(a) The county commission or municipality creating the district shall cause the preparation of a project plan for each development or redevelopment district and the project plan shall be adopted by order of the county commission, or ordinance adopted by the governing body of the municipality, after it is approved by the executive director of the Development Office. This process shall conform to the procedures set forth in this section.

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 7-11B-8

  • Agency: includes a municipality, a county or municipal development agency established pursuant to authority granted in §. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Base assessed value: means the taxable assessed value of all real and tangible personal property, excluding personal motor vehicles, having a tax situs within a development or redevelopment district as shown upon the landbooks and personal property books of the assessor on July 1 of the calendar year preceding the effective date of the order or ordinance creating and establishing the development or redevelopment district: Provided, That for any development or redevelopment district approved after the effective date of the amendments to this section enacted during the regular session of the Legislature in 2014, personal trailers, personal boats, personal campers, personal motor homes, personal ATVs and personal motorcycles having a tax situs within a development or redevelopment district are excluded from the base assessed value. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • County commission: means the governing body of a county of this state and, for purposes of this article only, includes the governing body of a Class I, Class II or Class III municipality in this state. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Development office: means the West Virginia Department of Economic Development created in §. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Development or redevelopment district: means an area proposed by one or more agencies as a development or redevelopment district which may include one or more counties, one or more municipalities or any combination thereof, that has been approved by the county commission of each county in which the project area is located if the project is located outside the corporate limits of a municipality, or by the governing body of a municipality if the project area is located within a municipality, or by both the county commission and the governing body of the municipality when the development or redevelopment district is located both within and without a municipality. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Governing body of a municipality: means the city council of a Class I, Class II or Class III municipality in this state. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • including: when used in a definition contained in this article, shall not exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term being defined. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Order: means an order of the county commission adopted in conformity with the provisions of this article and as provided in this chapter. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Ordinance: means a law adopted by the governing body of a municipality in conformity with the provisions of this article and as provided in §. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • personal property: includes goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments, and the evidences thereof. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Project: means any capital improvement, facility or both, as specifically set forth and defined in the project plan, requiring an investment of capital including, but not limited to, extensions, additions or improvements to existing facilities, including water or wastewater facilities, and the remediation of contaminated property as provided for in §. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Project costs: include , but are not limited to:

    (A) Capital costs, including, but not limited to, the actual costs of the construction of public works or improvements, capital improvements and facilities, new buildings, structures and fixtures, the demolition, alteration, remodeling, repair or reconstruction of existing buildings, structures and fixtures, environmental remediation, parking and landscaping, the acquisition of equipment and site clearing, grading and preparation. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3

  • Project developer: means any person who engages in the development of projects in the state. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Project plan: means the plan for a development or redevelopment project that is adopted by a county commission or governing body of a municipality in conformity with the requirements of this article and this chapter or §. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Redevelopment plan: means the comprehensive program under this article of a county or municipality for redevelopment intended by the payment of redevelopment costs to reduce or eliminate those conditions, the existence of which qualified the redevelopment area as a blighted area, conservation area, economic development area or combination thereof, and to thereby enhance the tax bases of the levying bodies which extend into the redevelopment area. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • redevelopment project: means a project undertaken in a development or redevelopment district for eliminating or preventing the development or spread of slums or deteriorated, deteriorating or blighted areas, for discouraging the loss of commerce, industry or employment, for increasing employment or for any combination thereof in accordance with a tax increment financing plan. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Tax increment: means the amount of regular levy property taxes attributable to the amount by which the current assessed value of real and tangible personal property having a tax situs in a development or redevelopment district exceeds the base assessed value of the property. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • Tax increment financing fund: means a separate fund for a development or redevelopment district established by the county commission or governing body of the municipality into which all tax increment revenues and other pledged revenues are deposited and from which projected project costs, debt service and other expenditures authorized by this article are paid. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3
  • This code: means the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended by the Legislature. See West Virginia Code 7-11B-3

(b) Each project plan shall include:

