The follow types of projects are eligible for consideration under this Ordinance: i. Manufacturing facility, as defined in C.G.S (72).

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1 BE IT ORDAINED BY THE TOWN OF GRISWOLD that the following is adopted as Town Ordinance #, and shall be entitled Town of Griswold Business Incentive Ordinance pursuant to CGS 12-65b and 12-65h: 1. Purpose The Town of Griswold ( Town ) recognizes that it exists in a global marketplace and therefore elects to use authority granted it by the State of Connecticut to expand and diversify its commercial tax base by retaining existing businesses that want to expand and by attracting new business and investment into the community. Toward that end, the Town has developed this Business Incentive Policy Ordinance ( Ordinance ) as an economic development tool to promote high quality economic development projects that contribute jobs or tax base increase or both. 2. Legal Authority This Ordinance is adopted under authority of CGS 12-65b and 12-65h, which each authorize the Town, following a vote by its legislative body to do so, to enter into agreements ( Agreement ) with applicants eligible under the terms of said statutes and of this Ordinance to provide specified forms and amounts of tax relief for prescribed periods of time. 3. Eligible Projects The follow types of projects are eligible for consideration under this Ordinance: (a) Under CGS 12-65b: i. Office use. ii. Retail use. iii. Manufacturing use. iv. Warehouse, storage or distribution use. v. Information or technology. (b) Under CGS 12-65h: i. Manufacturing facility, as defined in C.G.S (72). 4. Eligibility Requirements (a) The applicant must be a private, for-profit business that is authorized to do business in the state of Connecticut. (b) The applicant must not be in violation of any law or agreement with the Town, state or federal government. 1

2 (c) No real estate or personal property tax or other tax, fee or municipal charge due the Town or any of its departments, officials, commissions, boards, or agencies shall be unpaid at the time an application is submitted, while it is being processed, or at any time during the term of an Agreement hereunder. (d) If the applicant is a tenant operating under a lease, the term of the lease must be for no less than the tax abatement period set forth in the Agreement. The Agreement and the tax incentives provided by it must be clearly recited in said written lease and be for a period no less than the applicable term of the tax abatement. A copy of said written lease shall be submitted as part of the application. (e) If an applicant is relocating a business to Griswold, the application shall include a five-year history of tax assessments and payments to the municipality(ies) and/or other political subdivision(s) in which the business has been operating. (f) The proposed project must be a permitted use at the proposed location under the Griswold or Borough Zoning Regulations and must receive all necessary approvals, licenses and permits from the Griswold Planning and Zoning Commission and other Town, state of Connecticut and federal agencies, boards, commissions, and officials having jurisdiction with respect to the project. (g) The applicant and its parent and subsidiary(ies) must be in environmental compliance with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. (h) The project must have a clear economic benefit to Griswold. The application shall include a description of benefits to be realized by Griswold if the application is granted. (i) A complete application on a form approved by the Board of Selectman ( BOS ), with all required information, must be submitted. 5. General Provisions (a) The decision to grant or reject any application under this Ordinance shall be within the sole and exclusive discretion of the Town Meeting. The Town Meeting is under no obligation to approve any application, nor is the BOS under any obligation to forward any particular application to the Town Meeting. But no application may be granted which does not comply with this Ordinance and CGS 12-65b or 12-65h. (b) The Town s assessor shall, in the assessor s sole discretion, determine the assessment of the real property or air space and/or the personal property and any and all improvements constructed or to be constructed on or in the real property which is the subject of the Agreement. (c) The fixed assessment period shall commence the first fiscal year for which a tax list is prepared on the October 1 st immediately following the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy by the appropriate building official for construction of the buildings or 2

