§ 42-64-10 - Findings of the corporation.
SECTION 42-64-10
§ 42-64-10 Findings of the corporation.– (a) Except as specifically provided in this chapter, the Rhode Island economicdevelopment corporation shall not be empowered to undertake the acquisition,construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, development, or improvement of aproject, nor enter into a contract for any undertaking or for the financing ofthis undertaking, unless it first:
(1) Finds:
(i) That the acquisition or construction and operation of theproject will prevent, eliminate, or reduce unemployment or underemployment inthe state and will generally benefit economic development of the state;
(ii) That adequate provision has been made or will be madefor the payment of the cost of the acquisition, construction, operation, andmaintenance and upkeep of the project;
(iii) That, with respect to real property, the plans andspecifications assure adequate light, air, sanitation, and fire protection;
(iv) That the project is in conformity with the applicableprovisions of chapter 23 of title 46; and
(v) That the project is in conformity with the applicableprovisions of the state guide plan; and
(2) Prepares and publicly releases an analysis of the impactthe proposed project will or may have on the State. The analysis shall besupported by appropriate data and documentation and shall consider, but not belimited to, the following factors:
(i) The impact on the industry or industries in which thecompleted project 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 project and negative foreseeable contingenciesthat may arise therefrom;
(iv) The approximate number of full-time, part-time,temporary, seasonal, and/or permanent jobs projected to be created,construction and 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.
(b) With respect to the uses described in § 42-64-3(18),(23), (30), (35), and (36) and with respect to projects situated on federallands, the corporation shall not be required to make the findings specified insubsection (a)(1)(i) of this section.
(c) Except for the findings specified in subsections(a)(1)(iv) and (a)(1)(v) of this section, the findings of the corporation madepursuant to this section shall be binding and conclusive for all purposes. Uponadoption by the corporation, any such findings shall be transmitted to thedivision of taxation, and shall be made available to the public for inspectionby any person, and shall be published by the tax administrator on the taxdivision website.
(d) The corporation shall monitor every impact analysis itcompletes through the duration of any project incentives. Such monitoring shallinclude annual reports which shall be transmitted to the division of taxation,and shall be available to the public for inspection by any person, and shall bepublished by the tax administrator on the tax division website. The annualreports on the impact analysis shall include:
(1) Actual versus projected impact for all consideredfactors; and
(2) Verification of all commitments made in consideration ofstate incentives or aid.
(e) Upon its preparation and release of the analysis requiredby subsection (a)(2) of this section, the corporation shall provide copies ofthat analysis to the chairpersons of the house and senate finance committees,the house and senate fiscal advisors, the department of labor and training andthe division of taxation. Any such analysis shall be available to the publicfor inspection by any person and shall be published by the tax administrator onthe tax division website. Annually thereafter, the department of labor andtraining shall certify to the chairpersons of the house and senate financecommittees, the house and senate fiscal advisors, the corporation and thedivision of taxation that: (i) the actual number of new full-time jobs withbenefits created by the project, not including construction jobs, is on targetto meet or exceed the estimated number of new jobs identified in the analysisabove, and (ii) the actual number of existing full-time jobs with benefits hasnot declined. This certification shall no longer be required two (2) tax yearsafter the terms and conditions of both the general assembly's joint resolutionof approval required by § 42-64-20.1 of this chapter and any agreementbetween the corporation and the project lessee have been satisfied. Forpurposes of this section, "full-time jobs with benefits" means jobs thatrequire working a minimum of thirty (30) hours per week within the state, witha median wage that exceeds by five percent (5%) the median annual wage forfull-time jobs in Rhode Island and within the taxpayer's industry, with abenefit package that includes healthcare insurance plus other benefits typicalof companies within the project lessee's industry. The department of labor andtraining shall also certify annually to the chairpersons of the house andsenate finance committees, the house and senate fiscal advisors, and thedivision of taxation that jobs created by the project are "new jobs" in thestate of Rhode Island, meaning that the employees of the project are inaddition to, and without a reduction in the number of, those employees of theproject lessee currently employed in Rhode Island, are not relocated fromanother facility of the project lessee in Rhode Island or are employees assumedby the project lessee as the result of a merger or acquisition of a companyalready located in Rhode Island. The certifications made by the department oflabor and training shall be available to the public for inspection by anyperson and shall be published by the tax administrator on the tax divisionwebsite.
(f) 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 project lessee has received RIte Care or RIte Share benefitsand the impact such benefits or assistance may have on the state budget. Anysuch analysis shall be available to the public for inspection by any person andshall be published by the tax administrator on the tax division website.Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule or regulation, the divisionof taxation, the department of labor and training and the department of humanservices are authorized to present, review and discuss lessee-specific tax oremployment information or data with the Rhode Island Economic DevelopmentCorporation (RIEDC), the chairpersons of the house and senate financecommittees, and/or the house and senate fiscal advisors for the purpose ofverification and compliance with this tax credit reporting requirement.
(g) The corporation and the project lessee shall agree that,if at any time prior to pay back of the amount of the sales tax exemptionthrough new income tax collections over three (3) years, not includingconstruction job income taxes, the project lessee will be unable to continuethe project, or otherwise defaults on its obligations to the corporation, theproject lessee shall be liable to the state for all the sales tax benefitsgranted to the project plus interest, as determined in Rhode Island General Law§ 44-1-7, calculated from the date the project lessee received the salestax benefits.
(h) Any agreements or contracts entered into by thecorporation and the project lessee shall be sent to the division of taxationand be available to the public for inspection by any person and shall bepublished by the tax administrator on the tax division website.
(i) By August 15th of each year the project lessee shallreport the source and amount of any bonds, grants, loans, loan guarantees,matching funds or tax credits received from any state governmental entity,state agency or public agency as defined in § 37-2-7 received during theprevious state fiscal year. This annual report shall be sent to the division oftaxation and be available to the public for inspection by any person and shallbe published by the tax administrator on the tax division website.
(j) By August 15th of each year the division of taxationshall report the name, address, and amount of sales tax benefit each projectlessee received 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.