Bill Summary for H 797 (2013-2014)

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Summary date: 

Apr 15 2013

Bill Information:

View NCGA Bill Details2013-2014 Session
House Bill 797 (Public) Filed Wednesday, April 10, 2013
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO CREATE A FUND TO PROVIDE LOANS TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SITE INFRASTRUCTURE.
Intro. by Jeter, Stam, Murry.

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Bill summary

Provides that the funds of the Site Infrastructure Development Fund can be used only for site development, in accordance with GS 143B-437.02 (previously, funds could also be used to acquire options and hold options for the purchase of land in accordance with GS 143B-437.02(m)). Amends GS 143B-437.02(c) (Definitions), providing a new definition for the term site development and also setting out and defining the terms subsidized loan and economic development commission.

Amends GS 143B-437.02(d) (Eligibility), providing that in order to be eligible for consideration for site development for a project, a local government unit must execute a written agreement with the state which includes:

(1) A requirement that the unit obtain from a business leasing or purchasing property acquired or improved by a subsidized loan an agreement to meet performance criteria that protects the state's investment and secures the benefits anticipated by the lease or sale to the business.

(2) A requirement that any performance criteria used by the unit include, at a minimum, the creation and maintenance of an appropriate level of employment by the business leasing or purchasing property acquired or improved by a subsidized loan and any other criteria the Department of Commerce (Department) considers appropriate.

(3) A requirement that the unit repay any portion of a subsidized loan reduced for job creation if the business leasing or purchasing property acquired or improved by a subsidized loan fails to meet the performance criteria.

(4) A requirement that the unit enter into an agreement with a business leasing or purchasing property acquired or improved by a subsidized loan, whereby the business agrees to reimburse the unit for any amount of repayment required by subdivision (3) of this subsection and agrees to structure the lease or sale as a conditional grant, revocable lease, or otherwise include terms permitting liquidated damages.

(5) A requirement that the unit enter into an agreement with a business leasing or purchasing property acquired or improved by a subsidized loan, whereby the business agrees to meet the requirements of subsections (e) through (g) of this section.

(Previously, to be eligible for consideration, the only requirements were that a business had to invest at least $100 million of private funds in the project and employ at least 100 new employees).

Makes technical and conforming changes to GS 143B-437.02(e), (f), (g), and (h). Provides that the Department must administer the selection process of the projects to receive site development, in consultation with the NC Rural Economic Development Center Inc. Amends the application evaluation step to require the Department to consider eight specified factors, including, but not limited to, the project's impact on gross regional product and gross state product, the extent to which the project impacts an existing industrial cluster, and the long-term prospects for growth at the project site or sites (previously, the Economic Investment Committee evaluated the different applications and specified criteria). Deletes the requirement that there be a finding that the affected local governments have participated in a recruitment and offered incentives in a manner appropriate to the project. Provides that the Secretary of Commerce (was, the Department), after the project is approved as being eligible and appropriate for site development, will enter into an agreement to provide site development with available funds for the project.

Sets out the requirements associated with a subsidized loan and the processes and procedures for repayment. Requires the Department to remit payments made pursuant to a subsidized loan to the State Community College System. Provides that, in order to ensure that public funds are used only to carry out public purposes, the Department will require each local government unit that leases or sells property improved by a subsidized loan to obtain an agreement from the acquiring business to meet performance criteria to protect the state's investment (previously, this section set out specified performance criteria which were required to be in the agreement; these requirements are now abolished).

Requires the Department, as part of the monitoring and reporting of the Infrastructure Development Program, to report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations on the status of any property sold or leased to a business.

Deletes GS 143B-437.02(m) regarding options and hold options for the purchase of land, which is no longer a permitted use of the funds from the Site Infrastructure Development Fund.

Makes technical and conforming changes throughout.

Appropriates an unspecified amount from the General Fund to the Commerce Finance Center for 2013-14.

States the General Assembly's intent to make annual appropriations to the act and for the Golden Leaf Foundation to allocate at least 15% of its annual receipts to a loan program to comport with the program in the act.

Effective when it becomes law, applying to site development agreements entered into on or after that date.