Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 261 - Economic Development Authority › Part VII - Additional Application Requirements and Procedures › Chapter 173 - Standard Definitions › Rule 261-173.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
As used in these rules unless the context otherwise
				  requires:
"Authority"
means the economic development
				  authority created in Iowa Code section
				  15105..
"Awarddate "
means the date the board or the
				  director approved an application for project completion assistance, other
				  direct financial assistance, or tax incentives.
"Base employment level"
means the number of
				  full-time equivalent positions at a business, as established by the authority
				  and a business using the business's payroll records, as of the date a business
				  applies for tax incentives or project completion assistance. The number of jobs
				  the business has pledged to create and retain shall be in addition to the base
				  employment level.
"Benefits "
means nonwage compensation
				  provided to an employee. Benefits include medical and dental insurance plans,
				  pension, retirement, and profit-sharing plans, child care services, life
				  insurance coverage, vision insurance coverage, and disability insurance
				  coverage. Benefits may include other nonwage compensation as determined by the
				  board.
"Board"
means the members of the economic
				  development authority appointed by the governor and in whom the powers of the
				  authority are vested pursuant to Iowa Code section
				  15105..
"Brownfieldsite"
means the same as defined
				  in Iowa Code section
				  15291..
"Business "
means a sole proprietorship,
				  partnership, corporation, or other business entity organized for profit or not
				  for profit under the laws of the state of Iowa or another state, under federal
				  statutes, or under the laws of another country.
"Created job"
means a new, permanent,
				  full-time equivalent (FTE) position added to a business's payroll in excess of
				  the base employment level at the time of application for tax incentives or
				  project completion assistance.
"Director "
means the director of the
				  authority.
"Due diligence committee "
or
"DDC"
means the due diligence committee organized by the
				  board pursuant to 261-Chapter 1.
"Employee"
means:
1. An individual filling a full-time position that is part of
				  the payroll of the business receiving financial assistance from any of the
				  programs identified in rule
				  261-1731.
				  (15).
2. A business's leased or contract employee, provided all of
				  the following elements are satisfied:
* The business receiving the tax incentives or project
				  completion assistance has a legally binding contract with a third-party
				  provider to provide the leased or contract employee.
* The contract between the third-party provider and the
				  business specifically requires the third-party provider to pay the wages and
				  benefits at the levels required and for the time period required by the
				  authority as conditions of the award to the business.
* The contract between the third-party provider and the
				  business specifically requires the third-party provider to submit payroll
				  records to the authority, in form and content and at the frequency found
				  acceptable to the authority, for purposes of verifying that the business's job
				  creation/retention and benefit requirements are being met.
* The contract between the third-party provider and the
				  business specifically authorizes the authority, or its authorized
				  representatives, to access records related to the funded project.
* The business receiving the tax incentives or project
				  completion assistance agrees to be contractually liable to the authority for
				  the performance or nonperformance of the third-party provider.
"Equity investment"
means common or
				  preferred corporate stock or warrants to acquire such stock, membership
				  interests in limited liability companies, partnership interests in
				  partnerships, or near equity. Equity is limited to securities or interests
				  acquired only for cash and does not include securities or interests acquired at
				  any time for services, contributions of property other than cash, or any other
				  non-cash consideration.
"Equity-like assistance "
means assistance
				  provided in such a manner that the potential return on investment to the
				  provider varies according to the profitability of the company assisted.
				  Equity-like assistance includes but is not limited to: royalty arrangements;
				  success payments; warrant arrangements; or other similar forms of investments.
				  Equity-like assistance does not include equity investments.
"Financial assistance "
means assistance
				  provided only from the funds, rights, and assets legally available to the
				  authority. Financial assistance includes assistance provided in the form of
				  grants, loans, forgivable loans, float loans, equity-like assistance, and
				  royalty payments and other forms of assistance deemed appropriate by the board,
				  consistent with Iowa law.
"Fiscal impact ratio "
or
"FIR
				  "
means a ratio calculated by estimating the amount of taxes to be
				  received by the state from a business and dividing the estimate by the
				  estimated cost to the state of providing certain project completion assistance
				  and tax incentives to the business, reflecting a ten-year period of taxation
				  and incentives and expressed in terms of current dollars. "Fiscal impact ratio"
				  does not include taxes received by political subdivisions.
