a. Reduction of the sale price of City-owned land for the purpose of development

b. Grants for investment in machinery and equipment subject to local taxation

c. Grants for investment in site infrastructure of an ‘extraordinary’ nature necessary to support proposed development as opposed to typical development practices observed in the City (For example, developing land with extreme drainage issues or including infrastructure to mitigate flooding downstream.)

d. Grants for investment in public infrastructure built by the developer or business, such as streets, traffic signals, drainage improvements, etc. serving a public purpose over and above support of the proposed development itself, which are dedicated back to the City and meet state and local standards

e. Grants for investment in extension of public utilities

f. Grants for training for new jobs filled by City residents or re-training of City residents in existing jobs

g. Grants in an amount equal to the proposed abatement and for the same time period, for projects eligible for the Partial Tax Exemption on Rehabilitated Buildings, incurring extraordinary redevelopment costs, may be made in lieu of such partial tax exemption. Such projects shall be contained within existing non-residential structures, located within the Downtown (D) zoning district, a rehabilitation district, a conservation district or redevelopment area, and shall involve structures being converted primarily to residential dwelling units for sale to individual owners.

a. Applicants for assistance must submit to the Economic Development Administrator in writing a description of the proposed project, including:
a. Type of business
b. Legal name of entity
c. Description of project
d. Entity’s financial ability to do project
e. Experience of entity in similar projects
f. Partners in the project
g. Amount of investment
i. Real Estate
ii. Machinery & Tools
iii. Personal Property
h. Number of new jobs/jobs retained
i. Salary range
ii. Benefits
i. Project time frame
j. Specific grant request
k. Justification/need for assistance
l. Benefits to the City
m. Other applicable grants received
n. Such other information and documents as requested by the City
b. Applicants should also provide a spreadsheet of estimated direct revenue produced by year.

a. Business or developer should have been in existence at least three years with good financial standing at time of request.

b. Investment in new construction or renovations to existing facilities, and/or equipment investment should be at least $5 million, unless the business currently has operations in the City valued/assessed at that amount or more.

c. Number of jobs created or jobs earmarked for retention/retraining should be at least 100 permanent / full-time positions.

d. Proposed average salaries should be at or above the median wage level for the region. (Note: Currently $12.66/hr)

e. Estimation of tax revenue generated based on projected building/land assessment, equipment value, business personal property, business license tax, and sales tax, as applicable, should cover the value of the requested grant within a three to ten year time frame.

f. The submitted grant request should clearly indicate the existing/requesting business or proposed new development is considering a location in another state or adjacent locality, and/or the physical conditions of a specifically proposed site within the City would not reasonably support the proposed development without grant assistance.

g. The grant request would result in underutilized, blighted or obsolete land uses being eliminated and/or additional sites for future development being created as a result of the proposed grant request.

h. The grant request would mitigate ‘extraordinary’ development costs.

i. Any public improvements subject to the grant request and undertaken as part of the proposed development would benefit the public generally and the surrounding neighborhood.

j. The proposed development would not result in any significant environmental pollution.

k. Whether the business is participating in other incentive programs offered by the City, State or Federal levels of government to which the project is entitled. The City must determine if other sources of funds available to the existing/requesting business might preclude the City’s further participation in the development. (City incentives are summarized in Appendix A of this policy.)

l. Such other items or matters relevant to determining the City’s participation.

a. A written Performance Agreement in a form approved by the City Attorney, and reviewed by the Director of Finance for fiscal/financial impact, specifying the terms, conditions, and obligations of the parties must be agreed to and signed by the existing/requesting business before approval by City Council and the EDA, and be fully executed prior to the disbursement of grant funds.

b. The EDA, upon approval as outlined above, will administer the payment of grant funds to each grant recipient in a manner as outlined in the executed performance agreement.

c. The grant recipient shall provide written reports and documentation to the City and EDA, showing its compliance with the Performance Agreement. Other documents or verifications may be requested by either the City or EDA.

d. Grant payments should be reimbursements made once milestones, conditions, and obligations of the grant recipient, outlined in the Performance Agreement, are met and verified, not before, unless a Governor's Opportunity Fund (GOF) grant has been secured. In GOF cases, GOF incentives are usually provided at the initiation of the development or as the state may otherwise require.

