§ 42-64.5-5 - Election.
SECTION 42-64.5-5
§ 42-64.5-5 Election. – (a) An eligible company may elect to determine its "base employment" for thepurposes of this chapter on July 1 of any year subsequent to 1994, rather thanon July 1, 1994; provided, however, that an eligible company that is atelecommunication company shall determine its base employment on either July 1,2001 or July 1, 2002; and provided, further, that except as otherwise providedin this chapter, an eligible company may not use July 1, 2003 or any subsequentdate to determine its base employment unless a determination has been made bythe board of directors of the Rhode Island economic development corporationthat: (i) but for the incentives available under this chapter the company isnot likely to retain, expand, or add employment in this state; and (ii) thatthe company has provided reasonable evidence supporting a finding that the jobsretained, expanded, or added will generate new tax revenue for the state thatis at least equivalent to the value of this incentive.
As a result of the election, rules comparable to those setforth elsewhere in this chapter shall be applied to determine the ratereduction available for each of the three (3) taxable years following the firstanniversary of the date the eligible company elected to use to determine its"base employment" and for the taxable years following that three (3) yearperiod. This election: (i) shall be made in a manner that may be determined bythe tax administrator, and (ii) shall not be available to an eligible companythat previously claimed a rate reduction under this chapter.
(b) The corporation shall make no determination undersubsection (a) of this section until it has first prepared and publiclyreleased an analysis of the impact the proposed investment will or may have onthe state. The analysis shall be supported by appropriate data anddocumentation and shall consider, but not be limited to, the following factors:
(i) The impact on the industry or industries in which theapplicant will be involved;
(ii) State fiscal matters, including the state budget(revenues and expenses);
(iii) The financial exposure of the taxpayers of the stateunder the plans for the proposed investment and negative foreseeablecontingencies that may arise therefrom;
(iv) The approximate number of full-time, part-time,temporary, seasonal and/or permanent jobs projected to be created, constructionand non-construction;
(v) Identification of geographic sources of the staffing foridentified jobs;
(vi) The projected duration of the identified constructionjobs;
(vii) The approximate wage rates for each category of theidentified jobs;
(viii) The types of fringe benefits to be provided with theidentified jobs, including healthcare insurance and any retirement benefits;
(ix) The projected fiscal impact on increased personal incometaxes to the state of Rhode Island; and
(x) The description of any plan or process intended tostimulate hiring from the host community, training of employees or potentialemployees, and outreach to minority job applicants and minority businesses.
(c) The corporation shall monitor every impact analysis itcompletes through the duration of any approved tax credit. Such monitoringshall include annual reports made available to the public on the:
(1) Actual versus projected impact for all consideredfactors; and
(2) Verification of all commitments made in consideration ofstate incentives or aid.
(d) Upon its preparation and release of the analysis requiredby subsection (b) of this section, the corporation shall provide copies of thatanalysis to the chairpersons of the house and senate finance committees, thehouse and senate fiscal advisors, the department of labor and training and thedivision of taxation. Any such analysis shall be available to the public forinspection by any person and shall be published by the tax administrator on thetax division website. Annually thereafter, through and including the second taxyear after any taxpayer has applied for and received a tax credit pursuant tothis chapter, the department of labor and training shall certify to thechairpersons of the house and senate finance committees, the house and senatefiscal advisors, the corporation and the division of taxation that: (i) theactual number of new full-time jobs with benefits created by the tax credit,not including construction jobs, is on target to meet or exceed the estimatednumber of new jobs identified in the analysis above, and (ii) the actual numberof existing full-time jobs with benefits has not declined. For purposes of thissection, "full-time jobs with benefits" means jobs that require working aminimum of thirty (30) hours per week within the state, with a median wage thatexceeds by five percent (5 %) the median annual wage for full-time jobs inRhode Island and within the taxpayer's industry, with a benefit package thatincludes healthcare insurance plus other benefits typical of companies withinthe taxpayer's industry. The department of labor and training shall alsocertify annually to the chairpersons of the house and senate financecommittees, the house and senate fiscal advisors, and the division of taxationthat jobs created by the tax credit are "new jobs" in the state of RhodeIsland, meaning that the employees of the project are in addition to, andwithout a reduction of, those employees of the taxpayer currently employed inRhode Island, are not relocated from another facility of the taxpayer in RhodeIsland or are employees assumed by the taxpayer as the result of a merger oracquisition of a company already located in Rhode Island. The certificationsmade by the department of labor and training shall be available to the publicfor inspection by any person and shall be published by the tax administrator onthe tax division website.
(e) The corporation, with the assistance of the taxpayer, thedepartment of labor and training, the department of human services and thedivision of taxation shall provide annually an analysis of whether any of theemployees of the taxpayer has received RIte Care or RIte Share benefits and theimpact such benefits or assistance may have on the state budget. This analysisshall be available to the public for inspection by any person and shall bepublished by the tax administrator on the tax division website. Notwithstandingany other provision of law or rule or regulation, the division of taxation, thedepartment of labor and training and the department of human services areauthorized to present, review and discuss taxpayer-specific tax or employmentinformation or data with the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation(RIEDC), the house and senate fiscal committee chairs, and/or the house andsenate fiscal advisors for the purpose of verification and compliance with thistax credit reporting requirement.
(f) Any agreements or contracts entered into by thecorporation and the taxpayer shall be sent to the division of taxation and beavailable to the public for inspection by any person and shall be published bythe tax administrator on the tax division website
(g) By August 15th of each year the taxpayer shall report thesource and amount of any bonds, grants, loans, loan guarantees, matching fundsor tax credits received from any state governmental entity, state agency orpublic agency as defined in § 37-2-7 received during the previous statefiscal year. This annual report shall be sent to the division of taxation andbe available to the public for inspection by any person and shall be publishedby the tax administrator on the tax division website.
(h) By August 15th of each year the division of taxationshall report the name, address, and amount of tax credit received for eachtaxpayer during the previous state fiscal year to the corporation, thechairpersons of the house and senate finance committees, the house and senatefiscal advisors, the department of labor and training and the division oftaxation. This report shall be available to the public for inspection by anyperson and shall be published by the tax administrator on the tax divisionwebsite.