 From Site Selection magazine, November 2002
U.S. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
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South Carolina
Tax incentives legislation passed in the last session includes changes to the fee-in-lieu statutes. The maximum investment period is extended from seven to 10 years and extensions of up to 60 days are granted for the filing of fee returns. The Enterprise Zone Act has been modified such that the requirement to obtain an independent CPA audit has been repealed. The qualifying business is now required to produce a report each June 30th, and the Dept. of Revenue is required to audit at least once every three years each business with more than $10,000 in credits in a calendar year, and the business is required to pay an annual $1,000 audit fee. The Jobs Tax Credit Act creates a new class of counties, known as Distressed Counties; the designation is based exclusively on economic criteria. The amount of the credit is $8,000 per employee, which is an increase of $3,500 per employee. Taxpayers who qualify for the Federal Historic Preservation Income Tax Credit may also obtain a state tax credit of 10 percent of the expenditures that qualify for the federal credit; taxpayers not eligible for the federal credit are eligible for 25 percent of qualifying expenditures. South Carolina has increased its General Obligation debt limit by one-half a percentage, equaling about $250 million. The Bond proceeds must be spent on eligible infrastructure (land acquisition, site preparation, road, rail, water and sewer, training and environmental mitigation) for projects that create at least $400 million capital investment and 400 new jobs. Property and income tax incentives were developed for non-responsible parties who enter into a cleanup contract pursuant to the Brownfields Voluntary Cleanup Program. Also, a corporate income tax credit of 50 percent of the cleanup costs not to exceed $50,000 with a five-year carry forward was established, as well as a $1,000 per employee Job Tax Credit for otherwise eligible taxpayers.
South Dakota
Gov. Bill Janklow unveiled a one-stop site on the Internet last fall for more than 1,100 state forms now available online. South Dakota Service Direct went live on the state's Web site, allowing businesses to search for and access nearly all state forms. Each form on the Service Direct site has links to information about the form, as well as a downloadable copy for printing and mailing, and in many cases a fill-in-the-blanks style online form for direct submission to the state electronically.
Tennessee
Gov. Don Sundquist announced the 2002-2003 Transportation Work Program, which includes 55 road projects in 41 Tennessee counties. The program emphasizes improvement of rural highway corridors including nine projects that connect county seats to the interstate with four-lane highways. Urban areas will also benefit from the program. Projects in the major metros include improvements to freeways and arterial roads in Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga and Memphis. Senate Bill 2134 and House Bill 2352 — the Rural Economic Development Assistance Act of 2002 — authorize the use of up to 50 percent of the state's tobacco lawsuit settlement money for rural development. Up to $80 million may go to help support economic development in rural Tennessee counties as a result of this measure.
Texas
Through the end of June, the Texas Enterprise Zone Program had created 32 enterprise zones in 2002, more than doubling the 14 zones created in fiscal year 2001. The program promotes job creation and capital investment in economically distressed areas of Texas. State benefits for qualifying companies include a refund of sales and use tax up to $1.25 million spread over the five-year business "project" designation. Other state benefits may include a reduction or credit on the state franchise tax liability. Gov. Rick Perry announced the creation of the Governor's Council on Science and Biotechnology Development. The purpose of the council is to create a seamless system of innovation from the laboratory to the marketplace for new biotech drugs. Gov. Perry and Nuevo Leon Gov. Fernando Canales signed an agreement extending the Trans Texas Corridor into Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The pact is designed to coordinate transportation efforts to ease the movement of products between Texas ports and Mexico's heartland.
Utah
Gov. Mike Leavitt announced a new information technology structure for Utah that will accelerate the services and documents offered online by state agencies. As a result, the Governor's Cabinet will now be directly involved in setting e-government project priorities for Utah. Gov. Leavitt announced major cutbacks designed to cover the state budget's projected $173 million revenue shortfall for fiscal year 2003. Some $47.5 million in cuts were to come from road and water subsidies. In addition, the state would eliminate 164 government jobs. The Governor's Office of Planning and Budget released a report showing that the state experienced a net revenue gain of $76 million generated by the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. In addition, the games generated an estimated $4.8 billion in economic output and created $1.5 billion in labor income for Utah residents.
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