Standard Enterprise Zone

Standard enterprise zones are designed to encourage business investment through property tax relief, in specific areas of the state. In exchange for locating or expanding into an enterprise zone, eligible (generally non-retail) businesses receive total exemption from the property taxes normally assessed on new plants and equipment for at least three years (but up to five years).

The Incentives

The following are the incentives available to businesses locating in standard enterprise zones:

• Work in Progress Exemption—While a facility is under construction, new investment is not subject to local property taxes
• Three to five consecutive years of full relief from property taxes on a new facility

Where these Tax Incentives are Available
The standard enterprise zone incentives are available in established enterprise zones, of which there are more than 59 throughout the state, 48 of which are rural zones offering extended benefits.

Criteria for Qualifying Projects

For the basic, three-year enterprise zone exemption, qualifying projects must:

• increase full-time, permanent employment of the firm inside the enterprise zone by the greater of one new job or 10 percent (or special-case local sponsor waivers);
• generally have no concurrent job losses outside the zone boundary;
• maintain this minimum employment level during the exemption period;
• enter into a first-source agreement with local job training providers; and satisfy additional local conditions, potentially imposed under an urban zone policy.

Criteria for extended tax abatement (for a total of four or five years of exemption)

This includes the criteria for the three-year enterprise zone exemption as well as the following:

• Compensation of new workers must be at or above 150 percent of the county average wage.
• There must be local approval by written agreement with the local zone sponsor.
• The company must meet any additional requirements that the local zone sponsor may reasonably request.