Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 13 - ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT › Part I - Financial Incentive Programs › Chapter 7 - Enterprise Zone Program › Section I-703 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
Act 423
-Act 423 of the 2013 Regular Session
				  of the Louisiana Legislature
Act 18
-Act 18 of the 2016 First
				  Extraordinary Session of the Louisiana Legislature
Affiliate
-
1. any business entity that is:
a. controlled by the business;
b. a controlling owner of the business;
c. controlled by an entity described in Subparagraph a or b;
				  or
d. another franchisee of the same franchisor;
2.
control
, for purposes of this definition,
				  means owning either directly or indirectly through control of or by another
				  business entity:
a. a majority of the voting stock or other voting interest of
				  such business entity or the business; or
b. stock or other interest whose value is a majority of the
				  total value of such business entity or the business;
3. a controlled or controlling business entity will be deemed
				  a "non-affiliate" (not an
affiliate
) if LED determines that
				  neither the business nor any of its controlling owners exercise authority over
				  the management, business policies and operations of the business entity;
4. a controlled or controlling business entity will be deemed
				  an unrelated affiliate" (not an
affiliate
) if LED determines
				  that the business entity is not engaged in any line of business related to the
				  project activities.
Beginning of the Project
-
1. the first day on which project foundations are started or
				  where foundations are unnecessary, the first day on which installation of the
				  project facility begins or the first day that materials or equipment purchased
				  for the project are received;
2. where there is no construction, installation, or purchase
				  of materials or equipment, the first day on which a new hire is made in
				  connection with the project; or
3. the beginning date reported on the application (which date
				  must be on or after the date the advance notification was filed).
Board
- the Board of Commerce and
				  Industry.
Business
- a legal entity applying for the
				  enterprise zone program that conducts any activity carried on for the
				  production of income from selling goods or performing services. A
business
may be conducted in the form of either a for-profit
				  or not-for-profit entity. A not-for-profit entity will be considered a
business
only if it provides goods or services for a fee based
				  upon the cost of providing those goods or services (for example,
				  hospitals).
Business Incentives Services
- the Business
				  Incentive Services Division of the Office of Business Development of the
				  department.
Contract Effective Date
- the day that the
				  advance notification and fee were received by Business Incentives Services or
				  the beginning of the project shown on the application. The
contract
				  effective date
cannot be earlier than the date the advance
				  notification was received by Business Incentive Services unless a waiver of
				  timely filing has been approved by the board.
Department
- Louisiana Department of
				  Economic Development.
Department of Revenue
- Louisiana Department
				  of Revenue.
Domicile
- the place of a person's principal
				  establishment or habitual residence. A change of domicile may be shown by
				  positive and satisfactory proof of establishment of domicile as a matter of
				  fact with the intention of remaining in the new place and of abandoning the
				  former domicile. Such proof may include a sworn declaration of intent recorded
				  in the parish to which a person intends to move, voter registration, or similar
				  evidence of such intent.
Economic Development Zone
-
1. a contiguous geographic area with a visible boundary,
				  owned or operated by a political subdivision or an entity created by a
				  political subdivision for commercial or industrial development purposes,
				  including but not limited to the following:
a. industrial park;
b. business park;
c. airport or air park;
d. research park;
e. research and development park;
f. downtown development district with taxing and bonding
				  authority;
g. former federal facility (immediately prior owner and
				  occupant must have been a federal governmental entity), excluding a single
				  building or small grouping of buildings; or
h. port;
2. an economic development zone must be designated as such by
				  the political subdivision in which it is located, and approved by the board.
				  The location of an economic development zone once defined is permanent, and
				  cannot be moved or relocated.
Employment Baseline
-
1. the baseline from which net new jobs are determined, to be
				  calculated as follows:
a. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services prior to June 21, 2013,
employment
				  baseline
will be determined in accordance with prior policy and
				  practice in place at the time of the filing of the advance notification.
b. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services on or after June 21, 2013 but prior to April 1,
				  2016,
i. the median number of full time employees of the business
				  (including employees of affiliates, and employees of unrelated affiliates who
				  have also been employed by the business within the 12 months prior to the
				  contract effective date) at the project site, during the payroll periods
				  including the 12th day of the month, in the last
				  four months completed prior to the contract effective date (the median is
				  calculated by discarding the months with the highest and lowest number of
				  employees, and averaging the number in the remaining two months); or
ii. the last annual average number of full time employees
				  certified under an enterprise zone contract for the business that was in effect
				  on the day prior to the contract effective date;
c. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services on or after April 1, 2016 but prior to the
				  effective date of the 2020 Rule promulgation:
i. equal to the median number of full time employees of the
				  business (including employees of affiliates, and employees of unrelated
				  affiliates who have also been employed by the business within the 12 months
				  prior to the contract effective date) statewide, during the payroll periods
				  including the 12th day of the month, in the last
				  four months completed prior to the contract effective date (the median is
				  calculated by discarding the months with the highest and lowest number of
				  employees, and averaging the number in the remaining two months).
d. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services after the effective date of the 2021 rule
				  promulgation:
i. equal to the median number of full time employees of the
				  business (including employees of affiliates, and employees of unrelated
				  affiliates who have also been employed by the business within the six months
				  prior to the contract effective date) statewide, during the payroll periods
				  including the 12th day of the month, in the last six
				  months completed prior to the contract effective date (the median is calculated
				  by discarding the months with the highest and lowest number of employees, and
				  averaging the number in the remaining four months).
2. the baseline must be maintained in any year for which the
				  business requests job tax credits;
3. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services prior to June 21, 2013,
employment
				  baseline
will be determined in accordance with prior policy and
				  practice in place at the time of the filing of the advance notification.
Enterprise Zone
- a census block group which
				  is economically distressed and in need of expansion of business and industry
				  and the creation of jobs, and designated by the board to be eligible for the
				  benefits of this Chapter in accordance with
				  R.S.
				  51:1784.
Full Time Employee
- an employee who is
				  reported on the business's quarterly report and is scheduled to work 35 hours
				  per week.
Grocery Store-
a business that primarily
				  engages in activities that qualify for one of the following NAICS codes:
				  445110, 445210, 445220, 445230, 445291, and 452910.
Headquarters
- the corporate domicile of the
				  company, together with all executive and administrative jobs normally
				  constituting a corporate
headquarters
, or the regional
headquarters
support services of the company, together with
				  all executive and administrative jobs normally constituting a regional
				  corporate
headquarters
.
Hire Date
- the first day of work for which
				  the business directly pays an employee.
Lacking Basic Skills
- an employee who
				  exhibits below a ninth grade level proficiency in reading or writing or
				  math.
Louisiana Workforce Commission
- formerly
				  known as the Louisiana Department of Labor.
NAICS
- North American Industrial
				  classification system.
Net New Job
-
1. a position of employment that is:
a. created on or after the contract effective date;
b. in addition to the number of jobs in the employment
				  baseline;
c. based at the site of the enterprise zone project;
d. filled by a full time employee; who is
i. a United States citizen domiciled in Louisiana, or who
				  becomes domiciled in Louisiana within 60 days after hire date; and who
				  is
ii. reported on the business's quarterly report;
2. the number of
net new jobs
filled by full
				  time employees shall be determined by averaging the monthly totals of full time
				  employees over a minimum of 7 months for the first and last year of the
				  contract period, and over a 12 month period for all other years;
3. for purposes of determining qualification of the business
				  for the enterprise zone program under §701 E, net new jobs shall be limited to
				  permanent full-time jobs that are in addition to the number of permanent
				  full-time jobs included in the employment baseline;
4. jobs in which employees perform essentially the same work
				  at the same location both before and after the contract effective date are not
net new jobs
unless:
a. there has been an arm's length transfer of ownership
				  between unrelated companies (not affiliates); and
b. either the location has been out of operation for at least
				  three months, or the secretary determines that the jobs would have likely been
				  lost to the state absent the transfer;
5.
a. transferred jobs which are not
net new
				  jobs
include:
i. jobs transferred, or jobs associated with work or sales
				  transferred to the project site from other Louisiana sites of the business
				  (including affiliates), unless back-filled at the original site;
ii. jobs transferred, or jobs associated with work or sales
				  transferred, to the business from affiliates and unrelated affiliates on the
				  project site, unless back-filled;
iii. jobs transferred, or jobs associated with work or sales
				  transferred, to the project site from other Louisiana sites as a result of the
				  business (including affiliates) acquiring a business operation, or
				  substantially all of its assets, and continuing the business operation;
b. jobs created for the project, but temporarily assigned to
				  another site until the site is ready or for training or similar purposes, are
				  not considered transferred jobs and may be considered net new jobs when
				  re-assigned to the project site;
6. lost jobs which must be deducted in determining
net new jobs
include:
a. jobs lost due to closure of any site of the business
				  (including affiliates) that:
i. is located within the same parish; and
ii. provides the same goods or services as the project
				  site;
b. jobs lost due to downsizing of any site of the business
				  (including affiliates) that:
i. is located within the same parish; and
ii. provides the same goods or services as the project
				  site;
iii. the project site and the other site each sell their
				  goods or services primarily into that parish; and
iv. the downsizing was anticipated by the business at the
				  time the qualification certification was filed;
c. jobs lost due to closure or downsizing of any site of the
				  business (including affiliates) that:
i. is located in the state of Louisiana; and
ii. provides the same goods or services;
iii. primarily for the same market segment or customer base,
				  as the project site; and
iv. the closure or downsizing was anticipated by the business
				  at the time the qualification certification was filed;
d. jobs lost by the business (including affiliates) due to
				  relocation outside Louisiana or downsizing of headquarters operations or
				  headquarters support services of the business (including any intermediate or
				  ultimate parent company), and the relocation or downsizing was anticipated by
				  the business at the time the qualification certification was filed.
