41-1520. International operations center; utility relief; certification; revocation; definitions

A. Utility relief is allowed for the owner or operator of an international operations center that is certified pursuant to this section.

B. To qualify for the utility relief, the owner or operator must submit to the authority an application in a form prescribed by the authority that includes all of the following:

1. The owner's or operator's name, address and telephone number.

2. The address of the site where the facility is or will be located, including, if applicable, information sufficient to identify the specific portion or portions of the facility comprising the international operations center.

C. Within sixty days after receiving a complete and correct application, the authority shall review the application and either issue a written certification that the international operations center qualifies for the utility relief or provide written reasons for its denial. A failure to approve or deny the application within sixty days after the date of submittal constitutes certification of the international operations center, and the authority shall issue written certification to the owner or operator within fourteen days. The authority shall send a copy of the certification to the department of revenue.

D. The owner or operator of the international operations center must achieve both of the following investment requirements after taking into account the combined investments made by the owner or operator:

1. A minimum annual investment of $100, 000, 000 in new capital assets, including costs of land, buildings and international operations center equipment in each of ten consecutive taxable years of the owner or operator. Investments greater than $100, 000, 000 in any taxable year may be carried forward as a credit toward the investment requirement in future years.

2. On or before the tenth anniversary of certification, a minimum investment of at least $1, 250, 000, 000 in new capital assets, including costs of land, buildings and international operations center equipment.

E. Within thirty days after the end of each taxable year following certification, and within thirty days after the tenth anniversary of certification, the owner or operator shall furnish the authority written information demonstrating whether the certified international operations center has or has not satisfied the investment requirements prescribed in subsection D of this section. Until the investment requirements prescribed in subsection D of this section are met, the owner or operator shall keep detailed records of all capital investment in the international operations center, including costs of land, buildings and international operations center equipment, and all utility relief directly received by the owner or operator.

F. If the authority determines that the requirements of this section have not been satisfied, the authority may revoke the certification of the international operations center and notify the department of revenue in writing. The owner or operator may appeal the revocation. The authority may give special consideration or allow a temporary exception if there is extraordinary hardship due to factors beyond the owner's or operator's control. If certification is revoked, the department of revenue shall order the owner or operator to forfeit further entitlement to utility relief. If the owner or operator fails to make a minimum capital investment of $100, 000, 000 in a taxable year, taking into account any excess investment amounts carried forward from previous years, the owner or operator may avoid revocation of its certification by paying to the department of revenue within sixty days after the end of the taxable year the amount of the utility relief provided pursuant to this section in that year.

G. The authority and the department of revenue shall prescribe forms and procedures as necessary for the purposes of this section.

H. Proprietary business information contained in the application form described in subsection B of this section and the written notice described in subsection F of this section are confidential and may not be disclosed to the public, except that the information shall be transmitted to the department of revenue. The authority or the department of revenue may disclose the name of an international operations center that has been certified pursuant to this section.

I. Except as provided in subsection F of this section, on certification, the international operations center remains certified unless ownership of the international operations center is sold, conveyed, transferred or otherwise directly or indirectly disposed of to another entity in which the original owner holds less than a controlling interest. For the purposes of this subsection, " controlling interest" means at least eighty percent of the voting shares of a corporation or of the interests in a noncorporate entity.

J. An owner or operator may be composed of a single entity or affiliated entities.

K. For the purposes of this section:

1. " International operations center" means a facility that is subject to the investment thresholds under subsection D of this section and that self-consumes renewable energy from a qualified facility pursuant to section 43-1164.05, subsection C.

2. " Utility relief" means the mitigation of the tax burden on the retail purchaser of electricity or natural gas through the application of section 42-5063, subsection C, paragraph 7, section 42-5159, subsection G, paragraph 2 and section 42-6012, paragraph 2.