Bill Text: OR SB246 | 2013 | Regular Session | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to the Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program; appropriating money; and prescribing an effective date.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2013-08-21 - Effective date, October 7, 2013. [SB246 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2013-SB246-Engrossed.html

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     77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session

NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .

LC 1304

                           A-Engrossed

                         Senate Bill 246
                 Ordered by the Senate April 22
           Including Senate Amendments dated April 22

Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
  President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
  rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
  of the President (at the request of Senate Interim Committee on
  Business, Transportation and Economic Development)

                             SUMMARY

The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.

  Requires Oregon Business Development Department to establish
and administer Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program to
 { + enter into tax reimbursement arrangements with, or to + }
make loans to { + , + } qualified project sponsors for
development of certified   { - state and - }  regionally
significant industrial sites. Allows department to forgive
portions of loans where project sponsor contracts with eligible
employer. Limits loan forgiveness to lesser of percentage of
eligible site preparation costs or estimated incremental income
tax revenues.
  Establishes Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program Fund.
Continuously appropriates moneys in fund to Oregon Business
Development Department.
  Takes effect on 91st day following adjournment sine die.

                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to the Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program;
  appropriating money; and prescribing an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1.  { + The Legislative Assembly finds that:
  (1) Traded sector industries are the foundation of state and
regional economic development strategies for long-term prosperity
and job creation.
  (2) Industrial development that provides new traded sector jobs
reinforces the economies of local and regional communities and
contributes to the economic recovery of the State of Oregon.
  (3) There is a shortage of market-ready regional industrial
sites in this state. Project sponsors have limited financial
tools to facilitate development of significant and complex
industrial sites that are appropriate for traded sector
industrial use.
  (4) Public assistance is necessary to overcome
development-related constraints and to incentivize industrial
site development in this state.
  (5) The State of Oregon has a significant interest in the
success of regional economic development strategies and is the
primary beneficiary from increased income tax revenues generated
by such economic development. These revenues should be shared and
invested in facilitating significant site development for traded
sector industrial use in this state. + }
  SECTION 2.  { + As used in sections 1 to 5 of this 2013 Act:
  (1) 'Compensation' has the meaning given that term in ORS
314.610.
  (2) 'Eligible employer' means an employer that:
  (a) Has entered into a contract with a project sponsor to
conduct a business in the traded sector industry on a regionally
significant industrial site; and
  (b) Has hired one or more full-time employees who are residents
of this state and whose compensation averages at least the county
or state average in annual per employee compensation, whichever
is less.
  (3) 'Estimated incremental income tax revenues' means the
Oregon personal income tax revenues that are estimated pursuant
to section 4 of this 2013 Act to be substantially equivalent to
the amount of tax that employees of an eligible employer who are
hired after the eligible employer enters into a contract with a
qualified project sponsor to conduct a traded sector business on
a certified regionally significant industrial site will be
required to pay under ORS chapter 316 as a result of compensation
paid to the employees by the eligible employer in the tax years
beginning with the tax year following the fifth tax year in which
a project sponsor was qualified under section 3 of this 2013
Act. + }  { +
  (4) 'Industrial use' means employment activities, including but
not limited to manufacturing, assembly, fabrication, processing,
storage, logistics, warehousing, importation, distribution,
transshipment and research and development, that generate income
from the production, handling or distribution of goods or
services, including goods or services in the traded sector.
  (5) 'Project sponsor' means:
  (a) A public owner of a regionally significant industrial site
that is investing in preparation of the site for industrial use
by a third party; or
  (b) A public entity that has entered into a development or
other agreement with the private owner of a regionally
significant industrial site to prepare the site for industrial
use.
  (6) 'Regionally significant industrial site' means an area
planned and zoned for industrial use that:
  (a)(A) Contains a site or sites, including brownfields, that
are suitable for the location of new industrial uses or the
expansion of existing industrial uses and that can provide
significant additional employment in the region;
  (B) Has site characteristics that give the area significant
competitive advantages that are difficult or impossible to
replicate in the region; and
  (C) Has superior access to transportation and freight
infrastructure, including but not limited to rail, port, airport,
multimodal freight or transshipment facilities and other major
transportation facilities or routes; or
  (b) Is land designated by Metro, as defined in ORS 197.015, as
a regionally significant industrial area.
  (7) 'Traded sector' has the meaning given that term in ORS
285A.010. + }
  SECTION 3.  { + (1) In consultation with the Department of
Revenue, the Oregon Business Development Department shall
establish and administer the Oregon Industrial Site Readiness
Program. The purpose of the program is to:
  (a) Enter into tax reimbursement arrangements with qualified
project sponsors pursuant to subsection (5) of this section; or
  (b) Provide loans, including forgivable loans, to qualified
project sponsors pursuant to subsection (5) of this section.
  (2)(a) Subject to standards and procedures that the Oregon
Business Development Department shall establish by rule, the
department shall certify regionally significant industrial sites
for inclusion in the program.
  (b) A regionally significant industrial site certified under
this section must be an industrial site that is planned and zoned
for industrial use.
  (3) A project sponsor may apply to participate in the program
by submitting an application and development plan in writing in a
form prescribed by the department by rule.
  (4) The department shall establish by rule criteria and
standards for the qualification of project sponsors to
participate in the program.
  (5) Upon qualification of a project sponsor under this section,
the department may:
  (a) Enter into a tax reimbursement arrangement with the project
sponsor pursuant to which the project sponsor shall receive 50
percent of the estimated incremental income tax revenues
generated by an eligible employer per tax year until the total
investment of the qualified project sponsor in the eligible site
preparation costs established under subsection (7) of this
section has been recovered. The tax reimbursement arrangement
shall end upon recovery of all eligible site preparation costs,
including interest.
  (b) Enter into a loan agreement with the project sponsor under
terms and conditions specified and required by the department.
The agreement may specify that a portion of the loan may be
forgiven if the project sponsor enters into a contract with an
eligible employer to conduct a business in the traded sector
industry on a regionally significant industrial site within seven
years after the project sponsor was qualified under this section.
  (6) The total amount of the loan forgiveness that may be
allowed under subsection (5) of this section is the lesser of:
  (a) 50 percent of the total cost of eligible site preparation
costs; or
  (b) 50 percent of the amount of the estimated incremental
income tax revenues for the eligible employer.
  (7) The department shall establish, by rule, eligible site
preparation costs including, but not limited to, some or all of
the following:
  (a) Acquisition and assembly costs associated with creating
large development parcels.
  (b) Transportation improvements such as access roads,
intersections, turning lanes, signals, sidewalks, curbs, transit
stops and storm drains.
  (c) Water and sewer infrastructure.
  (d) Natural resource mitigation.
  (e) Site grading activities.
  (f) Environmental remediation and mitigation activities to
address brownfields issues in accordance with state and federally
approved remediation plans.
  (g) Planning, engineering and administrative costs associated
with applying for necessary local, state and federal permits.
  (h) Interest-carrying costs incurred by a project sponsor for
borrowing undertaken to develop a regionally significant
industrial site, not to exceed 20 percent of the total amount
forgiven, if any, under subsection (5) of this section. + }
  SECTION 4.  { + The Director of the Oregon Business Development
Department, in consultation with the Director of the Department
of Revenue, shall:
  (1) Determine the amount of estimated incremental income tax
revenues attributable to each certified regionally significant
industrial site.