Permanent Job
- as established in the
				  qualification certification (as of the time the qualification certification is
				  filed and irrespective of subsequent modifications to the job), a job that has
				  no anticipated end date falling within the period commencing 45 days prior to
				  the contract effective date and ending five years after the contract effective
				  date.
Pharmacy
-any business located within
				  Louisiana where drugs are dispensed and
pharmacy
primary care
				  is provided and where the place has obtained a permit per
				  R.S.
				  37:1221 prior to the commencement of
				  operation.
Placed in Service
- the date indicated as
placed in service
on the business's federal tax return
				  depreciation schedule.
Political Subdivision
- in this Chapter, a
				  state, parish, municipality or other
political subdivisions
,
				  including and not limited to a law enforcement or other special district
				  authorized by law to perform governmental functions.
Project
- a construction, expansion, or
				  other business venture and associated activities for which benefits are sought
				  under the Enterprise Zone Program.
Project Completion Report
- a report
				  confirming the beginning of the project, the project ending date, and the
				  benefits elected.
Project Ending Date
- the date all
				  construction and purchasing is completed and received for the project,
				  completing the project.
Project Period
- the time encompassed by the
				  contract effective date and the project ending date.
Project Site
- the contiguous physical
				  location of a project.
Public Assistance
-
1. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services prior to the effective date of the 2021 Rule
				  promulgation, public assistance shall be determined in accordance with prior
				  policy and practice in place at the time of the filing of the advance
				  notification, and shall be any program of assistance financed in whole or in
				  part by a federal, state, or any local government agency, eligibility for which
				  is dependent upon the employment status or income level of the individual. Any
				  such assistance must have been received by the individual within a six month
				  period prior to their hire date.
2. for projects with advance notifications filed with
				  business incentives services after the effective date of the 2021 rule
				  promulgation, public assistance shall be limited to the following public
				  assistance programs; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
				  Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Women, Infants and Children
				  (WIC), Medicaid, unemployment benefits, or any other benefits from a similar
				  public assistance program as determined by the department. Any such assistance
				  must have been received by the individual within a six-month period prior to
				  their hire date.
Qualified Expenditure
- amounts classified
				  as capital expenditures for federal income tax purposes plus exclusions from
				  capitalization provided for in
Internal Revenue Code
section
				  263(a)(1)(A)-(L), minus the capitalized cost of land, capitalized leases of
				  land, capitalized interest, capitalized costs of manufacturing machinery and
				  equipment to the extent the capitalized manufacturing machinery and equipment
				  costs are excluded from sales and use tax pursuant to
				  R.S.
				  47:301(3), and the
				  capitalized cost for the purchase of an existing building. When a taxpayer
				  purchases an existing building and capital expenditures are used to
				  rehabilitate the building, the costs of the rehabilitation only shall be
				  considered qualified expenditures. Additionally, a taxpayer shall be allowed to
				  increase their
qualified expenditures
to the extent a
				  taxpayer's capitalized basis is properly reduced by claiming a federal
				  credit.
Quarterly Report
- the
quarterly
				  report
of wages paid that a business files with the Louisiana
				  Workforce Commission.
Rural Enterprise Zone
- an enterprise zone
				  located in a parish having a current U.S. Census population of 75,000 or
				  less.
State
-
state
of
				  Louisiana.
Unemployable by Traditional Standards
-
				  having no prior work history or job training, having a criminal record
				  (excluding misdemeanors), having a history of being unable to retain employment
				  after gaining it, or being physically challenged.
Unemployment Benefits
-shall be limited to
				  temporary financial assistance to workers who are unemployed through no fault
				  of their own and who meet the requirements of the Louisiana Employment Security
				  Law.
Urban Enterprise Zone
- an enterprise zone
				  located in a parish having a current U.S. Census population greater than
				  75,000.
AUTHORITY NOTE:
				  Promulgated in accordance with
				  R.S.
				  51:1786(5).