§ 42-64.3-3 - Definitions.
SECTION 42-64.3-3
§ 42-64.3-3 Definitions. – As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the followingmeanings unless the context shall indicate another or different meaning orintent:
(1) "Council" or "enterprise zone council" means thegovernmental agency created pursuant to § 42-64.3-3.1.
(2) "Enterprise zone," "economic revitalization zone," or"zone" means an economically distressed United States bureau of the censusdivision or delineation in need of expansion of business and industry, and thecreation of jobs, which is designated to be eligible for the benefits of thischapter.
(3) "Governing authority" means the governing body of astate, city or town within which a qualified United States bureau of the censusdivision or delineation lies.
(4) "Qualified business" or "business facility" means anybusiness corporation, sole proprietorship, partnership, or limited partnershipor limited liability company which:
(A) After the date of its original application for membershipin the enterprise zone program or the date annual membership is renewed createsand hires a minimum of five percent (5%) new or additional enterprise jobs orin the case of a company having twenty (20) employees or less, this requirementshall be that the company create and hire one new or additional enterprise job,in the respective zone during the same certification year; and
(B) Whose total Rhode Island wages including those RhodeIsland wages for additional enterprise jobs, exceeds the total Rhode Islandwages paid to its employees in the prior calendar year; and
(C) Obtains certificates of good standing from the RhodeIsland division of taxation, the corporations division of the Rhode Islandsecretary of state and the appropriate municipal authority at the time ofcertification; and
(D) Provides the council with an affidavit stating under oaththat the entity seeking certification as a qualified business has not withinthe preceding twelve (12) months from the date of application for certificationchanged its legal status for the purpose of gaining favorable treatment underthe provisions of chapter 64.3 of this title; and
(E) Meets certain other requirements as set forth by thecouncil; and
(F) Has received certification from the council pursuant tothe rules and regulations promulgated by the council.
(ii) In the event that an applicant for certification meetsthe criteria of subdivisions (4)(i)(A) and (4)(i)(C) to (F), but fails to meetthe requirements of subdivision (4)(i)(B) solely because the amount of wagespaid to the owner or owners of the business has decreased from the priorcalendar year, the Council may, for good cause shown, certify the applicant asa qualified business. The applicant shall have the burden to show,notwithstanding its failure to meet the requirements of subdivision (4)(i)(B)above, that the applicant has met the intent of this chapter. For the purposesof this provision, owner shall mean a person who has at least twenty percent(20%) of the indicia of ownership of the applicant.
(5) "Effective date of certification" means the date uponwhich the qualified business meets the tests imposed in subdivisions (4)(i)(A)through (F) above and applies to the calendar year for which these tests wereperformed.
(6) "Enterprise job employees" means those full-timeemployees whose business activity originates and terminates from within theenterprise zone business and facility on a daily basis, and who are domiciledresidents of the state (or who, in the case of employees of a high performancemanufacturer as that term is defined in § 44-31-1(b)(3)(i), pay personalincome taxes to the state) and hired (or transferred, in the case of existingout-of-state employees) and employed by the qualified business in theenterprise zone after the effective date of certification or annualrecertification in excess of those full-time employees employed by thequalified business in any Rhode Island enterprise zone in the prior calendaryear. An employee who is hired and terminated in the same certification perioddoes not constitute an enterprise job employee.
(7) "Wages" means wages, tips and other compensation asdefined in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.