Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 870 - Rhode Island Commerce Corporation › Chapter 30 - Tax Credits and Exemptions › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 6 - Rules and Regulations for the Rhode Island Tax Increment Financing Act › Section 870-RICR-30-00-6.5 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. The following words and terms, when used
							in these Rules, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
							indicates otherwise:
1. "Act" means R.I. Gen.
							Laws Chapter 42-64.21 known as the Rhode Island Tax Increment Financing Act of
							2015.
2. "Airport district" means
							the area within a one-mile radius of the outermost boundary of T.F. Green State
							Airport located in Warwick, Rhode Island.
3. "Annual TIF payment" means that portion of
							the Total TIF Payment that an Applicant receives in a given year.
4. "Applicant" means a Developer proposing to
							enter into a TIF Agreement.
5.
							"Application" means the application, promulgated by the Corporation, which must
							be completed and submitted by an Applicant pursuant to the requirements of the
							Act and these Rules.
6. "At risk
							business" means a business at substantial risk of moving to a viable location
							out-of-state as verified by the Corporation.
7. "Board" means the board of directors of
							the Corporation.
8. "Contiguous"
							means any area of land that is adjacent to the Project Area; land may be
							considered contiguous irrespective of property boundaries or any road,
							waterway, right-of-way, easement, railroad track, marshland, or utility
							line.
9. "Corporation" means the
							Rhode Island Commerce Corporation established pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws
							Chapter 42-64.
10. "Corporation TIF
							fund" means a dedicated fund established at the Corporation for the purpose of
							depositing funds received from significant taxpayers as provided under R.I.
							Gen. Laws §
											42-64.21-5(d) 
							of the Act.
11. "Developer" means a
							person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, political subdivision, or
							other entity that proposes to divide, divides, or causes to be divided real
							property into a subdivision or proposes to build, or builds a building or
							buildings or otherwise improves land or existing structures, which division,
							building, or improvement qualified for benefits under the Act.
12. "Eligible revenue" means the revenues
							from taxes assessed and collected under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapters 44-11, 44-13,
							44-14, 44-17, 44-18, 44-19, 44-30 or realized from such venue ticket sales or
							parking taxes as may be established and levied under state law as set forth in
							R.I. Gen. Laws § 43-64.21-5 of the Act.
13. "Existing revenue at substantial risk of
							loss" means revenue resulting from the retention of one or more At Risk
							Businesses located in a Qualified Development Project as determined by
							calculating the difference between the Revenue Increment Base of the Qualifying
							TIF Area with the At Risk Business(es) against that Revenue Increment Base
							without the At Risk Business(es) shall exclude not only the revenue generated
							from the At Risk Business(es) but shall also exclude the revenue generated from
							any business(es) that are at substantial risk of closing or leaving the State
							if the At Risk Business(es) close or leave the State.
14. "Hope community" means a municipality for
							which the five (5) year average percentage of families with income below the
							federal property level exceeds the state five (5) year average percentage, both
							most recently reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
							Census.
15. "Incremental revenue"
							means:
a. Net new revenue to the State
							or
b. Existing revenue at
							substantial risk of loss to the state.
16. "Industrial park" means a property-based
							venture zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development.
17. "Letter of good standing" means a letter
							from the Division of Taxation certifying that the taxpayer is in good standing
							for purposes of these Rules; a taxpayer shall be entitled to a letter of good
							standing so long as
a. the tax payer is
							current on all outstanding filings and declared tax liabilities subject to
							audit
b. the taxpayer and the
							Division of Taxation have a workout payment agreement or other settlement with
							respect to any known delinquent tax liability and the taxpayer is current on
							that workout payment agreement or settlement, or
c. the taxpayer has timely commenced or
							engaged in an administrative or judicial proceeding concerning a tax liability
							the status of which would otherwise preclude the issuance of a letter of good
							standing.
18. "Net new
							revenue" means the actual net revenue resulting from a Qualified Development
							Project as determined for any given year by subtracting the Revenue Increment
							Base for a Qualifying TIF Area from the total net revenues generated in the
							Qualifying TIF Area in that given year.
19. "Placed in service" means the earlier of:
a. a determination by the Corporation that
							substantial construction or rehabilitation work has been completed which would
							allow for occupancy of an entire structure or some identifiable portion of a
							structure, or
b. receipt by the
							Developer of a certificate, permit or other authorization allowing for
							occupancy of the Qualified Development Project or some identifiable portion of
							the Qualified Development Project by the municipal or state authority having
							jurisdiction.
20. "Port
							district" means such areas that are within one mile of the Port of Davisville,
							Port of Providence, Port of Newport, or Port of Galilee.
