[Adopted 10-9-2012]
The Town of Griswold ('Town") recognizes that it exists
in a global marketplace and therefore elects to use authority granted
it by the State of Connecticut to expand and diversify its commercial
tax base by retaining existing businesses that want to expand and
by attracting new business and investment into the community. Toward
that end, the Town has developed this Business Incentive Policy Ordinance
("article") as an economic development tool to promote high quality
economic development projects that contribute jobs or tax base increase
or both.
This article is adopted under authority of C.G.S. §§ 12-65b
and 12-65h, which each authorize the Town, following a vote by its
legislative body to do so, to enter into agreements ("agreement")
with applicants eligible under the terms of said statutes and of this
article to provide specified forms and amounts of tax relief for prescribed
periods of time.
The following types of projects are eligible for consideration
under this article:
A.
The applicant must be a private, for-profit business that is authorized
to do business in the state of Connecticut.
B.
The applicant must not be in violation of any law or agreement with
the Town, state or federal government.
C.
No real estate or personal property tax or other tax, fee or municipal
charge due the Town or any of its departments, officials, commissions,
boards, or agencies shall be unpaid at the time an application is
submitted, while it is being processed, or at any time during the
term of an agreement hereunder.
D.
If the applicant is a tenant operating under a lease, the term of
the lease must be for no less than the tax abatement period set forth
in the agreement. The agreement and the tax incentives provided by
it must be clearly recited in said written lease and be for a period
no less than the applicable term of the tax abatement. A copy of said
written lease shall be submitted as part of the application.
E.
If an applicant is relocating a business to Griswold, the application
shall include a five-year history of tax assessments and payments
to the municipality(ies) and/or other political subdivision(s) in
which the business has been operating.
F.
The proposed project must be a permitted use at the proposed location
under the Griswold or Borough Zoning Regulations and must receive
all necessary approvals, licenses and permits from the Griswold Planning
and Zoning Commission and other Town, State of Connecticut and federal
agencies, boards, commissions, and officials having jurisdiction with
respect to the project.
G.
The applicant and its parent and subsidiary(ies) must be in environmental
compliance with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental
Protection.
H.
The project must have a clear economic benefit to Griswold. The application
shall include a description of benefits to be realized by Griswold
if the application is granted.
I.
A complete application on a form approved by the Board of Selectman
("BOS"), with all required information, must be submitted.
A.
The decision to grant or reject any application under this article
shall be within the sole and exclusive discretion of the Town Meeting.
The Town Meeting is under no obligation to approve any application,
nor is the BOS under any obligation to forward any particular application
to the Town Meeting. But no application may be granted which does
not comply with this article and C.G.S. § 12-65b or 12-65h.
B.
The Town's Assessor shall, in the Assessor's sole discretion,
determine the assessment of the real property or air space and/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.
C.
The fixed assessment period shall commence the first fiscal year
for which a tax list is prepared on the October 1 immediately following
the issuance of a certificate of occupancy by the appropriate building
official for construction of the buildings or manufacturing facilities
or other structures and all improvements in or on the real property
or air space which is the subject of the agreement.
D.
Notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, and provided
in all other respects the applicant qualifies under the provisions
of C.G.S. § 12-65b or 12-65h and this article, the Town
may, in its sole discretion, offer to enter into an agreement with
such applicant for abatement of taxes of a lesser percentage and/or
of fewer years than authorized by the statute(s).
E.
On a case-by-case basis, the Town Meeting, in its exclusive discretion
and to further the purposes of this article, may grant an applicant,
in addition to the incentives provided by C.G.S. §§ 12-65b
and 12-65h, a full or partial waiver of:
F.
This article is not retroactive.
G.
Construction shall commence within six months and shall be completed
within two years of execution of the agreement. Failure to comply
with this schedule shall result in termination of the agreement by
the BOS; provided, however, that the BOS may grant a reasonable extension(s)
of the time periods, but only upon favorable recommendation by the
Economic Development Commission ("EDC") and the showing of good cause
beyond the applicant's control.
H.
If the applicant, during the period of his participation in this
program and during the term of an agreement: a) relocates its business
from Griswold; b) becomes delinquent in taxes or fees; c) declares
bankruptcy; d) substantially reduces its operations on the subject
property during the term of the agreement, with substantially reduced
"operations" meaning for purposes of this article, among other things,
a reduction of square feet occupied within the facility by 20% or
more, a reduction in workforce by 20% or more, a failure to construct
agreed-upon additional phases of construction, and/or sale or lease
of some or all of the property; and/or e) in any other way fails to
comply with the agreement, this article and/or C.G.S. §§ 12-65b
and 12-65h, then the BOS shall terminate the agreement and any tax
incentive or other benefit enjoyed by the applicant under this program
and the agreement shall be immediately forfeited and the applicant
shall be required to pay back all taxes it would have been assessed
had the application not been granted and the agreement not entered
into. Each agreement shall contain a provision to this effect.
I.
No agreement entered into pursuant to this policy shall be subject
to assignment, transfer or sale without written approval of the BOS.
J.
No agreement shall be executed by the BOS until it is approved by
the Town Attorney as to form and legality.
K.
Any agreement hereunder shall be recorded in the land records of
the Town of Griswold.
A.
The Board of Selectman may exercise the authority granted by C.G.S.
§ 12-81t to abate up to 100% of the property taxes due for
any tax year with respect to information technology personal property.
B.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BUSINESSES
For the purposes of this incentive policy:
Those industries that supply, manufacture, utilize, and distribute
software, telecommunications infrastructure and networking hardware,
and Internet-only related commerce.
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Information Technology Incentive Schedule Approved by
the Town of Griswold
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|---|---|
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Project Value
(Measured by Value of Personal Property)
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Maximum Period of Assessment Fixing Agreement
|
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Any Amount
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5 Years After Improvement
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Year 1
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90% abatement of property taxes due
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Year 2
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80% abatement of property taxes due
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Year 3
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70% abatement of property taxes due
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Year 4
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60% abatement of property taxes due
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Year 5
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50% abatement of property taxes due
|
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Final valuation is determined by the Town of Griswold's
Tax Assessor.
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