(1) The county assessor of the county in which a qualified business firm is situated and the sponsor shall be notified in writing by the qualified business firm or by the owner of the qualified property leased by the qualified business firm not later than July 1 following the assessment year for which the exemption is claimed and in which one of the following events occurs:

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(a) Property granted exemption from taxation under ORS § 285C.175 is sold, exchanged, transported or otherwise disposed of for use outside the enterprise zone or for use by an ineligible business firm;

(b) The qualified business firm closes or so reduces eligible operations that the reduction constitutes a substantial curtailment of operations under ORS § 285C.210, unless a substantial curtailment of operations is permitted under ORS § 285C.203;

(c) The qualified business firm fails to meet any of the qualifications required under ORS § 285C.200;

(d) The qualified business firm fails to meet any condition that the firm is required to satisfy under ORS § 285C.150, 285C.155, 285C.203 or 285C.205 or any term of an agreement entered into with the sponsor under ORS § 285C.160 with which the firm had agreed to comply;

(e) The qualified business firm uses the property to conduct activities in the enterprise zone that are not eligible activities; or

(f) Property of the qualified business firm for which exemption under ORS § 285C.175 is claimed ceases to be qualified property under ORS § 285C.180.

(2) If the sponsor receives written notice under subsection (1) of this section, the sponsor shall immediately send a copy of the notice to the county assessor of the county in which the enterprise zone is situated.

(3)(a) When an assessor receives written notice under subsection (1) or (2) of this section, the assessor shall:

(A) Disqualify the property for the assessment years, if any, for which exemption under ORS § 285C.175 is otherwise allowable following the disqualifying event; and

(B) Impose 100 percent of the additional taxes calculated under ORS § 285C.175 against the property for each year for which the property had been granted exemption under ORS § 285C.175.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, if a qualified business firm fails to meet any of the requirements of an agreement entered into by the firm under ORS § 285C.160 during the exemption, but meets all other applicable requirements under ORS § 285C.050 to 285C.250 during the first three years of the exemption, the qualified property of the firm may not be disqualified during the first three years of exemption for failure to comply with the requirements of the agreement entered into under ORS § 285C.160.

(c) The additional taxes assessed under this subsection shall be reduced by the amount, if any, paid by the qualified business firm to the sponsor under subsection (6) of this section for the same property.

(4) If the qualified business firm or owner fails to give the notice on time or at all as required by subsection (1) of this section, upon discovering the property no longer qualifies for the exemption due to a circumstance described in subsection (1) of this section, the assessor shall:

(a) Disqualify the property from exemption;

(b) Compute the amount of additional taxes described in subsection (3) of this section as though notice had been given, and add to that amount a penalty equal to 20 percent of the total amount so computed; and

(c) Add the property to the assessment and tax roll without the exemption as if the notice had been given.

(5) The amount determined to be due under subsections (3) and (4) of this section:

(a) May be paid to the tax collector before completion of the next general property tax roll pursuant to ORS § 311.370; and

(b) Shall be added to the tax extended against the property on the next general property tax roll to be collected and distributed in the same manner as the remainder of the property taxes.

(6)(a) Notwithstanding subsections (3) and (5) of this section, if an assessor or sponsor receives notice from a business firm under subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d) of this section and the qualified business firm has not closed its operations, the sponsor may collect from the qualified business firm an amount equal to the property taxes for the qualified property in the assessment year for which the exemption is claimed in lieu of the amounts otherwise due under subsection (3) of this section.

(b) Moneys collected under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be used by the sponsor to benefit the residents of the enterprise zone and for the development of jobs, skills and training for residents of the enterprise zone and the zone’s immediate vicinity.

(c) This subsection applies only to the first notice given by the business firm under subsection (1)(b), (c) or (d) of this section.

(d) If the sponsor does not receive the full amount to be paid by the qualified business firm under paragraph (a) of this subsection, the assessor shall disqualify the property and impose the entire amount of additional taxes as prescribed under subsection (3) of this section.

(7) An assessor may not disqualify property under this section for failure by a qualified business firm or an owner of qualified property leased by the qualified business firm to notify the assessor or the enterprise zone sponsor that the qualified business firm does not meet requirements under ORS § 285C.150, 285C.155, 285C.160 or 285C.205, without having received written communication from the sponsor that demonstrates that the qualified business firm does not meet the requirements.

(8) Additional taxes collected under this section shall be deemed to have been imposed in the year to which the additional taxes relate.

(9) If property is disqualified from exemption under this section, the assessor shall notify the qualified business firm, and the owner of any qualified property that is leased by the firm, of the disqualification. The notification shall be made in writing. The assessor shall provide copies of the disqualification to the sponsor, the Department of Revenue and the Oregon Business Development Department. The decision of the assessor to disqualify property under this section may be appealed to the Oregon Tax Court under ORS § 305.404 to 305.560. [Formerly 285B.728; 2010 c.39 § 9; 2017 c.83 § 10]

(Termination of Enterprise Zone)