SENATE, No. 472
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
INTRODUCED JANUARY 18, 1996
By Senators CIESLA and KYRILLOS
An Act creating the "Business Relocation Assistance Grant Program" and making an appropriation therefor.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Business Relocation Assistance Act."
2. As used in this act:
"Business relocation grant" or "grant" means a grant provided to fund a portion of the employer's relocation costs pursuant to this act;
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Economic Development;
"Department" means the Department of Commerce and Economic Development;
"Employer" or "business" means any employer subject to the provisions of R.S. 43:21-1 et seq. and may include a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation that has made an election under Subchapter S of Chapter One of Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any other business entity through which income flows as a distributive share to its owners, limited liability company, nonprofit corporation, or any other form of business organization located either within or outside the State. A grant received under this act by a partnership, Subchapter S-Corporation, or other such business entity shall be apportioned among the persons to whom the income or profit of the partnership, Subchapter S-Corporation, or other entity is distributed, in the same proportions as those in which the income or profit is distributed;
"Full-time employee" means a person who is employed for consideration for at least thirty-five hours a week, or who renders any other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time employment, provided that a person is determined by the department to be employed in a permanent position in accordance with criteria developed by the department;
"New business location" means the premises that the employer has either purchased or built or for which the employer has entered into a written lease for a period of no less than eight years from the date of relocation;
"New full-time job" means a job that did not exist prior to the employer or business relocating to the new business location, held by a full-time employee;
"New income tax revenue" means the total amount withheld by the business during the taxable year from the wages of employees in new full-time jobs pursuant to the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., as certified by the Director of the Division of Taxation;
"Program" means the Business Relocation Assistance Grant Program created pursuant to this act;
"Relocation costs" means the costs incurred by the employer or business in moving and installing furniture, files, office equipment or other machinery or equipment in the new business location; the cost of installation of telephones and other communication equipment; and the cost incurred in the purchase of office furniture and fixtures; and
"Total allowable relocation costs" means the lesser of total relocation costs or $400 times the number of new full-time jobs created.
3. The Business Relocation Assistance Grant Program is hereby established in the Department of Commerce and Economic Development and shall be administered by the Commissioner of the Department of Commerce and Economic Development. The purpose of the program is to encourage economic development and job creation. To implement that purpose, and to the extent that funding for the program is available, the program may provide grants in an amount up to and including fifty percent of the total allowable relocation costs, but in no case shall the amount of an individual grant exceed 80% of the projected new income tax revenues from the new jobs created by a grant applicant.
4. To qualify for a grant, a business shall:
a. relocate a minimum of 25 new full-time jobs to this State; or
b. move to expanded facilities within the State and create a minimum of 25 new full-time jobs in the State.
5. Each employer seeking a grant shall submit an application to the commissioner in a form and manner prescribed in regulations adopted by the commissioner. The application must be submitted to the department for approval at least 45 days prior to moving to the new business location. The application shall include:
a. A schedule of short-term and long-term employment projections of the employer or business in the State based upon the relocation;
b. An estimate of the projected relocation costs;
c. Terms of any lease agreements or details of the purchase or building of the new business location;
d. An estimate of the projected new income tax revenues resulting from the relocation;
e. A description of the type of contribution the employer can make to the long-term growth of the State's economy; and
f. Any other necessary and relevant information as determined by the commissioner.
The commissioner may provide whatever assistance he deems appropriate in the preparation of an application and may issue grants at his discretion subject to the provisions of this act.
6. No amount shall be disbursed to a recipient employer as a grant under this act in any year until the State Treasurer has certified that the amount of new income tax revenue received in that year by the Division of Taxation from the employer equals or exceeds the amount of the grant.
7. a. An employer that is receiving a business employment incentive grant pursuant to the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. )(now before the Legislature as Senate Bill No. 471 of 1996 or Assembly Bill No. of 1996) shall not be eligible to receive a grant under this act except upon the approval of the State Treasurer.
b. An employer that is receiving any other grant by operation of State law shall not receive an amount as a grant pursuant to this act which, when combined with such other grants, exceeds 80% of its new income tax revenue, except upon the approval of the State Treasurer. Amounts received as grants from the Office of Customized Training pursuant to the "1992 New Jersey Employment and Workforce Development Act," P.L. 1992, c. 43 (C. 34:15D-1 et seq.) shall be excluded from the calculation of the total amount permitted under this subsection.
8. The commissioner shall, after consultation with the Division of Taxation, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations necessary to govern the proper conduct and operation of the program consistent with the provisions of this act including, but not limited to, a procedure for recapturing relocation grants awarded pursuant to this act in those cases in which the commissioner determines that the business receiving the grant fails to meet or comply with any condition or requirement attached by the commissioner to the receipt of the grant or included in rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner governing the implementation of the program. The Director of the Division of Taxation is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effect the tax related provisions of the program.
9. As determined by the commissioner, any employer or business which is awarded a grant under this act shall submit a copy of its State tax return showing business income or activity, appropriate to its form of ownership, to the commissioner. Failure to submit a copy of this document may result in the suspension or termination of a grant.
10. The commissioner shall prepare and transmit to the Governor and the Legislature on or before November 1st of each year, a report concerning the impact of the program on job creation in the State.
11. The department shall conduct a study to determine the minimum funding level required to successfully implement this program. The study shall fully consider the rate of return for each job relocation in the State as a result of the relocation grants.
12. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1995, there is appropriated to the Department of Commerce and Economic Development from the General Fund such sums as may be necessary, as certified by the commissioner and the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, to fund business relocation grants made under this act, the amount of which shall not exceed the new income tax revenues as defined in section 2 of this act.
13. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a Business Relocation Assistance Program within the Department of Commerce and Economic Development for the purposes of encouraging economic development and job creation in this State. To the extent that funding is available from the General Fund and with certain other restrictions, the program will provide grants for up to 50 percent of the cost of relocation to businesses which relocate to or within the State and create a minimum of 25 new full-time jobs in the State. A grant could not exceed 80 percent of the projected new income tax revenues derived from the new jobs created by the participating business.
The bill provides that the amount disbursed in any year to a recipient business as a grant could not exceed the amount of new income tax revenue received by the Division of Taxation from the employer in that year. The bill also prohibits a business receiving a grant under the "Business Employment Incentive Program" created pursuant to Senate Bill No. 471 of 1996 (a companion bill) from receiving a grant pursuant to this bill, except upon the approval of the State Treasurer. The bill also limits the amount of a grant to a business under this bill if, when the amount is combined with any other grants received pursuant to State law, the total amount of all grants exceeds 80 percent of its new income tax revenue, except upon the approval of the State Treasurer. Amounts received from the Office of Customized Training pursuant to the "1992 New Jersey Employment and Workforce Development Act," P.L.1992, c.43 (C.34:15D-1 et seq.) would be excluded from the calculation of the 80 percent threshold.
Creates the "Business Relocation Assistance Grant Program" and makes an appropriation therefor.