The City of Sigourney and Keokuk County have worked at creating opportunities for new businesses, as well as helping with the expansion of existing industries.
TAX ABATEMENT
In 1981
the City of Sigourney passed an ordinance authorizing industrial property
tax credits. This ordinance authorizes partial property tax exemptions
for industrial property on which improvements have been made. The exemptions
allow for new construction of buildings, expansions, and reconstruction
to the "actual value added" to the industrial real estate as
determined by the assessor as of January first of each year for which
the exemption is received. Partial exemptions from taxation are for a
period of five (5) years. The amount of actual value added which is eligible
to be exempt from taxation is as follows:
|
First year: |
Seventy-five
percent |
For more information, contact the Keokuk County Assessors office at 641-622-2760.
ENTERPRISE ZONE
Businesses locating or expanding in an established Enterprise Zone may be eligible to receive certain local and state tax benefits.
Tax Benefits:
- A local property tax exemption on the value added to the property.
- Additional funding for training new employees.
- A refund of state sales, service, or use taxes paid to contractors or subcontractors during construction.
- An investment tax credit of up to a maximum of ten percent of the new investment in machinery and equipment, land, buildings, and improvements to existing buildings.
- An additional research and development tax credit of up to 6.5 percent, which may be refundable. This Iowa tax credit is based on increasing research activities within the state and is available while the business is participating in the program for up to ten years.
Eligibility Requirements:
- The business must make a minimum capital investment of $500,000.
- The business must create at least ten full-time, project-related jobs and maintain them for ten years.
- The business must provide all full-time employees with the option of choosing a standard medical and dental insurance plan of which the business pays eighty percent of the premiums or a monetarily equivalent benefit.
- The business must pay an average wage that meets or exceeds ninety percent of the average county or regional wage, whichever is lower.
- The business can not be a retail establishment.
- The business can not close or reduce its operation in one area of the state of Iowa and relocate substantially the same operation in the Enterprise Zone.
- The local Enterprise Zone Commission and Iowa Department of Economic Development must approve the business' proposed project prior to project initiation.
Keokuk County exempts from taxation all or a portion of the assessed real estate value, in excess of the January, 1997 assessment, added by improvements to the property beginning the year the improvements are first assessed for taxation within the enterprise zone per the following exemption schedule:
- 100% tax exemption applied to the actual increase in valuation added by improvements to the property in each of the first and second years.
- 80% tax exemption with respect thereto in each of the third and fourth years.
- 60% tax exemption with respect thereto in each of the fifth and sixth years.
- 40% tax exemption with respect thereto in each of the seventh and eighth years.
- 20% tax exemption with respect thereto in each of the ninth and tenth years.