[Adopted 5-14-2003]
The County of Frederick finds that the development
of its commercial and industrial tax base requires incentives, and
determines that the most appropriate method of offering incentives
for the area described below is to create a Technology Zone in that
area, as guided and authorized by the Code of Virginia, § 58.1-3850.
The County believes that the establishment of a Technology Zone will
improve the economic conditions of Frederick County, which could,
in turn, benefit the welfare of the citizens following procedures
set forth in this article.
The Administrator of the Frederick County Technology
Zone shall be the County Administrator or his designee. The Administrator
shall determine and publish the procedures for obtaining the benefits
created by this article and for the administration of this article
following procedures set forth in this article.
For the purposes of this article, the following
words and phrases shall have the following meanings, unless clearly
indicated to the contrary:
A business, to the extent that it is involved
in research and development and/or production of any product, device,
or service that is related to pharmacology and is further defined
by the following Standard Industrial Classifications, Industry Groups,
by the US Department of Labor:
283 Drugs to include:
2833 Medicinal chemical and botanical products.
2834 Pharmaceutical preparations.
2835 In vitro and in vivo diagnostic substances.
2836 Biological products, except diagnostics
substances.
3699 Ultrasonic cleaning equipment.
3841 Ultrasonic medical cleaning equipment.
3845 Audiological equipment, electromedical.
3845 Endoscopic equipment, electromedical.
3845 Laser systems and equipment, medical.
3845 Respiratory analysis equipment, electromedical.
3845 Ultrasonic medical equipment, except cleaning.
5047 Diagnostic equipment, medical, wholesale.
5047 Electromechanical equipment, wholesale.
5047 Laboratory equipment, dental and medical,
wholesale.
5047 Medical equipment, wholesale.
5049 Laboratory equipment, except medical or
dental, wholesale.
7352 Invalid supplies rental and leasing Medical
equipment rental and leasing.
7629 Medical equipment repair, electrical.
7699 Medical equipment repair, except electric.
8371 Commercial physical and biological research.
To qualify, the company must have a minimum
of three employees and a taxable investment of at least $10,000. The
taxable investment may be established by the value of personal property;
real estate owned; or the value of a lease of real property for the
operation of the technology business.
Existing Frederick County companies outside
the boundaries of the Technology Zone which qualify under any of the
criteria set forth above may be qualified as a technology company
at the time of the adoption of this article. A company meeting the
criteria which moves into the Technology Zone may also qualify.
An owner or tenant of real property located in the Technology
Zone who expands or improves such property to facilitate the operation
of a qualified technology business within the Technology Zone. The
term "property" for this subsection shall be the unit or units for
which a site plan is submitted or for which a building code application
is submitted.
[Amended 6-11-2003]
The Technology Zone shall be that area located
within the Frederick County Sewer and Water Service Area (SWSA) as
delineated by the Frederick County Comprehensive Policy Plan. Any
future modifications to the Technology Zone's boundaries will parallel
those of the Sewer and Water Service Area (SWSA). As stated in the
above section, existing companies outside of the Technology Zone's
boundary as of the time of the adoption of this article shall be eligible
to receive the benefits set forth in this article.
Qualified technology businesses shall receive
a rebate of a percentage of the utility tax on local telephone usage,
electric usage and cable television usage imposed by this chapter.
Qualified technology businesses shall be exempted
from a percentage of the following local taxes: the business, professional
and occupational license taxes and fees imposed by this chapter.
A.
The amount of each type of tax rebate or exemption
under this article shall be a percentage of that tax paid or due by
the qualified technology business each year. The percentage rebated
or exempted each year shall be determined by the following schedule:
|
Year
|
Percentage Rebate
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Year 1
|
100%
| |
|
Year 2
|
80%
| |
|
Year 3
|
60%
| |
|
Year 4
|
40%
| |
|
Year 5
|
20%
|
B.
Year 1 is the calendar year in which the business
becomes a qualified technology business if it qualified prior to June
30 of the year. Otherwise, Year 1 shall be the year following the
year in which the business becomes a qualified technology business.
