(1) For purposes of ORS § 285C.175, 285C.200 and 285C.240, except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, operations of a business firm within the enterprise zone are substantially curtailed when:

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(a) Pursuant to the initial claim of exemption and satisfaction of ORS § 285C.200 (1)(c), the number of employees of the firm:

(A) Is reduced by more than 85 percent from the highest number of employees of the firm; or

(B) Has been reduced by more than 50 percent from the highest number of employees of the firm over two consecutive annual filing periods under ORS § 285C.220 (1); or

(b) The annual average number of employees of the firm during the first assessment year for which the exemption under ORS § 285C.175 is granted, or any subsequently allowed year of exemption, is reduced below the greater of:

(A) The annual average number of employees of the firm, averaged over the 12 months preceding the date of the application for authorization, plus one employee; or

(B) 110 percent of the annual average number of employees of the firm, averaged over the 12 months preceding the date of the application for authorization.

(2) For the purposes of this section:

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(A) of this subsection, the number of employees of the firm is the employment of the firm, as defined in ORS § 285C.200 (7)(b), on the earlier of the date a claim for exemption is filed under ORS § 285C.220 or April 1 of the year in which the exemption is initially claimed under ORS § 285C.175 and following each assessment year of the exemption, including after the last such assessment year.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c)(B) of this subsection, the annual average number of employees of the firm is the number of employees of the firm averaged over the course of each assessment year in which an exemption under ORS § 285C.175 is allowed, using employment figures for no fewer than four equivalent periods during the year.

(c) For the first assessment year for which an authorized business firm that qualifies under ORS § 285C.200 (5) claims an exemption under ORS § 285C.175, substantial curtailment under subsection (1)(a)(A) or (b) of this section shall be determined by:

(A) Combining the number of employees of the firm and the number of employees at any applicable site of the firm outside the enterprise zone; and

(B) Combining the annual average number of employees of the firm with the annual average number of employees at any applicable site of the firm outside the enterprise zone.

(3) Operations of a business firm are not substantially curtailed under this section during a period of suspension as otherwise provided in ORS § 285C.203. [2003 c.662 § 40; 2010 c.39 § 5; 2017 c.83 § 7]