut General Statutes (C.G.S.) §§ 12-65b and 12-65h, the Town of East Haddam (sometimes referred to herein as "the Town") may, by affirmative vote of its legislative body, enter into a written agreement with any party owning or proposing to acquire an interest in real property or an interest in air space in the Town or with any party who is the lessee of, or proposes to be the lessee of, air space in the Town in such manner that the air space leased or proposed to be leased shall be assessed to the lessee pursuant to C.G.S. § 12-64, or an interest in real property upon which is located or proposed to be located a manufacturing facility as defined in Subdivision (72) of C.G.S. § 12-81, fixing the assessment of the real property or air space and all improvements to be constructed thereon and therein or of the personal property located in the manufacturing facility, which is the subject of the agreement in accordance with provisions of §
290-25 of this article.
The East Haddam Economic Development Commission (EDC) shall
provide any property owner or lessee with general information concerning
the program, prepare and supply interested parties with a fact sheet
about the Town, an application to participate in the program and any
other information that may be reasonably requested by an interested
party. For purposes of this article, an "interested party" is one
who owns or proposes to acquire an interest in real property or air
space in East Haddam or otherwise meets the definition of an owner
or lessee of real property or air space as defined in C.G.S. § 12-65b
and who is considering replacement, reconstruction, expansion or remodeling
of existing business facilities located or to be relocated in East
Haddam. The EDC may perform research about any party applying to participate
in the program and may request of such party any relevant information
that in the opinion of the EDC or the Board of Selectman (BOS) bears
upon consideration of the application. The EDC shall obtain from the
Tax Assessor an opinion of the impact of any proposed abatement of
taxes on the applicable grand list and an estimate of the impact on
future grand lists.
Applications filed with the Town will be considered, provided:
A. The proposed use is located in an appropriate zone as defined in
East Haddam's Zoning Regulations.
B. The proposed use receives approvals, licenses and permits from the
East Haddam Planning and Zoning Commission and any other Town, State
of Connecticut, and federal agencies, boards, commissions and officials
having jurisdiction with respect to the project, if such approvals,
licenses or permits are required under applicable laws, regulations,
rules and codes.
C. If the applicant is a tenant operating under a written lease, the
term of the lease must be for no less than the applicable term of
the tax abatement period and preferably longer. The agreement and
the tax incentives must be clearly recited in said lease and be for
a period no less than the applicable term of the tax abatement period.
A copy of said lease should be submitted at the same time as the application
to enter the program is submitted.
D. No real estate property tax or other tax or fee or municipal charge
due East Haddam is unpaid at the time the application is submitted
or at any time thereafter.
E. If the applicant is relocating its business to East Haddam, the applicant
should provide a minimum of a five-year history of tax assessments
and payments to the municipality or municipalities and/or other political
subdivisions in which its business was operated, as is available,
and as determined by the Town.
F. The project should have a clear economic benefit to East Haddam.
The applicant should submit in writing with the application a list
of benefits, such as new jobs and growth of the Town grand list, to
be realized by East Haddam if the applicant receives tax incentives
under the program.
G. Applicants are encouraged to provide East Haddam residents with the
opportunity to apply for open positions and businesses the opportunity
to bid for construction jobs and projects and be accorded priority,
provided such applicants meet all of the criteria of established job
requirements or are competitive and qualified bidders.
H. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have
the meanings indicated:
BUSINESS EXPANSION PROJECT
An eligible project involving an addition or renovation of
the applicant's existing property and/or facilities.
NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
An eligible project involving real property acquisition,
new construction or renovation, for either a new-to-Town business
or the relocation of a Town business to the new project site.
