Councilmember Harold Brazil
A BILL IN THE
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To establish the New York Avenue Development District and freeze real property tax
assessment on properties zoned or developed for commercial and industrial purposes within
the development district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as
the "New York Avenue Development Property Tax Freeze Act of 1999.".
Sec. 2. Findings. The Council of the District of Columbia finds that:
(1) The four-mile corridor of land fronting on New York Avenue between 7th Street,
N.W., and South Dakota Avenue, N.E., totals approximately 590 acres with more than
one-third listed as privately owned and vacant.
(2) The corridor is blighted; thus, it discourages commercial and industrial
development and adversely affects public health, safety, and welfare.
(3) Fifty-nine percent of the corridor is zoned for commercial or industrial; and of
the 100 acres (or 17 %) zoned for residential use, only 19 acres are actually in use as
residences: the remainder is vacant.
(4) The corridor is best suited for commercial and industrial development because it is
a major gateway to the Nation’s capital; it predominantly contains zoning designations
appropriate for commercial and industrial developments; and it has limited residential
usage.
(5) Freezing real property tax rates rates has been successfully used by other
jurisdictions as an incentive for the development of blighted areas.
(6) In the absence of an attractive incentive, the blighted conditions in the corridor
are likely to continue.
(7) It is in the best interest of the District to designate New York Avenue between 7th
Street, N.W., and South Dakota Avenue, N.E., as a development district for commercial and
industrial growth.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
For the purposes of this act, the term:
(1) "Development District" mean the New York Avenue Development District
established by section 4.
(2) "Eligible property" means any taxable real property within the
Development District that meets the following requirements:
(A) The real property is zoned, or approved by a zoning variance or other specific
exceptions for commercial or industrial use;(B) The real property is used as the location of a new start-up commercial or
industrial activity or as an additional location or expansion of an existing commercial or
industrial activity;(C) A valid certificate of occupancy has been issued for the real property and all
relevant business or occupational licenses have been issued for the commercial or
industrial activity conducted on the real property;(D) Active commercial or industrial operations are conducted on the real property
during at least 9 months of each tax year during the tax freeze period established by
section 5(a); and(E) The real property is not be the location of a commercial or industrial activity
that closed down somewhere else in the District and relocated in the Development District
intending to obtain the benefits created by this act.
Sec. 4. Establishment of the New York Avenue Development District.
(a) There is established an area to be known as the New York Avenue Development
District which shall consist of the following:
(1) Any private real property with frontage on New York Avenue between 7th Street,
N.W., and South Dakota Avenue, N.E.;(2) A private real property that has no frontage on New York Avenue between 7th Street,
N.W., and South Dakota Avenue, N.E., but is adjacent and contiguous to a private property
with such frontage for the purpose of specific commercial or industrial activity or
development; and(3) Any other private real property that is approved for inclusion in the Development
District in pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(b) The Mayor may propose to be included in the Development District any other private
real property that does not meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section but is
within the broad proximity of New York Avenue subject to a determination that such
proposal is in the best interest of the District and is necessary to achieve the purposes
of this act. The Mayor shall submit the proposal to the Council for review. The Council,
by resolution, shall approve or disapprove the proposal within 45 days after mayoral
submission, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and days of Council recess. A proposal shall be
deemed approved if not disapproved by the end of the 45-day review period.
Sec. 5. Tax freeze and thawing.
(a) There shall be established a real property tax freeze eligibility period ("tax
freeze eligibility period") beginning October 1, 1999, and ending September 30, 2009,
("tax freeze eligibility) during which the real property tax on any eligible property
within the Development District shall remain constant at the assessment and rate in effect
for the tax year it becomes eligible, subject to the following:
(1) The real property tax on an eligible property shall be frozen remain constant for
10 consecutive years beginning with the year it becomes eligible at any point within the
tax freeze eligibility period.
(2) The real property tax amount payable on an eligible property shall not be reduced
below the rate in effect during the tax year it becomes eligible in any given year within
the tax free eligibility period except to adjust for a lower rate that becomes effective
after the real property becomes eligible.
(b) Beginning in the year immediately following its 1 0-year freeze period, an eligible
property shall qualify for a 1 0-year thawing period, during which the amount of real
property tax due on that eligible property for each year shall be adjusted upward in
approximately ten equal increments until the full amount required by the applicable tax
rate and assessed value is reached. The full amount required by the assessment and rate
shall then be applied henceforth from the year immediately following the eligible
property’s 1 0-year thawing period.
Sec. 6. Disqualification
Any eligible real property that fails to maintain its eligibility during any tax year
covered by the tax freeze eligibility period shall be taxed for the full amount of real
property tax due for that year.
Sec. 7. Penalties.
Any corporation, or person acting on behalf of a corporation, who knowingly and
willfully makes any false or deceptive statement, submits any false or deceptive record,
or commits fraud upon the District in any manner intending to obtain the benefits provided
by this act shall be ordered to pay the District an amount equal to 3 times the damages
caused to the District in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties provided by
the laws of the District. The Corporation Counsel may bring a civil action to recover the
damages.
Sec. 8. Rules and annual report.
The Mayor, within 60 days of the effective date of this act, shall issue rules to
implement this act. The rules shall be submitted to the Council for a review period of 45
days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and days of Council recess. The Council, by
resolution, may approve or disapprove the proposed rules; otherwise they shall be deemed
approved by the end of the 45-day review period.
Sec. 9. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal
impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Self-Government
and Governmental Reorganization Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code
§1-233(c)(3))
Sec. 10. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by
the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), approval by the Financial
Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority as provided in section 203(a) of the
District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995,
approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code §47-392.3(a)), a 30-day period of
Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia
Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat.
813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.