Qualified technology businesses shall receive the tax rebates or exemptions
established by this article for five years. Once a business has qualified
as a technology business, it shall not be entitled to additional periods
of five years or any parts thereof by reason of expansion of investment
or number of employees. If a business ceases to be a qualified technology
business during a year in which the rebates or exemptions apply, they
shall be prorated for the months the business was a qualified technology
business.
C.
If a majority of the gross receipts of a qualified
technology business is derived from the operations which qualify the
business, all of its gross receipts shall be included in the rebates
and exemptions.
D.
If a minority of a businesses gross receipts is derived
from such operations, the rebates or exemptions shall be applied only
to that part of the gross receipts which is based on the sales or
services via such qualifying operations.
A.
In the case of rebates, each business desiring inclusion
in the program shall pay the taxes in the manner prescribed in this
chapter. The business shall apply to the Administrator for certification
as a qualified technology business. The application must be made within
12 months of the month in which the applicant met the definition of
a qualified technology business. The Administrator shall investigate
such matters. Upon certification and proof that no taxes are outstanding
at the time of application, the qualified technology business shall
be entitled to the rebates created by this article. The Commissioner
shall rebate taxes on a quarterly basis. Failure of the business to
pay in full by the due date any of the taxes listed in this article,
or other taxes imposed by the County, shall result in forfeiture of
the rebate of that tax for that year upon a finding by the Administrator
that such delinquency is significant.
B.
In the case of tax exemptions, the business shall
file all necessary tax applications. The business shall apply to the
Administrator for certification. The application must be made within
12 months of the month in which the applicant met the definition of
a qualified technology business. The Administrator shall investigate
such matters. Upon certification and proof that no taxes are outstanding
at the time of application, the business shall be entitled to the
exemptions created by this article. Failure of the business to pay
in full by the due date any taxes imposed by the County shall result
in the loss of the exemption for the remainder of the current year.
The fees identified in this article shall be
rebated as follows:
A.
Any owner of real estate located within the area delineated
in this article who plans to perform alterations to or to construct
a structure in order to allow occupancy by one or more qualified technology
businesses may apply, in writing, to the County Administrator, or
his designee, for a rebate of the fees described in this article,
provided at least 40% of the cost of the construction, expansion or
rehabilitation of the structure is to house a qualified technology
business as defined by this article.
B.
The County Administrator, or his designee, shall carefully review the application to determine whether or not the applicant meets the definition of "qualified zone resident" as defined by this article, and to determine whether or not a qualified technology business physically occupies the structure which is the subject of the application, as well as the additional criteria specified in Subsection A, above.
C.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, if the County Administrator, or his designee, determines that all of the conditions specified in Subsections A and B above have been met by the applicant, he is authorized to rebate not more than 20% of the total amount of fees described in this article and paid by the applicant.
D.
The applicant who initially qualifies hereunder may,
thereafter, once each year for a period of five years measured from
the date of the first application, reapply for additional rebate of
the same said fees, but shall be entitled to no more than 20% per
year of the initial total of all such fees. At the time of each such
subsequent application, the applicant must meet all of the criteria
herein specified, and failure to do so will disqualify the applicant
entirely from any further consideration for any additional rebate
of such fees. However, an applicant who initially qualifies hereunder
for a rebate shall not thereafter be disqualified solely because the
qualified technology business is no longer occupying the subject structure
if another qualified technology business has replaced it in the same
structure.
Qualified zone residents shall be rebated the
building permit fees as prescribed by the Board of Supervisors and
the Frederick County Code.
Qualified zone residents shall be rebated the
fees as prescribed by the Board of Supervisors and the Frederick County
Code.
Qualified zone residents shall be rebated the
fees for the submission of a subdivision plat as prescribed by the
Board of Supervisors and the Frederick County Code.
This article shall not be construed to waive
the requirement of any application, permit, or approval from the County
as mandated by other Code sections. Nothing in this article shall
be construed as waiving the right of the County of Frederick to collect
any fines or penalties as imposed by other sections of the Code.
The Administrator or his designee shall develop
programs to educate the public and potential businesses of the benefits
of the Technology Zone.
