05 LC 22
5808
House
Bill 551
By:
Representatives Orrock of the
58th,
Stephenson of the
92nd,
Powell of the
29th,
Warren of the
122nd,
Williams of the
165th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue
and taxation, so as to enact the "Georgia Economic Development and Fiscal
Accountability Act"; to provide for legislative findings; to ensure that the
award of economic development subsidies generates improvements in wage levels
and access to health care insurance coverage for working families; to provide
for definitions; to provide for an annual economic development expenditure
report; to provide for application for and award of subsidies; to provide for
recapture of funds; to provide for a private right of action and public record
disclosure; to provide an effective date and applicability; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to revenue and taxation,
is amended by adding a new Chapter 18 to read as follows:
"CHAPTER
18
48-18-1.
(a)
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Economic
Development and Fiscal Accountability Act.'
(b)
The General Assembly finds that the Georgia Constitution permits development
subsidies only if the government or citizens of the state receive a substantial
benefit in exchange for such development subsidies and that a development
subsidy may be an unconstitutional gratuity if a promised benefit does not
become real. The General Assembly further finds that although Georgia has
granted numerous economic development subsidies, real wage levels and access to
affordable, quality health care insurance coverage for working families in the
state have stagnated and, in many cases, declined. The General Assembly further
finds that when workers receive low wages and poor benefits, such jobs often
impose hidden costs upon Georgia taxpayers, in the form of Medicaid, food
stamps, earned income tax credits and other forms of public assistance available
to the working poor and their families. The General Assembly further finds that
citizen participation in economic development has been impeded by a lack of
readily accessible information regarding expenditures and outcomes. The General
Assembly therefore concludes that in order to improve the effectiveness of
expenditures for economic development and to ensure that these expenditures
achieve the goal of raising living standards for working families, steps must be
taken to collect, analyze, and make publicly available information regarding
those expenditures and to enact certain safeguards for their use.
48-18-2.
As
used in this chapter, the term:
(1)
'Corporate parent' means any person, association, corporation, joint venture,
partnership, or other entity that owns or controls 50 percent or more of a
recipient business enterprise.
(2)
'Date of subsidy' means the date the granting body provides the initial monetary
value of a development subsidy to a recipient business enterprise; provided,
however, that where the subsidy is for the installation of new equipment, such
date shall be the date the business enterprise puts the equipment into service;
and provided, further, that where the subsidy is for improvements to real
property, such date shall be the date the improvements are finished, or the date
the business enterprise occupies the real property, whichever is
earlier.
(3)
'Development subsidy' means any expenditure of public funds or exemption from,
abatement in, or reduction in taxes or fees which expenditure, exemption,
abatement, or reduction has a value of at least $25,000.00 for the purpose of
stimulating economic development within the state, including, but not limited
to, bonds, grants, loans, loan guarantees, enterprise zones, empowerment zones,
tax increment financing, fee waivers, land price subsidies, matching funds, tax
abatements, tax exemptions, and tax credits. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, the term development subsidy shall include but not be limited to
the following: any tax credit, abatement, exemption, or reduction as a result of
an agreement establishing the allocation and apportionment of a
taxpayeŕs
income in accordance with Code Section 48-7-31.1; any tax credit granted in
accordance with Code Section 48-7-40, 48-7-40.1, 48-7-40.2, 48-7-40.3,
48-7-40.4, 48-7-40.7, 48-7-40.8, 48-7-40.9, 48-7-40.13, 48-7-40.15, 48-7-40.17,
48-7-40.18, 48-7-40.20, or 48-7-40.21; any bonds, loans, credit, credit
enhancement, grants, financial assistance, tax credits, bond financing,
guarantees, or insurance provided by the OneGeorgia Authority or its subsidiary
corporations in accordance with Chapter 34 of Title 50; any grants, loans,
bonds, bond financing, credit, or credit enhancement provided by a downtown
development authority in accordance with Chapter 42 of Title 36, or by a
development authority in accordance with Chapter 62 of Title 36; and job tax
credits awarded under the Employment Incentive Program or the Georgia Job Tax
Credit Program.
(4)
'Full-time job' means a job in which an individual is employed by a recipient
business enterprise for at least 35 hours per week.
