2335 AMS HARG GOLD 003

2335 AMS HARG GOLD 003

HB 2335 - S AMD - 1021

By Senator Hargrove

PULLED 3/12/98

On page 8, after line 25, insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The legislature finds that section 10 of this act is intended to consolidate business and occupation taxes in distressed areas.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows: (1) As used in this section:

(a) "Board" means the community economic revitalization board under chapter 43.160 RCW;

(b) "Private-sector business" or "business" means "person" as defined in RCW 82.04.030. "Private-sector business" does not include a public agency. "Public agency" means the state or its agencies, instrumentalities, or political subdivisions, or the United States or any instrumentality thereof, or an Indian tribe or nation; and

(c) "Public facilities" means bridges, roads, domestic and industrial water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, railroad, electricity, natural gas, buildings or structures, and port facilities, in the state of Washington.

(2) A person shall be allowed a credit against tax due under this chapter or chapter 82.16 RCW as provided in this section. The credit shall equal fifty cents for each dollar of private funds spent on qualifying public facilities. A person may not receive credit for funds spent by another person. Eligible spending is limited to construction, reconstruction, or improvement of the public facility, and includes rights of way and real property acquisition, engineering and design work, environmental assessment and mitigation, and materials acquisition.

(3) The department, subject to the limitations of subsection (4) of this section, shall approve applications for tax credits upon occurrence of the following:

(a) A written certification is submitted by the board to the department, stating the applicant has been approved for a loan or grant under chapter 43.160 RCW. The tax credit applicant shall provide a written request to the board, requesting the board to provide such certification to the department;

(b) A written agreement is submitted to the department before the start of the public facility project, signed by the public agency responsible for the public facility and the business spending money on the public facility, establishing the financial obligations of the business and stating that the public facility is to be owned and controlled by the public agency;

(c) If the facility will be owned by the business until completion, a written agreement is submitted to the department providing a mechanism for transfer of ownership of the facility to the public agency upon completion of the project; and

(d) The business, in consultation with the public agency, provides a letter to the department establishing that the public facility will enable the business to create, retain, or expand jobs. The business making the expenditures must be the same business upon which the job criteria is based. A business may not use the jobs upon which an earlier project was based to justify additional projects for which the business is applying for tax credits.

(4)(a) Tax credits are available on a first-come basis, with priority based on the date an application is received by the department. Upon completion of a public facility, as determined by the department, the department shall certify the business as eligible for tax credits under this section. An applicant is not eligible for tax credits under this section in excess of the amount of tax that would otherwise be due under this chapter. Approved credit may be carried over one calendar year after the year in which the credit is approved. Any unused credit remaining after the one-year carry-over period has elapsed expires. Refunds shall not be given in place of credits.

(b) The department shall keep a running total of all credits approved. The sum total of credits granted under this section and section of this act shall be no more than five million dollars of credits each fiscal year. If the amount requested for a credit in an application will cause the cap to be exceeded, the department shall give a partial approval of the project, equal to the amount of remaining credit available for the fiscal year.

(c) The amount of credit taken is not confidential or subject to RCW 82.32.330, and is disclosable by the department as a public record.

(5) Investments in a public facility do not give the private-sector business a right or privilege, or any other benefit in the public facility.

(6) An application under this section may not be approved after June 30, 2005.

(7) Tax credits shall not be granted for spending that occurred before the effective date of this section. Applicants are not eligible based on a loan or grant approved before the effective date of this section.

(8) If a person has used a credit granted under this section against tax due under chapter 82.16 RCW the person may not use the same credit for tax due under this chapter.

(9) The tax credit program under this section and section 11 of this act is limited to expenditures for public facilities located in distressed counties. "Distressed county" means a county in which the average level of unemployment for the three years before the year in which an application is filed under this section exceeds the average state unemployment for those years by twenty percent.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. A new section is added to chapter 82.16 RCW to read as follows: The tax credit program under section 10 of this act is available to persons for tax due under this chapter. If a person has used a credit granted under this section against tax due under chapter 82.04 RCW the person may not use the same credit for tax due under this chapter."

Renumber the sections consecutively and correct any internal references accordingly.

HB 2335 - S AMD - 1021

By Senator Hargrove

PULLED 3/12/98

On page 1, on line 3 of the title, strike "a new section" and insert "new sections"