Infrastructure Credits
South Carolina law provides several property tax incentives designed to promote commercial, industrial, and mixed-use developments. Infrastructure credits against payments of fee-in-lieu of tax payments (“FILOT Payments”) made by property owners located in a multi-county business or industrial park are another effective means to reduce the property tax for eligible facilities. Unless the property owner has qualified for and negotiated a reduced FILOT Payment for the capital investment represented by its facility in the park, the FILOT Payment will be in the same amount as ordinary property taxes would have been if the property were not located in the park.
As the result of being in the park, the expenditure of FILOT Payments is subject to the discretion of the county so long as it is applied and distributed as set forth in the park agreement. Consequently, all or any portion of the FILOT Payments can be reduced as an economic development incentive by the county government. The consent of the municipality, however, must be obtained to include any property located within the corporate limits in a park.
As with other economic development incentives, special source revenue bonds are often combined with FILOTs, industrial revenue bonds, and state jobs and other tax credits. Our attorneys can assist you with combining the appropriate incentives for your project.