SB 565 - This act requires the department of revenue (hereinafter, "DOR") to submit annual report to the legislature summarizing economic development expenditures. The act requires that such report will include:

1. Uncollected revenue from every tax credit, abatement, exemption and reduction;

2. The name of any taxpayer who claimed such tax break over $5000;

3. All state appropriated expenditures for economic development, including departmental budgets.

The act requires an annual report to the DOR and the department of economic development ("DED") from each property taxing entity in the state that has property that has received any kind of property tax abatement or reduction. The report will detail the property at issue and the amount of the tax break.

The act requires municipalities that collect sales and other economic activity taxes to submit an annual report to the DOR & DED that details the amount of money deposited in a special allocation fund for the purposes of tax increment financing.

All of the above reports collected by the DOR & DED will be published annually. Failure to submit a report will result in withholding of any future development subsidy to the delinquent political subdivision.

When requesting a development study a granting body will complete an application for the subsidy which will include certain basic information plus the number of individuals employed by the applicant at the project site and at the applicant's parent corporation's site, the subsidies being applied for and their respective values, the number of new jobs to be created, a list of community economic benefits to result from the project, a list of development subsidies already received and any public investments already made or to be made, a statement of whether the development will reduce or reassign employment as a result of any restructuring of the parent company, and a certification by the chief officer of the applicant as to the accuracy of the application. If the granting body approves the application it will submit the application to the DOR & DED.

Thereafter, the granting body will submit a progress report with the DED annually. The report will contain basic information plus follow up information to compare the predictions from the above application with the actual results from being provided the development subsidy. The details of this report are enumerated in the act.

Granting bodes and the recipient corporations shall file annual progress reports for the duration of the subsidy, but at least for five years. On the two year anniversary of the project the granting body shall file a report wherein it shall indicate whether the corporate parent has maintained ninety percent of its employment in the state. The corporation will be required to provide all such information, and failure to do so will result in a fine of $500 per day after the deadline for the report.

A granting body shall not award a development subsidy if the cost per job is greater than $35,000. Certain minimum wage requirements are established in the act, with lower requirements for small businesses. The act requires that the recipient corporation fulfill its job creation and wage requirements for the project site within two years of the subsidy and maintain such goal for the duration of the subsidy, but at least for five years. The corporate parent must maintain at least ninety percent of its employment in the state as long as the development subsidy is in effect, but for at least five years. Failure to meet these requirements will cause the granting body to recapture a portion of the development subsidy. Failure to meet the above employment requirements for three consecutive years will result in loss of the subsidy. After losing the subsidy, the recipient corporation will refund all remaining value of the subsidy to the granting body.

Enforcement of the provisions of this act will be available to any income taxpayer or organization representing taxpayers in the state. Attorney's fees are granted to such prevailing plaintiff.
JEFF CRAVER