"Full-time equivalent job"
or
"full-time"
means the employment of one person:
1. For 8 hours per day for a 5-day, 40-hour workweek for 52
				  weeks per year, including paid holidays, vacations and other paid leave;
				  or
2. The number of hours or days per week, including paid
				  holidays, vacations and other paid leave, currently established by schedule,
				  custom, or otherwise, as constituting a week of full-time work for the kind of
				  service an individual performs for an employing unit, provided that the number
				  of hours per week is at least 32 hours per week for 52 weeks per year including
				  paid holidays, vacations, and other paid leave.
For purposes of this definition, "employment of one person"
				  means the employment of one natural person and does not include "job sharing"
				  or any other means of aggregation or combination of hours worked by more than
				  one natural person.
"Grant"
means an award of assistance with
				  the expectation that, with the fulfillment of the conditions, terms and
				  obligations of the contract with the authority for the project, repayment of
				  funds is not required.
"Grayfield site"
means the same as defined
				  in Iowa Code section
				  15291..
"Greenfield site "
means a site that does
				  not meet the definition of a brownfield site or grayfield site. A project
				  proposed at a site located on previously undeveloped or agricultural land shall
				  be presumed to be a greenfield site.
"ICF"
means the innovation and
				  commercialization fund created in Iowa Code section
				  15412..
"IVF(2009) "
means the grow Iowa values fund
				  and financial assistance program established by Iowa Code section 15G.111 as
				  amended by 2009 Iowa Acts, Senate File 344, section 2, and as repealed by 2011
				  Iowa Code Supplement section 15G.107. IVF(2009) does not include programs
				  funded under the grow Iowa values fund prior to 2009. Rule
				  261-1731. (15)
				  applies in determining which rules apply to which programs.
"Laborshed area "
means the geographic area
				  surrounding an employment center from which the employment center draws its
				  commuting workers. The Iowa department of workforce development (IWD)
				  determines the employment centers and defines the boundaries of each laborshed
				  area. IWD defines laborshed areas by surveying commuters within the various zip
				  codes surrounding an employment center, combining the zip codes into as many as
				  three zones, and determining how many people commute from a zip code to the
				  employment center from each zone. The zones reflect the fact that as the
				  distance from an employment center increases, the number of people willing to
				  commute to the employment center decreases. When determining the applicable
				  laborshed wage, the authority will use the closest laborshed area, as
				  determined by road distance between the employment center and the zip code of
				  the project location.
"Laborshed wage"
means the same as defined
				  in Iowa Code section
				  15327.. The authority
				  will calculate the laborshed wage as follows:
1. The most current covered wage and employment data
				  available from IWD will be used.
2. The wage will be computed as a mean wage figure and
				  represented in terms of an hourly wage rate.
3. Only the wages paid by employers for jobs performed within
				  the first two zones of a laborshed area will be included.
4. The wages paid by employers in the following categories
				  will be excluded from the calculation: government, retail trade, heath care and
				  social assistance, and accommodations and food service. The wages paid by
				  employers in all other categories will be included in the calculation.
5. To the extent that a laborshed area includes zip codes
				  from states other than Iowa, the wages paid by employers in those zip codes may
				  be included if IWD has finalized a data-sharing agreement with the state in
				  question and has received the required data.
6. Only those wages within two standard deviations from the
				  mean wage will be included.
"Loan "
means an award of assistance with
				  the requirement that the award be repaid with term, interest rate, and other
				  conditions specified as part of the conditions of the award. "Loan" includes
				  deferred loans, forgivable loans, and float loans. A "deferred loan" is one for
				  which the payment for principal, interest, or both, is not required for some
				  specified period. A "forgivable loan" is one for which repayment is eliminated
				  in part or entirely if the borrower satisfies specified conditions. A "float
				  loan" means a short-term loan (not to exceed 30 months) made from obligated but
				  unexpended moneys.
"Maintenance period"
means the period of
				  time between the project completion date and the maintenance period completion
				  date.