(1) A statement listing the kind, number and location of all proposed public works or other improvements within the district and on land outside but contiguous to the district;

(2) A cost-benefit analysis showing the economic impact of the plan on each levying body that is at least partially within the boundaries of the development or redevelopment district. This analysis shall show the impact on the economy if the project is not built and is built pursuant to the development or redevelopment plan under consideration. The cost-benefit analysis shall include a fiscal impact study on every affected levying body and sufficient information from the developer for the agency, if any proposing the plan, the county commission being asked to approve the project and the Development Office to evaluate whether the project as proposed is financially feasible;

(3) An economic feasibility study;

(4) A detailed list of estimated project costs;

(5) A description of the methods of financing all estimated project costs, including the issuance of tax increment obligations and the time when the costs or monetary obligations related thereto are to be incurred;

(6) A certification by the county assessor of the base assessed value of real and tangible personal property having a tax situs in a development or redevelopment district: Provided, That if such certification is made during the months of January or February of each year, the county assessor may certify an estimated base assessed value of real and tangible personal property having a tax situs in a development or redevelopment district: Provided, however, That prior to issuance of tax increment obligations, the county assessor shall certify a final base assessed value for the estimated base assessed value permitted by this section;

(7) The type and amount of any other revenues that are expected to be deposited to the tax increment financing fund of the development or redevelopment district;

(8) A map showing existing uses and conditions of real property in the development or redevelopment district;

(9) A map of proposed improvements and uses in the district;

(10) Proposed changes of zoning ordinances, if any;

(11) Appropriate cross-references to any master plan, map, building codes and municipal ordinances or county commission orders affected by the project plan;

(12) A list of estimated nonproject costs;

(13) A statement of the proposed method for the relocation of any persons, businesses or organizations to be displaced;

(14) A certificate from the executive director of the workers’ compensation commission, the commissioner of the Bureau of Employment Programs and the State Tax Commissioner that the project developer is in good standing with the workers’ compensation commission, the Bureau of Employment Programs and the state Tax Division; and

(15) A certificate from the sheriff of the county or counties in which the development or redevelopment district is located that the project developer is not delinquent on payment of any real and personal property taxes in such county.

(c) If the project plan is to include tax increment financing, the tax increment financing portion of the plan shall set forth:

(1) The amount of indebtedness to be incurred pursuant to this article;

(2) An estimate of the tax increment to be generated as a result of the project;

(3) The method for calculating the tax increment, which shall be in conformance with the provisions of this article, together with any provision for adjustment of the method of calculation;

(4) Any other revenues, such as payment in lieu of tax revenues, to be used to secure the tax increment financing; and

(5) Any other provisions as may be deemed necessary in order to carry out any tax increment financing to be used for the development or redevelopment project.

(d) If less than all of the tax increment is to be used to fund a development or redevelopment project or to pay project costs or retire tax increment financing, the project plan shall set forth the portion of the tax increment to be deposited in the tax increment financing fund of the development or redevelopment district and provide for the distribution of the remaining portion of the tax increment to the levying bodies in whose jurisdiction the district lies.

(e) The county commission or governing body of the municipality that established the tax increment financing fund shall hold a public hearing at which interested parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to express their views on the proposed project plan being considered by the county commission or the governing body of the municipality.

(1) Notice of the hearing shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in accordance with § 59-3-2 of this code.

(2) At least 30 days prior to the public hearing, a copy of the notice shall be sent by first-class mail to the chief executive officer of all other levying bodies having the power to levy taxes on property located within the proposed development or redevelopment district.

(f) Approval by the county commission or the governing body of a municipality of an initial development or redevelopment project plan must be within one year after the date of the county assessor’s certification required by subdivision (6), subsection (b) of this section: Provided, That additional development or redevelopment project plans may be approved by the county commission or the governing body of a municipality in subsequent years, so long as the development or redevelopment district continues to exist. The approval shall be by order of the county commission or ordinance of the municipality, which shall contain a finding that the plan is economically feasible.

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