OAR 123-623-1100: Definitions

For the purposes of this division of administrative rules definitions are found in OAR 123-001 (Procedural Rules). Additionally, as used in these rules, the following terms have the meanings set forth below, unless the context demands otherwise. (1) Abatement means the taxation and assessment of property comprising an eligible project under ORS 307.123 (see OAR 150-307-0100 ). (2) Applicant means a business firm, including but not limited to a privately or publicly held corporation, for-profit company, people’s utility district, or a joint operating agency under ORS 262.005, seeking approval from the Commission for Abatement. (3) Application means the Department-prescribed form described in OAR 123-623-1400, which is available at and submitted to: Incentives, Business Oregon, State Lands Building Suite 310, 775 Summer Street NE, Salem OR 97301-1280, see www.oregon.gov/biz , as well as all supplemental attachments, exhibits and so forth that the Applicant completes or furnishes to the Department for the Strategic Investment Program. (4) Approved Project means an investment or investments in taxable property that: (a) Is not Existing Property; (b) The Applicant owns or leases; (c) The Commission has determined shall receive Abatement; and (d) Conforms to the project definition established with the determination of the Commission according to OAR 123-623-1700. (5) County means the government of the county in which the Approved Project is located. (“County” instead refers to the Tribe/tribal government, if the Approved Project is anywhere on the reservation of a federally recognized Indian Tribe) (6) CPI-U/W means the latest release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics of all monthly (not seasonally adjusted) price levels covering all items over an entire year for the “Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region,” as used in ORS 285C.600(2). (7) Existing Property means any property, including but not limited to portions or incremental units of property, that: (a) Comprises all or part of a prior Approved Project (unless the property was never actually subject to Abatement). (b) At the time of the Department’s receipt of the Application, is already: (A) Owned or leased by the Applicant regardless of location, including but not limited to previously acquired land or other property at the Approved Project’s site; (B) Physically in the process construction, reconstruction, improvement, modification or installation; or (C) Located in an SIZ if the SIZ is the basis of Abatement pursuant to ORS 285C.606(3) and 285C.626, irrespective that the property is subsequently modified, refurbished, remodeled, renovated, retrofitted or upgraded consistent with OAR 123-623-1700(3). (8) Retained Jobs means the Total Jobs that existed some time before the Approved Project became fully operational, or that are associated with later, intra-firm transfer of operations within this state, according to OAR 123-623-4200. (9) SIZ means any of three existing strategic investment zones designated by the Commission at the request of the County pursuant to an agreement by sponsoring governments under ORS 285C.623(4) before September 24, 2023. (10) Total Cost means the cumulative amount spent on real and personal property comprising the Approved Project and subject to the Abatement, adjusting only for property taken out of service (retired) or removed from the project’s location(s). (11) Total Jobs means the total number of hours, for which relevant jobs, employees or hires were paid over a year’s time, divided by 2,080, consistent with OAR 123-623-4200. (12) Urban Project means an Approved Project located entirely outside a “rural area” as defined under ORS 285C.600, and hence, at least partially inside the urban growth boundary—as acknowledged and in effect on the date of the Department’s receipt of the Application—of: (a) The Portland metropolitan region, aside from the exceptions in OAR 123-632-1115; or (b) Any city outside that region, for which the population equals or exceeds 40,000 based on the most recent decennial U.S. Census count (which currently consists of Albany, Bend, Corvallis, Eugene, Medford, Salem–Keizer and Springfield).