All tax incentive requests shall be made in writing on a form
referred to as "Tax and Business Incentive Application" ("the application")
published and provided by the EDC and approved by the BOS, as it may
be amended from time to time. The application and all accompanying
documentation required hereunder or voluntarily provided shall be
submitted in duplicate at the office of the First Selectman. Upon
receipt by the BOS, one copy of the application shall be provided
to the EDC for preliminary review. For purposes of this article, "receipt
by the BOS" means an application and all accompanying documentation
required in accordance with all applicable provisions of this article
are submitted. The following time periods for review of the application
and action are not mandatory; nonetheless, the EDC and the BOS shall
try to meet the time limits stated hereafter: From the date of receipt
by the BOS of the application, the EDC shall have 45 days to review
the application, request additional information and meet with the
property owner and/or lessee or the property owner's and/or lessee's
representatives. Provided the property owner and/or lessee has provided
all information required in the application by this article and by
the EDC, the EDC will, within 30 days thereafter, report its findings
to the BOS. The BOS will place the report on the agenda of the next
regularly scheduled BOS meeting for discussion and action. If the
BOS approves the report, the First Selectman and the property owner/lessee
shall enter into a written agreement (subject to the affirmative vote
of the Board of Finance and the Town Meeting), which agreement, accompanied
by the report, will be referred to the Board of Finance for its review
and action. If the Board of Finance approves the financial terms of
the agreement, the BOS shall place the agreement on the agenda of
the next Town Meeting for its review and action.
The East Haddam Assessor shall, in the Assessor's sole discretion,
determine the assessment of the real property or the air space or
the personal property and any and all improvements constructed or
to be constructed on or in the real property which is the subject
of the agreement.
In the event the owner or lessee of the real properly or air space 1) fails to pay real estate and/or personal property taxes when such taxes are due and payable; 2) fails to commence or complete on time the construction of all improvements upon the property which is the subject of the agreement; 3) becomes insolvent or bankrupt or files any debtor proceedings or others file such debtor proceedings against the owner or lessee, in any court, in any jurisdiction, state or federal, and does not withdraw such filing within 90 days or such other proceedings have not been dismissed or withdrawn by such other parties within 90 days or makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors or if the property or lease is taken under any writ of execution or becomes the subject of foreclosure proceedings; 4) abandons the real property or, in the case of the lessee, purports to assign its lease without the express consent of the Town as set forth in §
290-27 of this article; or 5) fails to perform any obligation of owner or lessee under the terms of the agreement; such event shall constitute a material default of the agreement and the Town may terminate the agreement on the giving of written notice, whereupon a) the right of the owner and/or lessee to receive tax abatements and any other considerations granted to the property owner and/or lessee under the terms of the agreement shall cease and come to an end; and b) the property owner and/or lessee shall be obligated to repay the Town the amounts of all tax abatements retroactive to the due date of the first abated tax payment plus interest at the rate set and payable pursuant to provisions of C.G.S. § 12-146, all waived fees, if any, and all actual costs of the Town in providing in-kind considerations to the property owner and/or the lessee. In the event of failure to pay a tax when due and if such delinquency continues for six months and one day, the Town shall terminate the agreement, whereupon i) the right of the owner and/or lessee to receive the tax abatement and any other considerations granted to the property owner or lessee under the terms of the agreement shall cease and come to an end; and ii) the property owner and/or lessee shall be obligated to repay the Town the amounts of all tax abatements retroactive to the due date of the first abated tax payment plus interest at the rate set and payable pursuant to provisions of C.G.S. § 12-146, all waived fees, if any, and all actual costs of the Town in providing in-kind considerations to the property owner and/or the lessee.
The agreement between the Town and the owner and/or lessee of
real property or of air space shall not be assigned by the owner or
lessee to any person(s) or business organization or entity or estate
or trust without the express consent of both the BOS and the Board
of Finance, which boards shall signify their consent by an affirmative
vote taken at a separate meeting of each board duly warned and noticed
for the stated purpose. A conveyance of the real property or a transfer
of ownership of the business or substantially all of the assets of
the business, which is the subject of the agreement, to a person or
business organization or entity that is not owned or controlled by
the owner of the real property and/or the owner of the business who
are parties to the agreement with the Town shall not constitute a
valid assignment of the agreement or vest any rights under the agreement
in the grantee of the real property or transferee of the business
or of the assets of the business or allow for enforcement of any obligations
of the Town against the Town by the grantee of the real property or
transferee of the business or of the assets of the business, including
but not limited to any remaining tax abatements under terms of the
agreement. For purposes of this section, a "controlled entity" means
a business which is 80% or more owned by the grantor or transferor,
as the case may be.
All references to C.G.S. § 12-65b, 12-65h or 12-81
or any other section of C.G.S. made herein shall include all amendments
to such statutes enacted and signed into law subsequent to the effective
date of this article.