  (2) Rely on reasonable techniques of estimation in making the
determination under subsection (1) of this section.
  (3) Transfer 50 percent of the amount determined under
subsection (1) of this section to the Oregon Industrial Site
Readiness Program Fund established in section 5 of this 2013 Act.
  (4) Disburse moneys to eligible project sponsors from the
Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program Fund as provided in the
tax reimbursement arrangements or loan agreements entered into
under section 3 of this 2013 Act.
  (5) Adopt rules to administer and implement the provisions of
this section. + }
  SECTION 5.  { + The Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program
Fund is established in the State Treasury, separate and distinct
from the General Fund. The + }  { + Oregon Industrial Site
Readiness Program Fund + }  { + consists of amounts deposited in
the fund and other moneys transferred to the fund. Amounts in the
fund are continuously appropriated to the Oregon Business
Development Department for the purposes of entering into tax
reimbursement arrangements and making loans under section 3 of
this 2013 Act and paying the costs and expenses of the Oregon
Business Development Department in connection with the
implementation and administration of sections 1 to 5 of this 2013
Act. + }
  SECTION 6.  { + The Oregon Business Development Department
shall report on the Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program to
the committees of the Seventy-eighth Legislative Assembly with
authority over the subject area of economic development during
the 2015 regular session. + }
  SECTION 7.  { + This 2013 Act takes effect on the 91st day
after the date on which the 2013 regular session of the
Seventy-seventh Legislative Assembly adjourns sine die. + }
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