As used in this chapter:

1. (1) "Alternative payment method" means fee payments as provided in Section 12-44-50(A)(3).
2. (2) "Commencement date" means the last day of the property tax year during which economic development property is placed in service, except that this date must not be later than the last day of the property tax year which is three years from the year in which the county and the sponsor enter into a fee agreement.
3. (3) "County" means the county or counties in which the project is proposed to be located. A project may be located in more than one county, subject to the provisions of Section 12-44-40(G).
4. (4) "County council" means the governing body of the county in which the economic development property is located, except as specifically provided by Section 12-44-40(G).
5. (5) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Revenue.
6. (6) "Economic development property" means each item of real and tangible personal property comprising a project which satisfies the provisions of Section 12-44-40(C) and other requirements of this chapter and is subject to a fee agreement. That property, other than replacement property qualifying under Section 12-44-60, must be placed in service by the end of the investment period.

7. (7) "Enhanced investment" means a project which results in a total investment:

   1. (a) by a single sponsor of at least two hundred million dollars, resulting in a total investment of at least four hundred million dollars when added to the previous investments, and creating at least two hundred new full-time jobs at the project;
   2. (b) by a single sponsor investing at least four hundred million dollars and which is creating at least two hundred new full-time jobs at the project;
   3. (c) by a single sponsor investing at least six hundred million dollars in this State;
   4. (d) at least four hundred million dollars in the building of a project consisting of gas-fired combined-cycle power facility by a sponsor which creates at least twenty-five full-time jobs as defined in Section 12-6-3360(M) at that project and invests an additional five hundred million dollars in this State. The investment must be made by a sponsor which consists of a corporation, its subsidiaries, and its limited liability companies. The new full-time jobs requirement of this subsection does not apply to a taxpayer which paid more than fifty percent of all property taxes actually collected in the county for more than twenty-five years ending on the date of the fee agreement.
8. (8) "Exemption period" means the period beginning on the first day of the property tax year after the property tax year in which an applicable piece of economic development property is placed in service and ending on the termination date. For projects which are completed and placed in service during more than one year, the exemption period applies to each year's investment made by a sponsor during the investment period.
9. (9) "Fee" means the amount paid in lieu of ad valorem property tax as provided in the fee agreement.
10. (10) "Fee agreement" means an agreement between the sponsor and the county obligating the sponsor to pay fees instead of property taxes during the exemption period for each item of economic development property as more particularly described in Section 12-44-40.
11. (11) "Inducement resolution" means a resolution of the county setting forth the commitment of the county to enter into a fee agreement.
12. (12) "Infrastructure improvement credit" means a credit against the fee as provided by Section 12-44-70.
13. (13) "Investment period" means the period beginning with the first day that economic development property is purchased or acquired and ending five years after the commencement date; except that for a project with an enhanced investment as described above, the period ends eight years after the commencement date. The minimum investment must be completed within five years of the commencement date. For an enhanced investment, the applicable minimum investment and job requirements under Section 12-44-30 (7) must be completed within eight years of the commencement date. For those sponsors that, after qualifying for the enhanced investment, have more than five hundred million dollars in capital invested in this State and employ more than one thousand people in this State, the investment period ends ten years after the commencement date. If the sponsor does not anticipate completing the project within this period, the sponsor may apply to the county before the end of the investment period for an extension of time to complete the project. If the county agrees to an extension, it must do so in writing and furnish a copy of the extension to the department within thirty days of the date the extension was granted. The extension may not exceed five years in which to complete the project. An extension is not allowed for the time period in which the sponsor must meet the minimum investment requirement.
14. (14) "Minimum investment" means a project that results in a total investment by a sponsor of not less than five million dollars within the investment period. If a county has an average annual unemployment rate of at least twice the state average during the last twenty-four month period based on data available on the most recent November first, the minimum investment is one million dollars. The department shall designate these reduced investment counties by December thirty-first of each year using data from the South Carolina Employment Security Commission and the United States Department of Commerce. The designations are effective for a sponsor whose fee agreement is signed in the calendar year following the county designation. For all purposes of this chapter, the minimum investment may include amounts expended by a sponsor or sponsor affiliate as a nonresponsible party in a voluntary cleanup contract on the property pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 56 of Title 44, the Brownfields Voluntary Cleanup Program, if the Department of Health and Environmental Control certifies completion of the cleanup. If the amounts under the Brownfields Voluntary Cleanup Program equal at least one million dollars, the investment threshold requirement of this chapter is deemed to have been met.
15. (15) "Industrial development park" means an industrial or business park developed by two or more counties as defined in Section 4-1-170.
16. (16) "Project" means land, buildings, and other improvements on the land, including water, sewage treatment and disposal facilities, air pollution control facilities, and all other machinery, apparatus, equipment, office facilities, and furnishings which are considered necessary, suitable, or useful by a sponsor.
17. (17) "Replacement property" means property placed under the fee agreement to replace economic development property previously subject to the fee agreement, as provided in Section 12-44-60.
18. (18) "Sponsor" means one or more entities which sign the fee agreement with the county and makes the minimum investment, subject to the provisions of Section 12-44-40, each of which makes the minimum investment as provided in Section 12-44-30(13) and also includes a sponsor affiliate unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. If a project consists of a manufacturing, research and development, corporate office, or distribution facility, as those terms are defined in Section 12-6-3360(M), each sponsor or sponsor affiliate is not required to invest the minimum investment if the total investment at the project exceeds ten million dollars.
19. (19) "Sponsor affiliate" means an entity that joins with or is an affiliate of a sponsor and that participates in the investment in, or financing of, a project.
20. (20) "Termination date" means the date which is the last day of a property tax year which is the nineteenth year following the first property tax year in which an applicable piece of economic development property is placed in service. With respect to a fee agreement involving an enhanced investment, the termination date is the last day of a property tax year which is the twenty-ninth year following the first property tax year in which an applicable piece of economic development property is placed in service. If the fee agreement is terminated in accordance with Section 12-44-140, the termination date is the date the agreement is terminated.