It is hereby found and declared that an economic development tax incentive program is necessary to aid in the location of new businesses to the Town of North Haven and the expansion of existing businesses to strengthen the Town of North Haven's tax base. This article of Chapter
184 of the Ordinances of the Town of North Haven is enacted pursuant to Section 12-65b of the Connecticut General Statutes and seeks to maintain and enhance the Town of North Haven as a desirable and competitive business location.
Based upon approval of this article by the legislative body
of the Town of North Haven, the Assessor of the Town of North Haven
will initially determine an applicant's eligibility for the economic
development tax incentive program and verify the total cost of real
property improvements, and the Board of Selectmen of the Town of North
Haven may exercise the Town's statutory authority under Connecticut
General Statutes Section 12-65b to enter into an agreement with an
eligible applicant fixing the assessment of the applicant's real
property.
A.
(1) Applications for economic development tax incentives set forth below in §
184-32 for development projects limited to new construction and expansion shall be submitted to the Assessor for the Town of North Haven on forms prepared by the Assessor.
(2) Applications for economic development tax incentives must be submitted
prior to construction of any proposed new structure or in the case
of an expansion, prior to construction of an addition(s) to an existing
building(s).
(3) The Assessor will review all applications and initially determine
an applicant's eligibility.
(4) If eligibility is determined in an applicant's favor, the Assessor
will submit a recommendation and written analysis to the Board of
Selectmen along with a draft tax incentive agreement for its consideration.
B. Tax incentive agreement.
(1) Upon receipt and review of the Assessor's recommendation and
written analysis and the draft tax incentive agreement, the Board
of Selectmen shall vote to approve the tax incentive agreement with
the terms recommended by the Assessor or vote to deny the tax incentive
agreement. In the event of approval, the Board of Selectmen shall
also authorize execution of the tax incentive agreement by the First
Selectman. Nothing in this article shall require the Board of Selectmen
to approve any tax incentive agreement.
(2) In the circumstance where the lessee is the applicant, the real property
owner and the lessee must execute the tax incentive agreement.
(3) The tax incentive agreement shall be expressly contingent upon the
verification of the total cost of improvements by the Assessor when
the qualifying real property improvements have reached substantial
completion through review of construction contracts, payment applications,
requisitions, proof of payments, certification by the applicant, and
such other documentation as is requested by the Assessor to verify
construction costs.
(4) When the Assessor has verified the total cost of improvements to his/her satisfaction, the Assessor shall confirm such verification, in writing, to the real property owner, and the Assessor shall have the authority to reduce the assessed value of the new construction or expansion in accordance with the schedule contained below in §
184-32.
Adjustment of assessed value shall commence on the October 1
Grand List following the verification of the total cost of improvements
by the Assessor as confirmed by the Assessor, in writing, to the real
property owner.
Applicants acknowledge that by participating in this economic development tax incentive program, a commitment is being made to the Town of North Haven by the applicant. If an applicant or property owner receiving economic development tax incentives substantially reduces its operations on its real property, attempts to assign its rights under its agreement with the Town of North Haven for tax incentives, sells or otherwise transfers the real estate involved, or declares bankruptcy during the applicable three-, five-, or seven-year adjustment period identified in §
184-32, then any tax incentive benefit received by the applicant under this program shall be forfeited and the applicant shall be required to pay back all the taxes that would have been assessed had the applicant not participated in the program. However, in the circumstance where a lessee is an applicant and the lessee remains and continues to do business at the real property, the tax incentive benefit shall continue. Any unpaid tax imposed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall constitute a lien upon the real property. Each such lien may be continued, recorded, and released in the manner provided by Connecticut General Statutes for continuing, recording, and releasing property tax liens. In order to maintain eligibility, the Assessor of the Town of North Haven may require property owners to submit affidavits of eligibility on an annual basis.
[Amended 11-15-2016 STM]
Fees required to obtain local building permits (excluding fees/charges
by the State of Connecticut, including the state-mandated education
fee) may be abated or reduced pursuant to this article according to
the following limitations:
A. Recording of tax incentive agreement required. In order to receive
an abatement or reduction of required local building permit fees,
the applicant must have an executed tax incentive agreement with the
Town that has been recorded on the Town's land records.
B. Additional eligibility requirements. An abatement or reduction of
required local building permit fees will only be considered for manufacturing,
storage, warehousing, distribution, office, information technology,
and transient residential businesses limited to hotels, with or without
an interior or attached restaurant(s), locating to or located in all
areas of the Town of North Haven, which make, or cause to be made,
a capital investment in taxable personal property and improvements
to real property equal to or greater than $100,000,000. A reduction
of building permit fees shall not be available to recreational facilities,
residential developments, retail businesses, or restaurants. In addition,
the applicant must not be delinquent on the payment of any taxes,
fees, and/or charges due to the Town of North Haven at the time of
submission of the application or at any time thereafter. "Taxable"
personal property and improvements to real property means property
that is on the Town's Grand List and subject to taxation by the
Town.
C. Percentage of abatement. Businesses which make, or cause to be made, a capital investment in taxable personal property and improvements to real property which are equal to or greater than $100,000,000 shall be eligible to receive a reduction of 25% in building permit fees, and businesses which make a capital investment in taxable personal property and improvements to real property which are equal to or greater than $200,000,000 shall be eligible to receive a reduction of 50% in building permit fees. The abatement is subject to verification of the amount of the capital investment by the Town's Building Official in the manner set forth in §
184-31B of this article.
D. Process for approval of abatement. The Board of Selectmen will consider
and vote upon each application for abatement of local building permit
fees. The Board of Selectmen may establish such terms and conditions
regarding this incentive as it deems appropriate and nothing herein
shall require the Board of Selectmen to approve any application for
abatement of local building permit fees. In the event an application
is approved by the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Selectmen shall
authorize the execution of such fee reduction by the First Selectman.
This article shall take effect 15 days after publication of
the article in a newspaper having a circulation in the Town of North
Haven and shall remain in effect through October 31, 2024, such that
the Assessor of the Town of North Haven will not accept any applications
for economic development tax incentives subsequent to October 31,
2024.