Determination of tax increment base; aggregate valuation of taxable property; acquisition or lease of property by public entity; identification of property; notice.

(a) Upon the creation of a tax increment district or adoption of any amendment pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the tax increment base shall be determined.

(b) Upon application in writing by the local finance officer, the tax assessor (or the officer of the county performing the duties of a tax assessor) for each county in which any part of the district is located shall determine according to his or her best judgment from all sources available to him or her the full aggregate value of the taxable property in the district located in that county. The aggregate valuation from all such tax assessors or other such public officials, upon certification to the local finance officer, shall constitute the tax increment base of the district.

(c) If the public entity creating a tax increment district in which not less than 50 percent, by area, of the real property within the tax increment district is a blighted or economically distressed area adopts an amendment to the original project plan for such district which includes additional project costs for which tax increments may be received by such public entity, the tax increment base for the district shall be redetermined pursuant to subsection (b) of this section as of 90 days following the effective date of the amendment, except that if the effective date of the amendment is October 1 of any year, the redetermination shall be made on that date. The tax increment base as redetermined under this subsection shall be effective for the purposes of this chapter only if it exceeds the original tax increment base determined under subsection (b) of this section.

(d) If the public entity creating a tax increment district in which not less than 50 percent, by area, of the real property within the tax increment district is an enhanced use lease area or a Major 21st Century Manufacturing Zone adopts an amendment to the original project plan for such district which includes additional project costs for which tax increments may be received by such public entity or an expansion of the tax increment district, the tax increment base for the district shall not be redetermined.

(e) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any property within a tax increment district acquired or leased as lessee by the public entity or any agency or instrumentality thereof within one year immediately preceding the date of the creation of the district was so acquired or leased in contemplation of the creation of the district. The presumption may be rebutted by the public entity with proof that the property was so leased or acquired primarily for a purpose other than to reduce the tax increment base. If the presumption is not rebutted, in determining the tax increment base of the district, but for no other purpose, the taxable status of such property shall be determined as though such lease or acquisition had not occurred.

(f) The local tax assessor or person performing his or her duties shall identify upon the tax records prepared by him or her under Chapter 7 of Title 40 those parcels of property which are within each existing tax increment district, specifying the name of each district. A similar notation shall also appear on the tax records made by the local finance officer.

(g) The Department of Revenue shall annually give notice to the designated finance officer of all taxing authorities levying taxes on property within each district as to both the assessed and equalized value of the property and the assessed and equalized value of the tax increment base. The notice shall state that the taxes collected in excess of the base will be paid to the public entity.

(Acts 1987, No. 87-824, p. 1660, §5; Act 2010-184, p. 262, §3; Act 2013-51, p. 97, §3.)