North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 04 - COMMERCE › Chapter 01 - DEPARTMENTAL RULES › Subchapter I - INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND › Section .0100 - PURPOSE AND DEFINITIONS › Section 01I .0101 - BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) BASIC -
				  The purpose of the North Carolina Industrial Development Fund is to assist
				  town, city or county governments with incentive industrial financing in areas
				  of the state that have been designated as eligible tier areas by NC General
				  Statutes. This assistance is intended to help units of government offer to its
				  new and expanding industry, new or improved infrastructure, or funds for
				  building renovation and equipment in exchange for commitments to create new,
				  full-time jobs in industries currently eligible under NC General Statutes. (The
				  fund is not designed to be used for the acquisition of land and buildings or
				  constructing new buildings.) If the assistance is used for infrastructure, it
				  shall be granted to local governments with no repayment; however, if it is used
				  to purchase equipment or to renovate industrial buildings, then the funds must
				  be repaid. But whether a grant or a loan, the amount of funds to be made
				  available for a project shall be determined by the number of new jobs
				  committed, with a maximum job limit and project limit as currently authorized
				  for the program by NC General Statutes.
(b) EMERGENCY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE
				  - This special assistance from the Industrial Development Fund is available to
				  units of government that have, or shall imminently experience, a loss of 500 or
				  more manufacturing jobs in the county, or a number of manufacturing jobs equal
				  to at least 10% of the manufacturing workforce in the county. Where a unit of
				  government relies on the 500 jobs lost as the threshold for obtaining this
				  special assistance, it must submit evidence that the loss impacts the county's
				  economy, taking into account the county's tier ranking under Rule .0701 of this
				  Subchapter. The funding obtainable under this emergency assistance category
				  shall not necessarily be determined by the number of new jobs to be created,
				  although the project should lead to new jobs or saved jobs or both and help
				  alleviate a jobs dislocation problem. The Secretary shall determine the amount
				  of funds for a project, up to the maximum currently authorized for the program
				  by NC General Statutes. This assistance shall be in the form of a low interest
				  loan to the governmental unit, amortized over five years with repayment
				  beginning at the end of the second year.
(c) UTILITY ACCOUNT - Within the IDF
				  structure, the Utility Account provides financing to units of government for
				  jobs creation and investment in the tier area(s), and for benefiting firms
				  currently authorized by NC General Statutes. Funds may be used for construction
				  or improvements to water, sewer, gas, or electrical utility lines and equipment
				  for existing or proposed industrial buildings. There is no specific amount of
				  funding specified for each new job or project, but the impact of the funding
				  shall lead to the creation of new jobs and new investment. As with basic IDF
				  financing, if Utility Account funds are spent for public property, the
				  assistance shall be a grant; for private property, it shall be a
				  loan.
Authority
					 G.S.
					 143B-437.01;
Temporary Rule Eff.
					 November 16, 1987 for a Period of 180 Days to Expire on May 15,
					 1988;
Eff. May 1, 1988;
Temporary Amendment Eff.
					 January 11, 1999;
Codifier determined that agency findings did not
					 meet criteria for temporary rule;
Temporary Amendment Eff. October
					 6, 1999;
Amended Eff. July 1, 2012; August 1, 2000;
Pursuant to
					 G.S.
					 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without
					 substantive public interest Eff. September 6,
					 2016.