(5)
'Granting body' means any agency, board, office, authority, or other
instrumentality of the state or of a political subdivision of the state that
provides a development subsidy.
(6)
'Part-time job' means a job in which an individual is employed by a recipient
corporation for less than 35 hours per week.
(7)
'Project site' means the site of a project for which any development subsidy is
provided.
(8)
'Property-taxing entity' means any entity that levies taxes upon real or
personal property.
(9)
'Qualifying job' means a new permanent full-time job that:
(A)
Requires at least 1,600 hours of work per year;
(B)
Pays at least 110 percent of the county average weekly wage for the county where
the job is located;
(C)
Is covered by a group health benefit plan for which the recipient business
enterprise pays at least 80 percent of the premiums or other charges assessed
under the plan for the employee;
(D)
Is not transferred from one area in this state to another area in this state;
and
(E)
Is not created to replace a previous employee.
(10)
'Recipient business enterprise' means any person, association, corporation,
joint venture, partnership, or other entity that receives a development
subsidy.
(11)
'Subsidy value' means the face value of all development subsidies provided to a
recipient business enterprise.
(12)
'Temporary job' means a job in which an individual is hired for a season or for
a limited period of time.
48-18-3.
(a)
The department shall submit an annual Unified Economic Development Expenditure
Report to the General Assembly no later than December 15 of each year. The
report shall present all types of expenditures for economic development during
the prior fiscal year, including, but not limited to:
(1)
The amount of uncollected state tax revenues resulting from every tax credit,
abatement, exemption, and reduction provided to a recipient business enterprise
by any agency, board, commission, office, authority, or other instrumentality of
the state or of a political subdivision of the state including, but not limited
to, gross receipts, income, sales, use, raw materials, excise, property,
utility, and inventory taxes;
(2)
The name of each business enterprise that claimed any tax credit, abatement,
exemption, or reduction of any value equal to or greater than $5,000.00,
together with the dollar amount of any tax credit, abatement, exemption, or
reduction received by each such business enterprise;
(3)
Any tax credit, abatement, exemption, or reduction received by a business
enterprise of less than $5,000.00 each shall not be itemized. The department
shall report an aggregate dollar amount of such expenditures and the number of
companies so aggregated for each category of tax credit, abatement, exemption,
or reduction; and
(4)
All state appropriated expenditures for economic development, including
line-item budgets for every state funded entity concerned with economic
development.
(b)
The department shall annually compile and publish all of the data contained in
the annual Unified Economic Development Expenditure Report in both written and
electronic form, including the
department́s
website, no later than December 31 for the prior fiscal year.
48-18-4.
(a)
Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f) of this Code section, each
property-taxing entity shall annually submit a report to the department
regarding any real property in the
entitýs
jurisdiction that has received a property tax abatement, exemption, or
reduction during the fiscal year. The report shall contain information
including, but not limited to: the name of the property owner; the address of
the property; the start and end dates of the property tax abatement, exemption,
or reduction; the schedule of tax reduction; each tax abatement, exemption, or
reduction for the property; and the amount of property tax revenue not paid to
the taxing entity as a result of the abatement, exemption, or
reduction.
(b)
Each property-taxing entity shall also submit a report to the department setting
forth the total property tax revenue not paid to such entity during the fiscal
year as a result of property tax exemptions, reductions, and abatements in the
entitýs
jurisdiction.
(c)
The reports required under subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section shall be
prepared on two forms provided by the department and shall be submitted to the
department by the property-taxing entity no later than September 30 of each
year.
(d)
The department annually shall compile and publish all of the data contained in
the reports required under subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section in both
written and electronic form, including the
department́s
website, no later than December 31 for the previous fiscal year.
(e)
If a property-taxing entity fails to submit its reports to the department within
the prescribed time, the department shall notify the Department of Community
Affairs whereupon the Department of Community Affairs shall withhold further
payment of any state funds for development subsidies to the delinquent entity
until said entity files the required report with the Department of
Revenue.
(f)
This Code section shall not apply to homestead exemptions.
48-18-5.
