A. The "tax impact fund" is created within the state treasury. The tax impact fund shall consist of money appropriated to the fund and money distributed to the fund by law. Money remaining in the tax impact fund at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert, but shall remain in the fund for the purposes set forth in the Statewide Economic Development Finance Act. For the purpose of mitigating the tax impact of a project, money in the tax impact fund shall be disbursed by warrant of the secretary of finance and administration, upon vouchers submitted by the department, to qualifying counties, school districts and, if applicable, qualifying municipalities as state in-lieu payments in the same proportion as property taxes are distributed.

B. The amount of state in-lieu payments shall be determined by the department, as specified in the opt-in agreement, and shall be subject to the availability of money in the tax impact fund in each fiscal year during the term of the opt-in agreement.

C. In each fiscal year during the term of an opt-in agreement, a county, school district and, if applicable, a municipality shall qualify to receive state in-lieu payments in connection with project when the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) title to the project has been transferred to the department in connection with financing assistance provided pursuant to the Statewide Economic Development Finance Act, resulting in an exemption from property taxes that the qualifying county, school district and, if applicable, qualifying municipality would otherwise have been entitled to receive;

(2) pursuant to an opt-in agreement, the qualifying county, school district and, if applicable, qualifying municipality have certified to the department in advance that they support the project, subject to the project's compliance with the planning, zoning, subdivision, building code and other applicable laws and regulations governing land use;

(3) pursuant to an opt-in agreement, the county, the school district and, if applicable, the municipality and the department have agreed on the amount of the annual payment in lieu of taxes; and

(4) the department has determined that there is sufficient money on deposit in the tax impact fund in the current fiscal year to make distributions of state in-lieu payments for the project.

D. The department shall establish by rule procedures for certification by local governments concerning project support, notification of local school boards concerning financing and qualification for state in-lieu payments.

E. The amount of state in-lieu payments that a qualifying county, school district and, if applicable, qualifying municipality are entitled to receive shall be determined by the department based upon:

(1) the annual reduction in property tax revenue received by the qualifying county, school district and, if applicable, qualifying municipality that results from the transfer of title to the project to the department;

(2) the increase in local revenues that the qualifying county, school district and, if applicable, qualifying municipality are anticipated to receive as a result of the project;

(3) an allocation of the annual revenue deposited to the tax impact fund among the qualifying municipalities, counties and school districts that have qualified to receive state in-lieu payments; and

(4) such adjustments as the department may determine by rule are appropriate and necessary to carry out the purposes of the Statewide Economic Development Finance Act, including, without limitation, adjustments that are necessary or desirable to:

(a) overcome particular barriers to economic expansion in specific locales;

(b) mitigate the tax impact of a project that will not be offset by increased local gross receipts revenue production directly or indirectly resulting from the project; or

(c) encourage job growth in an area in which unemployment is a particular problem.

History: Laws 2003, ch. 349, § 14; 2005, ch. 103, § 13.

The 2005 amendment, effective April 4, 2005, changed "project property" to "project", and deleted the requirement in Subsection B that state in-lieu payments from the tax impact fund shall be made as a portion of the total amount of the annual payment in lieu of taxes required in the opt-in agreement.