Tennessee § 7-88-108 - Qualified public use facility — Application for certification — Review — Cost summary — Commencement of tax apportionment and distribution.

§ 7-88-108. Qualified public use facility — Application for certification — Review — Cost summary — Commencement of tax apportionment and distribution.

To be entitled to receive the allocations of state and local sales and use taxes as provided in this chapter, a municipality or public authority must first file with the department of finance and administration an application seeking certification of the tourism development zone and the planned public use facility as a qualified public use facility. The application shall include a master development plan for the proposed tourism development zone, containing such information as may be reasonably required by the department. A municipality or public authority shall include a resolution adopted by the county legislative body with any application for approval of the tourism development zone which would utilize any portion of the local option sales tax revenues designated for schools pursuant to § 67-6-712(a)(1). The resolution shall provide whether the county legislative body is in support of, in opposition to, or neutral regarding the application. Upon request by the municipality or the public authority, the county legislative body shall provide such resolution not less than five (5) days after the next regularly scheduled meeting of the county legislative body. The department shall review the application to confirm that: The planned public use facility is qualified under the requirements of this chapter; and The planned public use facility will be located within a qualified tourism development zone. The department shall also review the proposed boundaries of the proposed tourism development zone and shall determine if it is a beneficially impacted area. If the department determines that the boundaries of the proposed tourism development zone exceed the area that is reasonably anticipated to benefit from the construction and operation of the qualified public use facility, the department may adjust or reduce the boundaries of the proposed area. In reviewing the application, the department shall consult with the department of economic and community development and the department of tourism. Upon completion of its review of the application, the department of finance and administration shall certify the tourism development zone and forward the application to the state building commission for review and approval or disapproval, based on the standards established by this chapter. Upon completion of the qualified public use facility, the municipality shall submit to the department of finance and administration a summary of the cost of the public use facility with supporting documentation, certified by the chief financial officer of the municipality. The department shall review the cost certification to confirm the amount of state and local sales and use taxes to be apportioned and distributed to the municipality pursuant to § 7-88-106. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f), the apportionment and distribution of state and local sales and use taxes to the municipality, as provided in this chapter, shall commence at the beginning of the fiscal year in which the state building commission approves the application, or the beginning of the fiscal year in which the facility opens for public use, whichever is later. A facility shall be deemed to be “open for public use” for purposes of subsection (d), if: Financing is in place and debt service payments by the municipality or public authority have commenced; A significant part or component of the qualified public use facility, as defined in § 7-88-103, has been completed and is open to the public; The municipality or public authority is making reasonable progress on the unfinished portion of the qualified public use facility; and All other provisions of this chapter have been complied with. If there has been designated within the municipality a secondary tourist development zone, then the apportionment and distribution of state and local sales and use taxes to the municipality, as provided in § 7-88-106(c), shall commence at the beginning of the fiscal year in which the state building commission approves the application and the public authority has incurred debt to finance construction of the qualified public use facility within the zone, whichever is later. Acts 1998, ch. 1055, § 9; 2004, ch. 909, § 9; 2007, ch. 461, §§ 14, 15; 2014, ch. 889, § 1. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2004, ch. 909, § 10 provided that: “It is the express intent of the General Assembly that the enactment of this act will not affect applications which as of the date of passage of this act [June 8, 2004] either have already been approved by the state or for which a letter of intent has been filed with the commissioner of finance and administration.”