HB514 Alabama 2010 Session

This bill would require the Department of Revenue to submit annual reports to the Legislature outlining yearly expenditures for economic development. This bill would also require each property-taxing entity to report annually to the Department of Revenue any real property in the entity that received a property tax abatement or reduction provided by the state, including the amount of state property tax revenue not paid to the taxing entity as a result of the reduction or abatement

This bill would allow an entity to apply for economic development subsidies through the Department of Economic and Community Affairs and would require entities that receive grants to file progress reports with the Department of Economic and Community Affairs. This bill would provide punishment for entities that default on a development subsidy and would allow citizens to bring civil actions

To establish the Alabama Economic Development and Fiscal Accountability Act, relating to expenditures for economic development; providing for public access to reports and recordings relating to economic development subsidies; providing punishment for default on a development subsidy; and allowing citizens to bring civil acts concerning the same. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA: Section 1. This act shall be known and cited as the "Alabama Economic Development and Fiscal Accountability Act." Section 2. The Legislature of Alabama finds and declares the following: (1) That, although the state and its local governmental units have granted numerous economic development subsidies in the last 25 years, the real wage levels and health care coverage of working families have declined. (2) That when workers receive low wages and poor benefits, such jobs often impose hidden taxpayer costs upon its citizens in the form of Medicaid, food stamps, earned income credits, and other forms of public assistance to the working poor and their families. (3) That citizen participation in economic development has been impeded by a lack of readily accessible information regarding expenditures and outcomes. Section 3. As used in this act, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) CORPORATE PARENT. Any person, association, corporation, joint venture, partnership, or other entity that owns or controls 50 percent or more of a recipient corporation. (2) DATE OF SUBSIDY. The date that a granting body provides the initial monetary value of a development subsidy to a recipient corporation. When the subsidy is for the installation of new equipment, the date shall be the date the corporation puts the equipment into service. When the subsidy is for improvements to property, the date shall be the date the improvements are finished or the date the corporation occupies the property, whichever is earlier. (3) DEVELOPMENT SUBSIDY. Any expenditure of public funds of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the purpose of stimulating economic development within the state, including, but not limited to, bonds, grants, loans, loan guarantees, tax-increment financing, grants, fee waivers, land price subsidies, matching funds, tax abatements, tax exemptions, and tax credits. (4) FULL-TIME JOB. A job in which an individual is employed by a recipient corporation for at least 35 hours per week. (5) GRANTING BODY. Any agency, board, office, public benefit corporation, or public benefit authority of the state that provides a development subsidy. (6) NEW EMPLOYEE. A full-time employee who represents a net increase in the number of individuals employed by the recipient corporation in the state. New employee does not include an employee who performs a job that was previously performed by another employee of the recipient corporation if that job existed for at least 6 months before hiring the employee. (7) PART-TIME JOB. A job in which an individual is employed by a recipient corporation for less than 35 hours per week. (8) PROJECT SITE. The site of a project for which any development subsidy is provided. (9) PROPERTY-TAXING ENTITY. Any entity which levies taxes upon real or personal property. (10) RECIPIENT CORPORATION. Any person, association, corporation, joint venture, partnership, or other entity that receives a development subsidy. (11) SMALL BUSINESS. A corporation whose corporate parent, and all subsidiaries thereof, employed fewer than 20 full-time employees or had a total gross receipts of less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) during the calendar year. (12) STATE. An agency, board, commission, office, public benefit corporation, or public benefit authority of the state. (13) SUBSIDY VALUE. The face value of any and all development subsidies provided to a recipient corporation. (14) TEMPORARY JOB. A job in which an individual is hired for a season or for a limited period of time. Section 4. (a) The Department of Revenue shall submit an annual Unified Economic Development Report to the Legislature no later than three months after the end of the state's fiscal year. The report shall present expenditures for economic development during the prior fiscal year, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) The amount of uncollected state tax revenues resulting from every corporate tax credit, abatement, exemption, and reduction provided by the state, including, but not limited to, gross receipts, income, sales, use, raw materials, excise, property, utility, and inventory taxes. (2) The name of each corporate taxpayer that claimed any tax credit, abatement, exemption, or reduction under subdivision (1) of Section 3 of any value equal to or greater than five thousand dollars ($5,000) together with the dollar amount received by each such corporation. (3) Any tax credit, abatement, exemption, or reduction received by a corporation of less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) each shall not