Section 36-3-2-10 - Payments in lieu of taxes ("PILOTS"); consolidated city and county; public entities(a) The general assembly finds the following:(1) That the tax base of the consolidated city and the county have been significantly eroded through the ownership of tangible property by separate municipal corporations and other public entities that operate as private enterprises yet are exempt or whose property is exempt from property taxation.(2) That to restore this tax base and provide a proper allocation of the cost of providing governmental services the legislative body of the consolidated city and county should be authorized to collect payments in lieu of taxes from these public entities.(3) That the appropriate maximum payments in lieu of taxes would be the amount of the property taxes that would be paid if the tangible property were not subject to an exemption.(b) As used in this section, the following terms have the meanings set forth in IC 6-1.1-1: (c) As used in this section, "PILOTS" means payments in lieu of taxes.(d) As used in this section, "public entity" means any of the following government entities in the county:(1) An airport authority operating under IC 8-22-3.(2) A building authority operating under IC 36-9-13.(3) A wastewater treatment facility.(e) The legislative body of the consolidated city may adopt an ordinance to require a public entity to pay PILOTS at times set forth in the ordinance with respect to:(1) tangible property of which the public entity is the owner or the lessee and that is subject to an exemption;(2) tangible property of which the owner is a person other than a public entity and that is subject to an exemption under IC 8-22-3; or(3) both. The ordinance remains in full force and effect until repealed or modified by the legislative body.
(f) The PILOTS must be calculated so that the PILOTS may be in any amount that does not exceed the amount of property taxes that would have been levied by the legislative body for the consolidated city and county upon the tangible property described in subsection (e) if the property were not subject to an exemption from property taxation.(g) PILOTS shall be imposed as are property taxes and shall be based on the assessed value of the tangible property described in subsection (e). Except as provided in subsection (l), the township assessor, or the county assessor if there is no township assessor for the township, shall assess the tangible property described in subsection (e) as though the property were not subject to an exemption. The public entity shall report the value of personal property in a manner consistent with IC 6-1.1-3.(h) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a public entity is authorized to pay PILOTS imposed under this section from any legally available source of revenues. The public entity may consider these payments to be operating expenses for all purposes.(i) PILOTS shall be deposited in the consolidated county fund and used for any purpose for which the consolidated county fund may be used.(j) PILOTS shall be due as set forth in the ordinance and bear interest, if unpaid, as in the case of other taxes on property. PILOTS shall be treated in the same manner as taxes for purposes of all procedural and substantive provisions of law.(k) PILOTS imposed on a wastewater treatment facility may be paid only from the cash earnings of the facility remaining after provisions have been made to pay for current obligations, including: (1) operating and maintenance expenses;(2) payment of principal and interest on any bonded indebtedness;(3) depreciation or replacement fund expenses;(4) bond and interest sinking fund expenses; and(5) any other priority fund requirements required by law or by any bond ordinance, resolution, indenture, contract, or similar instrument binding on the facility.(l) If the duties of the township assessor have been transferred to the county assessor as described in IC 6-1.1-1-24, a reference to the township assessor in this section is considered to be a reference to the county assessor.Amended by P.L. 86-2018,SEC. 341, eff. 3/15/2018.Amended by P.L. 266-2013, SEC. 6, eff. 7/1/2013.As added by P.L. 27-1992, SEC.27. Amended by P.L. 93-1993, SEC.8; P.L. 219-2007, SEC.111; P.L. 146-2008, SEC.701.