15E.193 - ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.
15E.193 ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.
1. A business which is or will be located, in whole or in part,
in an enterprise zone is eligible to receive incentives and
assistance under this division if the business has not closed or
reduced its operation in one area of the state and relocated
substantially the same operation into the enterprise zone and if the
business meets all of the following requirements:
a. Is not a retail business or a business where entrance is
limited by a cover charge or membership requirement.
b. (1) The business shall provide a sufficient package of
benefits to each employee holding a created or retained job. For
purposes of this paragraph, "created job" and "retained job"
have the same meaning as defined in section 15G.101.
(2) The board, upon the recommendation of the department, shall
adopt rules determining what constitutes a sufficient package of
benefits.
c. The business shall pay a wage that is at least ninety
percent of the qualifying wage threshold. For purposes of this
paragraph, "qualifying wage threshold" has the same meaning as
defined in section 15G.101.
d. Creates or retains at least ten full-time equivalent
positions and maintains them until the maintenance period completion
date. For purposes of this paragraph, "maintenance period
completion date" and "full-time equivalent position" have the
same meanings as defined in section 15G.101.
e. Makes a capital investment of at least five hundred
thousand dollars.
f. If the business is only partially located in an enterprise
zone, the business must be located on contiguous parcels of land.
2. In addition to meeting the requirements under subsection 1, an
eligible business shall provide the enterprise zone commission with
all of the following:
a. The long-term strategic plan for the business which shall
include labor and infrastructure needs.
b. Information dealing with the benefits the business will
bring to the area.
c. Examples of why the business should be considered or would
be considered a good business enterprise.
d. The impact the business will have on other businesses in
competition with it. The enterprise zone commission shall make a
good faith effort to identify existing Iowa businesses within an
industry in competition with the business being considered for
assistance. The enterprise zone commission shall make a good faith
effort to determine the probability that the proposed financial
assistance will displace employees of the existing businesses. In
determining the impact on businesses in competition with the business
being considered for assistance, jobs created or retained as a result
of other jobs being displaced elsewhere in the state shall not be
considered direct jobs created or retained.
e. A report describing all violations of environmental law or
worker safety law within the last five years. If, upon review of the
application, the enterprise zone commission finds that a business has
a record of violations of the law, statutes, rules, or regulations
that tends to show a consistent pattern, the enterprise zone
commission shall not make an award of financial assistance to the
business unless the board finds either that the violations did not
seriously affect public health, public safety, or the environment,
or, if such violations did seriously affect public health, public
safety, or the environment, that mitigating circumstances were
present.
3. If a business has received incentives or assistance under
section 15E.196 and fails to maintain the requirements of subsection
1 to be an eligible business, the business is subject to repayment of
all or a portion of the incentives and assistance that it has
received. The city or county, as applicable, shall have the
authority to take action to recover the value of taxes not collected
as a result of the exemption provided by the community to the
business. The department of revenue shall have the authority to
recover the value of state taxes or incentives provided under section
15E.196. The value of state incentives provided under section
15E.196 includes applicable interest and penalties. The department
of economic development and the city and county, as applicable, shall
enter into agreement with the business specifying the method for
determining the amount of incentives or assistance paid which will be
repaid in the event of failure to maintain the requirements of
subsection 1. In addition, a business that fails to maintain the
requirements of subsection 1 shall not receive incentives or
assistance for each year during which the business is not in
compliance.
4. If a business that is approved to receive incentives or
assistance provided under section 15E.196 experiences a layoff within
the state or closes any of its facilities within the state prior to
receiving the incentives and assistance, the department may reduce or
eliminate all or a portion of the incentives and assistance. If a
business has received incentives or assistance under section 15E.196
and experiences a layoff within the state or closes any of its
facilities within the state after receiving the incentives and
assistance, the business may be subject to repayment of all or a
portion of the incentives and assistance that it has received. Section History: Recent Form
97 Acts, ch 144, §3; 98 Acts, ch 1175, §7--9; 2003 Acts, ch 129,
§2; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2006 Acts, ch 1009, §1--3; 2007 Acts, ch
126, §7; 2009 Acts, ch 123, §17
Referred to in § 15.119, 15E.193B, 15E.194, 15E.195
For aggregate limitations on amount of tax credits, see §15.119