404.4  Prior approval of eligibility.
  1.  A person may submit a proposal for an improvement project to the governing body of the city or county to receive prior approval for eligibility for a tax exemption on the project. The governing body shall, by resolution, give its prior approval for an improvement project if the project is in conformance with the plan for revitalization developed by the city or county. Such prior approval shall not entitle the owner to exemption from taxation until the improvements have been completed and found to be qualified real estate; however, if the proposal is not approved, the person may submit an amended proposal for the governing body to approve or reject.
  2.  An application shall be filed for each new exemption claimed. The first application for an exemption shall be filed by the owner of the property with the governing body of the city or county in which the property is located by February 1 of the assessment year for which the exemption is first claimed, but not later than the year in which all improvements included in the project are first assessed for taxation, or the following two assessment years, in which case the exemption is allowed for the total number of years in the exemption schedule. However, upon the request of the owner at any time, the governing body of the city or county provides by resolution that the owner may file an application by February 1 of any other assessment year selected by the governing body in which case the exemption is allowed for the number of years remaining in the exemption schedule selected. The application shall contain but not be limited to all of the following information:  
  a.  The nature of the improvement.
  b.  The cost of the improvement project.
  c.  The estimated or actual date of completion.
  d.  The tenants that occupied the owner’s building on the date the city or county adopted the resolution referred to in section 404.2, subsection 1.
  e.  Which exemption in section 404.3 or in the different schedule, if one has been adopted, will be elected.
  3.  The governing body of the city or county shall approve the application, subject to review by the local assessor pursuant to section 404.5, if the project is in conformance with the plan for revitalization developed by the city or county, is located within a designated revitalization area, and if the improvements were made during the time the area was so designated. The governing body of the city or county shall forward for review all approved applications to the appropriate local assessor by March 1 of each year with a statement indicating whether section 404.3, subsection 1, 2, 3, or 4 applies or if a different schedule has been adopted, which exemption from that schedule applies. Applications for exemption for succeeding years on approved projects shall not be required.
[C81, §404.4]
87 Acts, ch 156, §1; 91 Acts, ch 214, §11; 92 Acts, ch 1191, §2, 4; 2001 Acts, ch 116, §2; 2002 Acts, ch 1151, §1, 36; 2015 Acts, ch 30, §115
Referred to in §404.5, 419.17