(a)
Each granting body, together with the applicant for a development subsidy, shall
complete an application for the subsidy on a form prepared by the Department of
Community Affairs. The information required on the application shall include
the following:
(1)
An application tracking number for the granting agency and the
project;
(2)
The name, street and mailing address, and phone number of the chief officer of
the granting body;
(3)
The name, street and mailing address, and phone number of the chief officer of
the
applicant́s
corporate parent;
(4)
The name, street and mailing address, and phone number of the chief officer of
the applicant;
(5)
The street address of the project site;
(6)
The three-digit North American Industry Classification System number of the
project site;
(7)
The total number of individuals employed by the applicant at the project site on
the date of the application, itemized by full-time, part-time, and temporary
jobs;
(8)
The total number of individuals employed in the state by the
applicant́s
corporate parent, and all subsidiaries thereof, as of June 30 of the prior
fiscal year, itemized by full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs;
(9)
The development subsidy or subsidies being applied for with the granting body
and the value of such subsidy or subsidies;
(10)
The number of new jobs to be created by the applicant at the project site,
itemized by full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs;
(11)
The average hourly wage to be paid to all current and new employees at the
project site, broken down by full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs, and
further broken down by wage groups as follows:
(A)
$6.00 or less an hour;
(B)
$6.01 to $7.00 an hour;
(C)
$7.01 to $8.00 an hour;
(D)
$8.01 to $9.00 an hour;
(E)
$9.01 to $10.00 an hour;
(F)
$10.01 to $11.00 an hour;
(G)
$11.01 to $12.00 an hour;
(H)
$12.01 to $13.00 an hour;
(I)
$13.01 to $14.00 an hour;
(J)
$14.01 to $15.00 an hour;
(K)
$15.01 to $ 16.00 an hour;
(L)
$16.01 to $17.00 an hour;
(M)
$17.01 to $18.00 an hour;
(N)
$18.01 to $19.00 an hour;
(O)
$19.01 to $20.00 an hour; and
(P)
$20.01 or more an hour;
(12)
For project sites located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the
federal Office of Management and Budget, the average hourly wage paid to
nonmanagerial employees in the state for the industries involved at the project,
as established by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics;
(13)
For project sites located outside of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the average
weekly wage paid to nonmanagerial employees in the county for industries
involved at the project, as established by the United States Department of
Commerce;
(14)
The type and amount of health care coverage to be provided by the applicant
within 90 days of commencement of employment at the project site, including any
costs to be borne by the employees;
(15)
The percent of current full-time employees in the state employed by the
applicant, its parent company, and any subsidiary companies that have health
coverage through the
companýs
health plan;
(16)
A list of all development subsidies that the applicant is requesting, and the
name of any other granting body from which such subsidies are
sought;
(17)
A statement as to whether the development subsidy may reduce employment at any
other site controlled by the applicant or its corporate parent, within or
outside the state, resulting from automation, merger, acquisition, corporate
restructuring, or other business activity;
(18)
A statement as to whether the project involves the relocation of work from
another address and if so, the number of jobs to be relocated and the address
from which they are to be relocated; and
(19)
A certification by the chief officer of the applicant as to the accuracy of the
application.
(b)
If the granting body approves the application, it shall send a copy to the
department within 15 days of such approval. If the application is not approved,
the granting body shall retain the application in its records.
48-18-6.
Neither
the Department of Community Affairs nor the Department of Revenue shall grant an
application for any type of development subsidy or job tax credit, including,
but not limited to, the Employment Incentive Program and the Georgia Job Tax
Credit Program unless the credit shall lead to the creation of at least ten
qualifying jobs. This Code section shall not be construed to reduce the number
of jobs required to be created as a condition of eligibility for any development
subsidy.
48-18-7.
(a)
Each granting body shall file a progress report with the Department of Community
Affairs for each project for which a development subsidy has been granted, no
later than September 1 of each year. The report shall include the following
information:
(1)
The application tracking number;
(2)
The name, street and mailing addresses, phone number, and chief officer of the
granting body;
(3)
The name, street and mailing addresses, phone number, and chief officer of the
recipient business enterprise;
(4)
A summary of the number of jobs required, created, and lost, itemized by
full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs, and by wage groups as specified in
Code Section 48-19-5;
(5)
The type and amount of health care insurance coverage provided to the employees
at the project site, including the type and amount of costs borne by the
employees;
(6)
The comparison of the total employment in the state by the
recipient́s
corporate parent on the date of the application and the date of the annual
report, itemized by full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs;
(7)
A statement as to whether the use of the development subsidy during the prior
fiscal year has reduced employment at any other site controlled by the recipient
business enterprise or its corporate parent, within or outside the state as a
result of automation, merger, acquisition, corporate restructuring, or other
business activity; and
(8)
A signed certification by the chief officer of the recipient business enterprise
as to the accuracy of the progress report.