21. "Project area" means land or lands under
							common ownership or control as certified by the Corporation.
22. "Project cost" means costs incurred in
							connection with the Qualified Development Project by the Applicant until the
							issuance of a permanent certificate of occupancy, or until such other time
							specified by the Corporation, including, but not limited to, lands, buildings,
							improvements, real and personal property or any interest therein, including the
							site, space or air rights, acquired, owned, developed or redeveloped,
							constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated or improved, and any environmental
							remediation costs, plus reasonable soft costs as determined by the Corporation,
							and ancillary infrastructure projects and infrastructure improvements, as
							permitted in the sole discretion of the Corporation.
23. "Project financing gap" means:
a. The part of the total Project Cost that
							remains to be financed after all other sources of capital have been accounted
							for, including, but not limited to, applicant's equity, a reasonable assumption
							of debt on the project, and any other capital source that is reasonable
							available given the nature of the project; or
b. The amount of funds that the State may
							invest in a Qualified Development Project to gain a competitive advantage over
							a viable comparable location in another state by means described in the Act and
							Rules.
24. "Qualified
							development project" means a specific construction project or improvement,
							including lands, buildings, improvements, real and personal property or any
							interest therein, including lands under water, riparian rights, space rights
							and air rights, acquired, owned, leased, developed or redeveloped, constructed,
							reconstructed, rehabilitated or improved, undertaken by a Developer, owner or
							tenant, or both, within a specific geographic area, meeting the requirements of
							the Act, as set forth in the Application made to the Corporation.
25. "Qualifying TIF area" means an area
							containing a Qualified Development Project identified by the Corporation as a
							priority because of its potential to generate, preserve or otherwise enhance
							jobs or its potential to produce, preserve or otherwise enhance housing units.
							The Corporation shall take into account the following factors in determining
							whether a Qualified Development Project is a priority:
a. General or preservation of manufacturing
							jobs;
b. Promotion of Targeted
							Industries;
c. Location in a Port
							District of Airport District;
d.
							Location in an Industrial or Research Part
e. Location in a Transit Oriented Development
							Area;
f. Location in a Hope
							Community;
g. Location in an area
							designated by a municipality as a Redevelopment Area;
h. Location in an area located within land
							approved for closure under any federal commission on base realignment and
							closure action.
26.
							"Redevelopment area" means an area designated as a redevelopment area in
							accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws §
											45-32-4.
27. "Revenue increment base" means the
							amounts of all Eligible Revenue from sources within the Qualifying TIF Area in
							the calendar year preceding the year in which the TIF Agreement is executed, as
							certified by the Division of Taxation.
28. "Research park" means a property-based
							venture consisting of primarily research and development facilities intended to
							encourage technology-led economic development that is associated with one or
							more institutions of higher learning.
29. "Request of authorization" means a
							request by a Developer to the Corporation for authorization to submit an
							Application for a TIF Incentive.
30. "State" means the State of Rhode Island
							and Providence Plantations.
31.
							"Targeted industries" means any advanced, promising or otherwise prioritized
							industry identified in the economic development vision and policy promulgated
							pursuant R.I. Gen. Laws §
											42-64.17-1 or, until such time as any such economic development vision and policy is
							promulgated, as identified by the Corporation from time to time and published
							on the Corporation's website.
32.
							"TIF agreement" means an agreement between the Corporation and a Developer,
							under which, in exchange for the benefits of the funding derived from
							qualification under the Act and these Rules, the Developer agrees to perform
							any work or undertaking necessary for a Qualified Development Project,
							including the clearance, development or redevelopment, construction, or
							rehabilitation of any structure or improvement of commercial, industrial, or
							residential property; public infrastructure; preexisting municipally-owned
							stadium of 10,000 seats or greater; or utilities within a Qualifying TIF
							Area.
33. "TIF incentive" means any
							incentive awarded by the Corporation under the Act and these Rules.
34. "Total TIF payment" means reimbursement
							of all or a portion of the Project Financing Gap of a Qualified Development
							Project from the Division of Taxation as provided under the Act and these
							Rules.
35. "Transit oriented
							development area" means either of:
a. an area
							that the Corporation, after consultation with the Rhode Island Department of
							Transportation and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, designates as a
							Transit Oriented Development Area because it supports, or has the potential to
							support, development that is in close proximity to, compatible with, and
							supportive of public transit; such discretionary designation can occur in
							response to an Application for an incentive under the Act or in a request
							submitted by a municipality to the Corporation in a for prescribed by the
							Corporation on its website; or
b.
							an area with ready access to freight rail, air, and/or marine transportation
							where manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, and freight forwarding
							operations are or could be located.