Enterprise Zone Property Tax Abatement Policy
A. Commencing on or after January 1, 2016, taxes on real property levied by the City of Rockford shall be
abated on property located within the boundary of the Zone and upon which new improvements have been
constructed as provided in this Section. In no event shall any abatement of taxes on any parcel exceed the
amount attributable to the construction of the improvements or the renovation or rehabilitation of existing
improvements on such parcel.
B. For COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL (as defined in the City Zoning Ordinance) projects occurring on parcels or
properties located within the boundaries of the Zone, taxes on the increased assessment amount due to
rehabilitation, expansion, or new construction, shall be abated for four(4) years as follows:
Year 1 = 80% Year 2 = 60% Year 3 = 40% Year 4 = 20%
Year 1 of the abatements shall be the assessment year after the qualifying improvements have been placed in
service, as determined by the Zone Administrator. Abatements shall terminate upon expiration of the term
of the Zone.
C. The improvements on which the abatement is based must be of a nature or scope that a building permit is
required.
D. Properties located in a redevelopment project area established pursuant to the Tax Increment Allocation
Redevelopment Act or the Industrial Jobs Recovery Act are not eligible for abatement so long as the area is
so designated.
E. Property owners meeting qualification criteria outlined in A through D above must enter into a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Zone Administrator. The memo must outline projected job
creation and/or job retention and capital investment and provide for future reporting on those subjects for
the eligible commercial and industrial projects. The said Administrator is hereby authorized to enter such
agreements on behalf of the City of Rockford.
1. Entities receiving property tax abatement for eligible commercial or industrial projects must
agree to maintain a minimum of 90% of the employment levels at that location as described
in the Memorandum of Understanding for the term of abatement. At the discretion of the
Zone Administrator, failure to maintain a minimum of 90% of the employment levels during
the agreement period may result in the immediate termination of remaining abatement
and/or the pro-rata repayment of previously abated real property taxes to the City.
2. The Zone administrator will annually monitor the performance of the eligible recipients of
property tax abatement in order to ensure that job and investment projections as well as
changes in equalized assessed valuation outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding are
being met.
3. The Zone Administrator may elect to waive enforcement of any performance measures
outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding based on a finding that the waiver is
necessary to avert an imminent, demonstrable, and material hardship to the entity that may
result in such entity's insolvency or discharge of workers.