1. Façade grants for Enterprise Zone One A of one third the cost of renovating the part of the building facing a street, up to $25,000. City provides a total of $100,000 per year funding for such requests subject to appropriation.

2. Partial real estate tax exemption of rehabilitated buildings in Enterprise Zone One A and Enterprise Zone Two, provided the building is at least 15 years old and suitable for industrial, commercial or mixed use, a building permit is obtained, no previous exemption on the building exists, and application is made prior to the rehabilitation. Zone One A’s exemption lasts for 7 years with a maximum of $100,000, while Zone Two’s lasts for five years with a maximum of $75,000.

3. Building permit & comprehensive development plan review fees grants for both Enterprise Zones are rebated after the company receives a permanent certificate of occupancy and are based on the amount of investment:





Amount of Investment	City Rebates
$1,000,000 or more	100%
$900,000 - $999,999.99	90%
$800,000 - $899,999.99	80%
$700,000 - $799,999.99	70%
$600,000 - $699,999.99	60%
$500,000 - $599,999.99	50%
$400,000 - $499,999.99	40%
$300,000 - $399,999.99	30%
$250,000 - $299,999.99	20%
$125,000 - $249,999.99	10%

4. Water, Fire and Sewer Hookup Fees Grants for both Enterprise Zones are given after the company receives a permanent certificate of occupancy and are based on the amount of investment and an upper limit per size:





Amount of Investment	City Rebates
$1,000,000 or more	100%
$900,000 - $999,999.99	90%
$800,000 - $899,999.99	80%
$700,000 - $799,999.99	70%
$600,000 - $699,999.99	60%
$500,000 - $599,999.99	50%
$400,000 - $499,999.99	40%
$300,000 - $399,999.99	30%
$250,000 - $299,999.99	20%
$125,000 - $249,999.99	10%

Limits for Sewer Hookup Grants

Limits for Fire Hookup Grants

5. Fire suppression retrofit grant and fire hookup grant for Enterprise Zone One A only is available to persons installing a fire suppression system in an existing building when the system is not required for its use, certified by the Building Department, and a permanent certificate of occupancy has been received:

6. Business security grant of 50% of the cost of security enhancements recommended by the Police Department up to $500, provided a copy of the security assessment with receipts is submitted to the Office of Economic Development.

7. Businesses qualifying for job training assistance from the Virginia Department of Business Assistance (DBA) may be eligible for job training grants from the Economic Development Authority of the City of Roanoke. The amount of the grant may be up to or equal to the amount of assistance from the DBA, as determined by the City at the City’s sole discretion, but can’t be more than the amount from the State or, combined with the State’s grant, cannot exceed the training need. The business must work closely with the Office of Economic Development throughout negotiations with the DBA to qualify. Grants are made through the EDA on a reimbursement basis. The maximum available for such grants is $25,000 per year.

8. Businesses with gravel parking lots void of landscaping and contributing storm water runoff to an existing city-owned detention pond may be eligible for a parking lot/landscaping grant. Entity must be for profit. A plan showing the area to be paved, a list of all trees and plants, a plan showing where the landscaping will be placed, pictures of the lot as is, and a cost list must be submitted to the Economic Development Authority of the City of Roanoke, Virginia (EDA), with an application form prior to commencing work. Plans for landscaping must conform to existing zoning ordinances. Submissions will be reviewed by the EDA for completion and approval. Plans approved for an amount will be granted one third of the cost of the improvements, up to $25,000. Approved businesses will have six (6) months from the date of approval to complete the project.

1. Rehabilitation Tax Credits

Substantial relief from real estate taxes is available to property owners rescuing, repairing and/or rehabilitating qualified older buildings. Subject to the following qualifications, real estate tax is deferred on the value of the improvements to the property.

Eligibility of commercial real property:

a. Be no less than twenty-five (25) years of age; and

b. Be improved so as to increase the assessed value of the structure by no less than sixty (60) percent; and

c. Be improved without increasing the total square footage of such structure by more than one hundred percent (100%); and

d. Be designed for and suitable for commercial or industrial use after completion of such improvement.

