1. Property tax exemption/Dakota Ag Co-op

13. A project located in a structure leased from a governmental entity and which received a five- year property tax exemption qualifies for additional exemptions for up to five years. For the additional exemptions, the municipality grants the exemption one year at a time upon annual application. 14. Payments in lieu of taxes may be used in place of, or in combination with, property tax exemptions for qualifying projects. The municipality and project operator negotiate the amount of annual payments, when the payments begin, and the ending date, which may be no later than twenty years from the date project operations began. 15. Payments in lieu of taxes are apportioned in the same manner as the general real estate taxes unless a taxing district enters into a written agreement for an alternate method. Any agreement entered into between the municipality and other taxing districts for an alternate method of apportioning the payments in lieu of taxes may not affect the apportionment to any taxing district that is not a party to the agreement. 16. The tax incentives are valid as long as the property is used for the purposes stated in the application. If there is a change in use or project operator, a new application for the incentives must be filed with and approved by the municipality to receive the remainder of the incentives. Limitations 17. A project is not eligible for the property tax incentives if the project received a tax exemption under tax increment financing. 18. The tax exemption and the payments in lieu of taxes are limited to the new or existing buildings or structures used in the qualifying project. 19. Tax incentives may not be granted for land. 20. Payments in lieu of taxes are not eligible for the 5 % discount for early payment. Procedures 21. The project operator applies to the governing body of the municipality where the potential project is to be located. If the project will be within city limits, the project operator applies to the city governing body. If the project is outside city limits, application is made to the county commission. 22. Application for the property tax exemption must be made and granted prior to the commencement of construction if the project locates in a new structure. If the project locates in an existing structure, application must be made and granted before the structure is occupied. For qualifying projects, applications for payments in lieu of property taxes may be made after occupying the property. A representative appointed by the board of each affected school district and of each affected township is included as a non-voting member during the negotiation and deliberation of granting tax incentives. 23. The project operator publishes two notices to competitors of hearing on the application. The notices are published in the official newspaper of the city or county at least one week apart. The last notice must be published at least 15 days, but not more than 30 days, before the city or county considers the application. For example, notices published one week apart on May 1 and May 8 would be appropriate for a hearing scheduled any time between May 23 and June 7. An affidavit of publication is presented to the governing body prior to the hearing as proof of publication. Publication of notices is not required if the municipality determines that project competitors do not exist in the municipality. 24. The city or county holds a public hearing on the application and takes testimony both in favor of and in opposition to the granting of the tax incentives. 25. After the public hearing, the governing body determines the best interests of the municipality and approves or denies, in whole or in part, the application for tax incentives. 26. The municipality certifies the tax incentives granted by submitting a copy of the project operator's application with the attachments to the