[Adopted 2-9-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-01]
The following words and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the following meaning:
DETERIORATED PROPERTY
Any industrial, commercial or other business property owned by an individual, association, or corporation, and located in a deteriorating area, as hereinafter provided, or any such property which has been the subject of an order by a government agency requiring the unit to be vacated, condemned or demolished by reason of noncompliance with laws, ordinance, or regulations.
IMPROVEMENT
Repair, construction or reconstruction, including alterations and additions, having the effect of rehabilitating a deteriorated property so that it becomes habitable or attains higher standards of safety, health, economic use or amenity, or is brought into compliance with laws, ordinances, or regulations governing such standards. Ordinary upkeep and maintenance shall not be deemed an improvement.
The Board of Supervisors determines that the areas shown on the map attached as Exhibit A[1] shall be the areas which contain and consist of deteriorated properties which are eligible for tax exemption under this article ("eligible area"). The Township may modify the eligible area by resolution after the Township BOS conducts a public hearing pursuant to 72 P.S. § 4725(a) for the purposes of changing the boundaries of the eligible area which are eligible for tax exemption under this article.
A. 
The amount to be exempted from real estate taxes shall be limited to that portion of the additional assessment attributable to the actual cost of new construction or improvements to deteriorated property in accordance with the exemption schedule established by this article.
B. 
The exemption from real estate taxes shall be limited to that improvement for which an exemption has been requested in the manner set forth in this article and for which a separate assessment has been made by the Board of Assessment of Appeals. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, once an improvement is made to a parcel of land (which parcel of land has a tax identification number issued by the tax assessment office) for which an exemption request has been made under this article and which request has been approved/granted, all subsequent improvements to such parcel of land for which another exemption has been requested [regardless of whether the additional improvement(s) has been issued a separate tax identification number for assessment/real estate tax purposes], if approved/granted, shall be placed on the then same exemption schedule year if any exemption year(s) remains, and if no exemption year(s) remain, then such request shall not be approved/granted and such improvement(s) shall not receive any tax exemption as the original improvement(s) for which an exemption request was made and approved/granted under this article.
A. 
The schedule of real estate taxes to be exempted shall be in accordance with the below portion of improvements to be exempted each year.
Length
(year)
Portion
(percent)
First
90
Second
80
Third
70
Fourth
60
Fifth
50
Sixth
40
Seventh
30
Eighth
20
Ninth
10
Tenth
0
B. 
Under no circumstance shall any exemption extend beyond the nine-year exemption term set forth above.
C. 
Tax exemption granted under this article shall take effect in the first full tax year of the Township immediately following the tax year in which the eligible new construction or improvement(s) is or are completed. In the interim between application and approval for the LERTA program and completion of construction or the improvement, no tax exemption shall be afforded to the applicant/taxpayer. Prior to admission to the LERTA program as described above and regardless if an application is pending, the Township will issue a Township tax bill based on full assessment value of the parcel. In addition, the Township may issue an interim Township tax bill [based on full assessment value of the parcel following completion of the exemption eligible improvement(s)] for any partial tax year prior to the first full tax year of the Township when the exemption takes effect.
D. 
If an eligible property is granted a tax exemption pursuant to this article, the improvement shall not, during the exemption period, be considered as a factor in assessing other properties.
E. 
The exemption from taxes granted under this article shall be upon the property and shall not terminate upon the sale or exchange of the property.
A. 
Any applicant desiring to enroll in the LERTA program must own or have an equitable interest in the property located in the eligible area and sought for tax exemption.
B. 
Any person desiring tax exemption under this article shall notify the Township, as well as the business manager of Dallastown Area School District, in writing, on a form provided to the applicant by the Township. The fully executed application shall be submitted to and filed with the Township at the time the applicant secures a building permit for new construction or an improvement. A copy of the exemption request shall be forwarded to the York County Assessment Office. The York County Assessor shall, upon notice by the applicant and after completion of the new construction or improvement, assess separately the new construction or improvement and calculate the amount of the assessment eligible for tax exemption in accordance with the limits established by this article and shall notify the taxpayer, the Township and the school district of the reassessment and the amount of the assessment eligible for the exemption. Appeals from the reassessment and the amount eligible for the exemption may be taken by the taxpayer or the local taxing authority as provided by law.
C. 
The cost of the new construction or improvements to be exempted and the schedule of taxes exempted existing at the time of the initial request for tax exemption shall be applicable to that exemption request, and subsequent amendment to this article, if any, shall not apply to the adoption of any such amendment.
An application for exemption may be made at any time within three years from the effective date of this article. All qualified applications under this article are eligible for the entire nine-year exemption schedule, subject to early removal by revocation from the LERTA program under § 440-37 hereafter.
The Township may, by resolution adopted from time to time, extend the time for filing an application for exemption.
A. 
The exemption from real estate taxes provided for herein shall be forfeited by the applicant and/or any subsequent owner of the real estate for the failure to pay any nonexempt real estate taxes by the last day of the time period to pay such taxes in the penalty period. Upon receipt of the notice of nonpayment of nonexempt real estate taxes, the Township shall discontinue the LERTA exemption without further action by the Township.
B. 
Except for an appeal of the initial reassessment as referred to in § 440-34B, any appeal on the assessed value of the LERTA parcel during the term of the LERTA exemption schedule shall result in such LERTA parcel being immediately removed from the LERTA program without further action of the Township.
C. 
Upon removal of a parcel from the LERTA program, the Township shall give notice within 45 days to the then-current owner of the property.
Absent special circumstances, the Township shall not consider adopting any roads included in the improvements or leading to the improvements until the end of the exemption term.
The provisions of this article are severable, and if any of its sections, clauses, or sentences shall be held illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such provisions shall not affect or impair any of the remaining sections, clauses or sentences.