*Note: If an exemption is granted for commercial or industrial properties, no other exemption, including ones pertaining to enterprise zones, will be granted, even if the use of the property changes.



Application Requirements

a. The application form must be filed with Real Estate Valuation by the owner of the building prior to the commencement of any rehabilitation work.

b. The application fee is $50.00.In those cases where new tax numbers are created, the fee is $50 for each new number created under this program.

c. An "on site" inspection and appraisal must be conducted by an appraiser from the Office of Real Estate Valuation prior to the commencement of any rehabilitation work and immediately following such work.

d. No exemption shall be granted if access to the entire property is denied to the Office of Real Estate Valuation for either inspection or appraisal.
e. All appropriate building permits must be obtained prior to the commencement of any work.


Effective Date/Amount/Duration of Exemption

a. The exemption for a qualifying structure commences on July 1 of the tax year following the completion date.

b. The amount of the exemption shall be a fixed amount equal to the difference in the appraised value immediately before commencement of substantial rehabilitation and the appraised value immediately after completion of substantial rehabilitation, as determined by the Office of Real Estate Valuation.

c. Only one exemption per structure is applicable at any point in time.
d. The exemption shall run with the real estate for a period of five consecutive years, except exemptions in the H-1 & H-2 Historical Districts and the Conservation or Rehabilitation Districts shall run for a period of ten consecutive years.

2. Tax Exemption for Use of Certified Solar Energy Equipment

Owners of real estate to which certified energy equipment, facilities, or devices are attached can apply to Real Estate Valuation for tax exemption as follows:

a. Amount of the exemption will be determined by applying the tax rate to the value of the certified solar equipment, facilities, or devices and subtracting that amount from the total real estate property tax due on the real property to which such equipment, facilities, or devices are attached, or if such equipment, facilities, or devices are taxable as machinery and tools, from the total machinery and tool tax due on such equipment, facilities, or devices, at the election of the taxpayer.

b. The exemption shall be effective for five years, and can apply to properties installing new solar equipment, facilities, or devices as well as to properties with existing solar equipment, facilities, or devices.

c. The exemption will be administered by the Office of Economic Development, the Department of Real Estate Valuation, the Commissioner of the Revenue's Office, and the City Treasurer's Office.

d. An application may be picked up at the Real Estate Valuation's Office during normal business hours or printed online.

3. Discounts for a guaranteed number of parkers in public facilities.

To encourage growth and expansion of the local economy of downtown Roanoke, the city provides certain parking incentives as part of its overall economic development partnership policy:

Residents within the Downtown Service District are provided with up to two (2) free unreserved parking spaces in the closest designated city-owned or controlled parking deck to their place of residence. Application may be made to the City of Roanoke Parking office (see attached form).

Residents living in housing units physically attached to the designated parking garage are provided up to two reserved parking spaces, provided such physical connection has been approved by the City.

Applications must be renewed every six months with spaces subject to availability.

Rate-based parking incentives to expanding existing businesses and new businesses downtown may be provided on a case by case basis. Written contracts, subject to City Council or City Manager approval, are required.

Prepaid validation packets for public use at all parking locations with an attendant are available. Single purchases of prepaid validations of $100 or more receive an automatic 10% discount.

Valley Metro offers transit services throughout the city of Roanoke and into the surrounding localities of Vinton and Salem. Regional transportation service is available by way of the Smart Way Bus, linking the Roanoke and New River Valleys.

Valley Metro provides no cost assistance to employers to establish pre-tax monetary Transit Services Benefit programs. The employer cost of providing benefits can be deducted as a normal business expense and not be subject to federal payroll taxes on transit commuter benefits. The current monetary Transit Services Benefit ceiling which an employer can offer pretax to employees is $105.00 per month.

Ride Solutions is a regional ridesharing program that provides no cost assistance to employers to establish car pool, matching services and individualized consultation of employers to implement commuter programs for employees.

Free bicycle parking in designated areas for all current parking garages is provided.