3 manufacturing facilities or other structures and all improvements in or on the real property or air space which is the subject of the Agreement. (d) Notwithstanding anything in this Ordinance to the contrary, and provided in all other respects the applicant qualifies under the provisions of CGS 12-65b or 12-65h and this Ordinance, the Town may, in its sole discretion, offer to enter into an Agreement with such applicant for abatement of taxes of a lesser percentage and/or of fewer years than authorized by the statute(s). (e) On a case by case basis, the Town Meeting, in its exclusive discretion and to further the purposes of this Ordinance, may grant an applicant, in addition to the incentives provided by CGS 12-65b and 12-65h, a full or partial waiver of (1) fees under the Building Code; and/or (2) filing fees with land use agencies. (f) This Ordinance is not retroactive. (g) Construction shall commence within six (6) months and shall be completed within two (2) years of execution of the Agreement. Failure to comply with this schedule shall result in termination of the Agreement by the BOS. Provided, however, that the BOS may grant a reasonable extension(s) of the time periods, but only upon favorable recommendation by the Economic Development Commission ( EDC ) and the showing of good cause beyond the applicant s control. (h) If the applicant, during the period of his participation in this program and during the term of an Agreement: (a) relocates its business from Griswold; (b) becomes delinquent in taxes or fees; (c) declares bankruptcy; (d) substantially reduces its operations on the subject property during the term of the Agreement, with substantially reduced operations meaning for purposes of this Ordinance, among other things, a reduction of square feet occupied within the facility by 20% or more, a reduction in workforce by 20% or more, a failure to construct agreed upon additional phases of construction, and/or sale or lease of some or all of the property; and/or (e) in any other way fails to comply with the Agreement, this Ordinance and/or C.G.S b and 12-65h, then the BOS shall terminate the Agreement and any tax incentive or other benefit enjoyed by the applicant under this program and the Agreement shall be immediately forfeited and the applicant shall be required to pay back all taxes it would have been assessed had the application not been granted and the Agreement not entered into. Each Agreement shall contain a provision to this effect. (i) No Agreement entered into pursuant to this policy shall be subject to assignment, transfer or sale without written approval of the BOS. (j) No Agreement shall be executed by the BOS until it is approved by the Town Attorney as to form and legality. (k) Griswold. Any Agreement hereunder shall be recorded in the land records of the Town of 3

4 6. Tax Incentives for Real Property allowed under CGS 12-65b (a) For the purposes of this incentive policy, Real Property is defined as land and the buildings or improvements on it, and its natural assets such as minerals, water, etc. Real Property Tax Abatement Schedule Approved by the Town of Griswold Project Value (Measured by Cost of Maximum Period of Assessment Fixing Agreement Improvement) $3 million and above 7 years after improvement 90% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement 80% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement 70% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement Year 4 60% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement Year 5 50% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement Year 6 40% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement Year 7 30% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement $500,000 to $2,999,999 2 years after improvement 60% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement 40% abatement of assessed value of cost of improvement Smaller Projects with Project Value less than $500,000 (Measured by Increased Assessment) Minimum $25,000 Cost of Improvement 3 Years after improvement 50% abatement of the increased assessment 40% abatement of the increased assessment 30% abatement of the increased assessment 7. Tax Incentive for Personal Property in manufacturing facilities allowed under CGS 12-65h (a) For the purposes of this incentive policy: i. Personal Property is defined as any property that is not real property and that is movable or not attached to the land, ii. Manufacturing Facility is as defined in subdivision (72) of CGS

5 iii. Machinery and Equipment is as defined in subdivision (72) of CGS and intended to qualify for tax relief pursuant to 12-65h shall have a depreciable useful life of five or seven years for federal income tax purposes. Personal Property Tax Abatement Schedule Approved by the Town of Griswold Project Value (Measured by Value of Personal Maximum Period of Assessment Fixing Agreement Property) $3 million and above 7 years after installation of personal property 90% abatement of assessed value 80% abatement of assessed value 70% abatement of assessed value Year 4 60% abatement of assessed value Year 5 50% abatement of assessed value Year 6 40% abatement of assessed value Year 7 30% abatement of assessed value $500,000 to $2,999,999 2 years after installation of personal property 60% abatement of assessed value 40% abatement of assessed value Smaller Projects with Project Value less than $500,000 (Measured by Increased Assessment) Minimum $25,000 Value of Personal Property 3 years after installation of personal property 50% abatement of the increased assessment 40% abatement of the increased assessment 30% abatement of the increased assessment 8. Application Process (a) Applications shall be submitted to the Town Planner on a form approved by the BOS. After determining that an application is complete, the Planner shall forward it to the EDC for its review. The application and the recommendation of the EDC shall be forwarded to the BOS and the Board of Finance. The Board of Finance shall review the materials and the recommendation of the Economic Development Commission and forward its comments to the BOS. It is hoped that this process will take no more than 60 days from the date of filing with the Planner. However, that time period is directory and is not mandatory. 5

6 (b) After review of an application as provided in subsection (a) above, an application reviewed favorably by the BOS shall be submitted to a regular or special Town Meeting for a vote as to whether to authorize the BOS to enter into a written agreement with the applicant. 6