13-2102. Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Enterprise Zone Act:

(1) Census shall mean the federal decennial census;

(2) Department shall mean the Department of Economic Development;

(3) Economic distress shall mean conditions of unemployment, poverty, and declining population existing within the area of a proposed enterprise zone considered in the stated order as an order of priority from most to least significant;

(4) Enterprise zone or zone shall mean an area which is at least one but no more than sixteen square miles in total area composed of one or more discrete areas which have a combined total resident population of not less than two hundred fifty persons. If it is composed of more than one discrete area, each separate area must meet the eligibility criteria established by this subdivision and (a) must be no more than five miles from another area if the zone is located within a city of the metropolitan or primary class, (b) must be located within the same county if the zone is located outside of the boundaries of a city of the metropolitan or primary class, or (c) must be located within the boundaries of the applying political subdivisions if the application for zone designation is made jointly by counties or tribal government areas pursuant to subsection (4) of section 13-2103. No area or portion of an area located in a city of the metropolitan or primary class shall include any portion of a central business district. For purposes of this subdivision, central business district shall mean an area comprised of a high concentration of office, service, financial, lodging, entertainment, and retail businesses and government facilities and possessing a high traffic flow or an area composed of one or more complete federal census tracts defined as a central business district by the United States Bureau of the Census.

To qualify as an enterprise zone under this subdivision (4), such area must meet at least two of the following three criteria as measured by data from the United States Bureau of the Census:

(i) Population in the area or within a reasonable proximity to the area has decreased by at least ten percent between the date of the most recent census and the date of the immediately preceding census;

(ii) The average rate of unemployment in the area or within a reasonable proximity to the area is at least two hundred percent of the average rate of unemployment in the state during the same period covered by the most recent census; or

(iii) The average poverty rate in the area exceeds twenty percent for the total federal census tract or tracts or federal census block group or block groups in the area or within a reasonable proximity to the area when the area is located within the legal boundaries of a city of the metropolitan or primary class or the average poverty rate in the area exceeds twenty percent for the total federal census tract or tracts or federal census block group or block groups which encompass the legal boundaries of a city of the first class, city of the second class, village, or tribal government area when the area is located in such political subdivision.

For purposes of this subdivision (4), reasonable proximity shall refer to the federal census tracts or federal census block groups which either in whole or in part are within the boundaries of any portion of the proposed zone;

(5) Political subdivision shall mean any incorporated village, city, county, or tribal government area; and

(6) Tribal government area shall mean (a) that portion of Knox County under the jurisdiction of the Santee Sioux Tribe, (b) that portion of Thurston County under the jurisdiction of the Omaha Tribe, and (c) that portion of Thurston County under the jurisdiction of the Winnebago Tribe.

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