(b)
Each granting body shall indicate whether the recipient business enterprise is
in compliance with the job creation and wage and benefit goals required of
qualifying jobs, and whether the corporate parent is in compliance with the
employment requirement as specified in Code Section 48-19-6.
(c)
Granting bodies shall file annual progress reports for at least five years or
for the duration of the subsidy if longer than five years.
(d)
No later than 15 days after the second anniversary of the date of subsidy, the
granting body shall file with the department a two-year progress report
including the same information as required under subsection (a) of this Code
section. The granting body shall state in the progress report whether the
recipient business enterprise has achieved its job creation and wage and benefit
goals and whether the corporate parent has maintained 90 percent of its
employment in the state. The recipient business enterprise shall certify as to
the accuracy of such report.
(e)
The department shall compile and publish all data from the progress reports in
both written and electronic form, including on the
department́s
website.
(f)
The granting body and the department shall have access at all reasonable times
to the project site and the records of the recipient business enterprise in
order to monitor the project. Each recipient business enterprise shall provide
the information needed for reports required by this Code section.
(g)
A recipient business enterprise that fails to provide the granting body with the
information or access required under this Code section shall be subject to a
fine of not less than $500.00 per day, commencing ten working days after the
September 1 deadline, and of not less than $1,000.00 per day commencing 20 days
after such deadline.
48-18-8.
(a)
A recipient business enterprise shall fulfill its job creation, wage, health
care insurance coverage, and other benefit requirements for the project site
within two years of the date of subsidy. Such recipient shall maintain its wage
and benefit goals as long as the subsidy is in effect or five years, whichever
is longer.
(b)
The corporate parent of a recipient business enterprise shall maintain at least
90 percent of its employment in the state for as long as the development subsidy
is in effect or not less than five years, whichever is longer.
(c)
If the requirements under subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section are not
fulfilled, the granting body shall recapture the development subsidy from the
recipient business enterprise as follows:
(1)
Upon a failure by the recipient business enterprise to create the required
number of jobs or to pay the required wages or benefits the amount recaptured
shall be based on the pro rata amount by which the unfulfilled jobs, wages, or
benefits bear to the total amount of the development subsidy; and
(2)
Upon a failure of the corporate parent to maintain 90 percent of its employment
in the state, the rate of recapture shall equal twice the percentage by which
such employment is less than 90 percent.
(d)
The granting body shall provide notice to the recipient business enterprise of
its intent to recapture the development subsidy and shall state the reasons and
amount to be recaptured. The recipient business enterprise shall remit to the
governing body such amount within 60 calendar days of the date of such
notice.
(e)
If a recipient business enterprise defaults on a development subsidy in three
consecutive calendar years, the granting body shall declare the subsidy null and
void, and shall so notify the Department of Community Affairs and the recipient
business enterprise. The recipient business enterprise shall pay back to the
granting body all remaining value of the development subsidy it has not
previously repaid. Such payment shall be made within 180 calendar days of the
date of the notice of such default. The granting body shall return any state
funds to the Department of Community Affairs, which shall remit such moneys to
the general fund of the state treasury.
48-18-9.
If
a granting body fails to enforce any provision of this chapter, any individual
who paid income taxes in this state in the calendar year prior to the year in
dispute, or any organization representing such taxpayers, shall be entitled to
bring a civil action in superior court to compel enforcement under this chapter.
The court shall award reasonable
attorneyś
fees and costs to such prevailing taxpayer or organization.
48-18-10.
All
records required to be prepared or maintained under this chapter, including, but
not limited to, applications, progress reports, recapture notices, and any other
records or proceedings relating thereto, shall be subject to disclosure under
Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title
50."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval. This Act shall apply only to development
subsidies granted on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.