"Maintenance period completion date"
means
				  the date on which the maintenance period ends. The specific date on which the
				  maintenance period ends will be established by contract between the authority
				  and the business. The maintenance period completion date will be a date on or
				  after the project completion date and will be used to establish the period of
				  time during which the project, the created jobs, and the retained jobs must be
				  maintained. Rule
				  261-1873.
				  (15) provides standard durations for project completion and maintenance
				  periods.
"Project"
means an activity or set of
				  activities directly related to the start-up, location, modernization, or
				  expansion of a business, and proposed in an application by a business, that
				  will result in the accomplishment of the goals of the program.
"Project completion, "
in the case of the EZ
				  program and HQJP, for purposes of reporting to the Iowa department of revenue
				  that a project has been completed, means:
1. For new manufacturing facilities, the first date upon
				  which the average annualized production of finished product for the preceding
				  90-day period at the manufacturing facility is at least 50 percent of the
				  initial design capacity of the facility.
2. For all other projects, the date of completion of all
				  improvements necessary for the start-up, location, expansion or modernization
				  of a business.
"Project completion assistance "
means
				  financial assistance or technical assistance provided to an eligible business
				  in order to facilitate the start-up, location, modernization, or expansion of
				  the business in this state and provided in an expedient manner to ensure the
				  successful completion of the start-up, location, modernization, or expansion
				  project.
"Project completion date "
means the date by
				  which a recipient of incentives or assistance has agreed to meet all the terms
				  and obligations contained in an agreement with the authority. The specific date
				  on which the project completion period ends will be established by contract
				  between the authority and the business. The project completion date will be a
				  date on which the project must be completed, all incented jobs must be created
				  or retained, and all other applicable requirements must be met. Rule
				  261-1873.
				  (15) provides standard durations for project completion and maintenance
				  periods.
"Project completion period"
means the period
				  of time between the date financial assistance is awarded (the "award date") and
				  the project completion date.
"Project initiation "
means, for all
				  programs and funding sources except EDSA, any one of the following:
1. The start of construction of new or expanded
				  buildings;
2. The start of rehabilitation of existing buildings;
3. The purchase or leasing of existing buildings; or
4. The installation of new machinery and equipment or new
				  computers to be used in the operation of the business's project.
The purchase of land or signing an option to purchase land or
				  earth moving or other site development activities not involving actual building
				  construction, expansion or rehabilitation shall not constitute project
				  initiation. The costs of any land purchase and site development work incurred
				  prior to the award are not eligible qualifying investment expenses.
"Qualifying wage threshold"
means the
				  laborshed wage for an eligible business. The qualifying wage thresholds for the
				  authority's programs are described in 261-Chapter 174.
"Retained job "
means a full-time equivalent
				  permanent position in existence at the time an employer applies for financial
				  assistance which remains continuously filled or authorized to be filled as soon
				  as possible and which is at risk of elimination if the project for which the
				  employer is seeking assistance does not proceed. The authority may require a
				  business to verify that a job is at risk. Such verification may include the
				  signed statement of an officer of the business, documentation that the business
				  is actively exploring other sites for the project, or any other information the
				  authority may reasonably require during the application review process to
				  establish that a job is at risk.
"Sufficient benefits "
means that the
				  employer applying for financial assistance offers to each full-time equivalent
				  permanent position a benefits package that meets one of the following:
1. The employer pays 80 percent of the premium costs for a
				  standard medical and dental plan for single employee coverage with a $750
				  maximum deductible; or
2. The employer pays 50 percent of the premium costs for a
				  standard medical and dental plan for employee family coverage with a $1,500
				  maximum deductible; or
3. The employer provides medical coverage and pays the
				  monetary equivalent of paragraph "1" or "2" above in supplemental employee
				  benefits. Benefits counted toward monetary equivalent could include medical
				  coverage, dental coverage, vision insurance, life insurance, pension,
				  retirement (401k), profit sharing, disability insurance, child care services,
				  and other nonwage compensation approved by the board.
"Technology commercialization committee "
means the committee organized by the board pursuant to 261-Chapter 1.