4.5. SR 09-23-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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hat Four of the types of financial assistance excluded from the definition of business subsidies are ,,subject to different reportinq reauirement~; under Minn. Stat. {}116J.994, Subdivision 7. These types of assistance include: · property polluted by contaminants as defined in Minn. Stat. §116J.552, subdivision 3 (i.e. brown fields); (~ assistance provided for the sole purpose of renovating building stock or bringing it up to code, and assistance provided for designated historic preservation districts, if the assistance is 50 percent or less of the total cost; · assistance for pollution control or abatement, including assistance for a tax increment financing hazardous substance subdistrict as defined under Minn. Stat. §469.174, subdivision 23; and, · assistance for a TIF soils condition district as defined in Minn. Stat. ,~469.174, subdivision 19. is required in order to award a business subsidy? A business subsidy agreement may not be signed on or after August 1, 1999, until the grantor has held a public hearing on, and adopted criteria for, awarding business subsidies. The criteria may not be adopted on a case by case basis. The criteria must set specific minimum .requirements that recipients must meet in order to be eligible to receive a business subsidy and also include a specific wage floor for wages paid for the jobs created. The wage floor may be stated as a specific dollar amount or may be stated as a formula that will generate a specific dollar amount. A grantor may deviate from its criteria by documenting in writing the reason for the deviation and attaching a copy of the document to its next annual report to the department. A copy of the criteria must be submitted to Department of Trade and Economic Development along with the first annual report following the enactment of this section or with the first annual report after it has adopted criteria, whichever is earlier. A granting agency that adopted criteria prior to May 1, 2000, that complied with Minn. Stat. §116J.994, Subdivision 2,_has until May 1,2003, to comply with the criteria requirements added in §116J.994, Section 3, Subdivision 2. The law outlines 8 elements that m_ust be inchJd~.d in business subsidy agreements: · a description of the subsidy, including the amount and type of subsidy, and type of district if the subsidy is TIF (calculate TIF agreements in the present value); · a statement of the public purposes for the subsidy; · measurable, specific, and tangible goals for the subsidy; · a description of the financial obligation of the recipient if goals are not met; · a statement of why the subsidy is needed; · a commitment to continue operations in the jurisdiction where the subsidy is used for five years after the benefit date; · ' the name and address of the parent corporation of the .recipient, if any; and, · a list of all financial assistance by all grantors for the project. All subsidy agreements, in addition to other goals, must includ_.e: · goals for the number of jobs created, which may include separate goals for the number of part-time or full-time jobs, or, in cases where job loss is specific and demonstrable, goals for the number retained; and, · wage goals for the number of jobs created or retained. After a public hearing, if the creation or retention of jobs is determined not to be a goal, the wage and job goals may be set at zero. Business subsidies must meet a public purpose which may include, but may not be limited to, increasing the tax base. The law specifies that job retention may only be used as a public purpose in cases where job loss is specific and demonstrable, but does not otherwise restrict allowable public purposes (see examples on page 5). Grantors must determine that the recipient is eligible to receive assistance by reviewing DTED's list of past recipients ineligible to receive a business subsidy because they failed to meet the terms of another subsi:d¥ agreement. Before granting a business subsidy that exceeds $500,000 for a state government grantor and $100,000 for a local government grantor, the grantor must provide public notice and hold a hearing on the subsidy unless a hearing and notice on the subsidy is otherwise required by law. Department of Trade and Economic Development Page 2 of 5 February 15, 2001