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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.2 Sales Tax Reibm Program~~ ^\ -' ~V C~ 1 ~~/// ~~ ~~ CITY CLERK File # ^~~~-Q~ AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: October 6, 2009 SUBJECT: Revisions to the Sales Tax Reimbursem t P •ogram Report Prepared by: Linda Maur; Assistant to ity Manager ATTACHMENTS: 1. Resolution 09-09 dated January 6, 2009 adopting the Sales Tax Reimbursement Program 2. Proposed Resolution Revising and Restating the General Provisions of the City's Sales Tax Reimbursement Program RECOMMEND I That the City Council Adopt the Resolution Approving Revisions to the City's Sales Tax Reimbursement Program. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: The proposed revisions would be revenue positive to the City. DESCRIPTION: At the January 6, 2009 City Council meeting, the City Council approved the Sales Tax Reimbursement Program as the first element of the Economic Incentive Program (see Attachment 1). Since the program's adoption, the City has completed one agreement, resulting in Graybar Electric, with up to 100 employees, locating in Dublin. The adopted Sales Tax Reimbursement Program requires that program participants generate $10,000,000 or more in new annual taxable sales ($100,000 in sales tax revenue to the City) in order to receive a reimbursement for that year, and sets the reimbursement period at five years. Staff is recommending the creation of an extended reimbursement period - 10 years -for those participants that generate $50,000,000 or more in new annual taxable sales ($500,000 in sales tax revenue to the City) in order to receive a reimbursement for that year. This revision would provide targeted assistance to the City's economic development efforts to backfill the large vacancies in the Downtown and attract users in other areas within the City that allow for regional or general commercial development. The proposed Resolution would enact this proposed revision to the Program, and would restate the other general guidelines included in Resolution 09-09 to ensure that these guidelines are clear and can be found in one document. It does not change any other aspect or limitation of the current Program and would not conflict with any current law. RECOMMENDATION: That the City Council Adopt the Resolution Revising and Restating The General Provisions Of the City's Sales Tax Reimbursement Program. COPY TO: Page 1 of 1 ITEM NO. (~ RESOLUTION NO. 9- 09 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN APPROVING THE SALES TAX REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM WHEREAS, the current worldwide economic slowdown has impacted the City of Dublin's revenues; and WHEREAS, for decades, state and local government have used Economic development incentives to attract or retain jobs and/or improve a local tax base; and WHEREAS, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has recommended that any proposed incentive program has specific goals and criteria that serve to define the economic benefit to both the government and the entities receiving the incentives expect to gain from the incentives, the conditions under which the incentives are to be granted, and the actions to be taken should the actual benefits differ from the planned benefits; and WHEREAS, in an attempt to attract new businesses that will provide additional jobs and generate additional tax revenues for the City, Staff is requesting City Council consideration of a program to stimulate reinvestment in the community through a Sales Tax Reimbursement Program; and WHEREAS, the objective of the proposed Sales Tax Keimbursement program would be to: (1) improve the aesthetic nature and physical appearance of existing buildings and promote site improvements to commercial ro ernes in the existir~ commercial/oFfice!indu~tri~~? ~re-~~ „F n,~'~';., ~~.;~} ~~~ tare ~ ~ ~~,; buildings throughout the eonzmunity with the goal of improving the existing building stock and also lowering long-term vacancy rates in the community; and WHEREAS, the program would use the concept of reimbursement through sales tax revenues to assist and encourage property ownersltenants to reinvest in, reconstruct, rehabilitate and renovate their properties; and WHEREAS, the proposed program would allow property owners and/or tenants, through a written agreement with the City, to recover over time a portion of the cost of improvements (internal and external) made to the property. The reimbursement would be limited to the actual costs incurred by the owner/tenant for improvements to structures and the property site. Eligible costs would include exterior improvements (painting, facade repair, replacement signage), interior improvements (tenant improvements), and site improvements (parking lots, driveways, landscaping, etc.). Reimbursement for demolition of existing buildings and replacement with new buildings may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Land acquisition costs would be excluded from eligible expenses; and WHEREAS, the program would be made available to businesses that would generate over $100,000 in new sales tax each year (this requires annual taxable sales of $10 million). Businesses would need to certify, by providing copies of sales tax returns to the State Board of Equalization (SBOE) that based on previous operations that this threshold has been met; and WHEREAS, the program would be made available to new, not existing businesses. An exception would be considered on a case-by-case basis for existing Dublin businesses that might relocate/expand within Page 1 of 2 Item ~~=- ~o'~.~ (~'~' 1~~~.~m~,~~-- I Z~ S the City, if their move /expansion results in additional sales tax revenues that would meet the target ($100,000 or more) established for the program; and WHEREAS, the program would require that all improvements considered under this program must be approved by the City and subject to all laws and regulations; and WHEREAS, the program would calculate and distribute the reimbursement as follows: 1. The amount of eligible improvements will be established and certified with documentation of the expenses. 2. Once retail sales begin to be paid based on reported sales transactions at a location within the City of Dublin, no more than fifty percent (50%) of the net new sales tax would be calculated and considered as the amount of reimbursement subject to the following limitations: a. The cumulative maximum reimbursements paid to the business cannot exceed the total established in number 1 above. b. Reimbursements would be made on an annual basis. c. Reimbursements would continue until the full amount in number 1 above was reimbursed or for a period five (5) years, whichever occurs first. ~VIJERAS, ti~t~ p;-o~ram would rcciuire th~~t all ~a'c: "l,ax Reilribursezrient ~l~rc::m~r~ts l;t nc~c;tiated by taf~'and ~i~pruv~~t icy .,..., _~~.~ ~~~i~~~c;il. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin does hereby approve the Sales Tax Reimbursement Program for a period of two (2) years. BE IT I+URTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin will revisit the program at the end of the two-year period and determine if the program should be continued based upon the economic conditions at that time. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 6'h day of January, 2009, by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Biddle, Hart, Hildenbrand, Scholz, and Mayor Sbranti NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None ~_ . Mayor ATTE T: C„~ / ` City Clerk Reso No. 9-09, Adopted 1-6-09, Item 7.] Page 2 of 2 3~ S RESOLUTION NO. XX- 09 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN REVISING AND RESTATING THE GENERAL PROVISIONS OF THE CITY'S SALES TAX REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM WHEREAS, one of the City Council's Fiscal Year 2009-2010 High Priority Goals and Objectives is to develop an Economic Incentive Program; and WHEREAS, in January 2009, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 9-09, establishing the Sales Tax Reimbursement Program ("Program")to stimulate economic development activities in the City; and WHEREAS, the adopted Program permits certain companies who have satisfied the City's requirements for participation in the program to receive reimbursement over a five (5) year reimbursement period for pre-approved exterior improvements (painting, facade repair, replacement signage), interior improvements (tenant improvements), and site improvements (parking lots, driveways, landscaping, etc.) provided that the Program participants generate $100,000 in new sales tax revenue to the City each year, in order to receive reimbursement for that year; and WHEREAS, this Resolution would revise the Program to give the option of a ten (10) year reimbursement period for participants that generate $500,000 in sales tax revenue for the City each year; and WHEREAS, this revision will provide additional, targeted assistance to the City's economic development efforts to backfill large vacancies in the Downtown and attract users in other areas within the City that allow for regional or general commercial development; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Dublin wishes to revise the Sales Tax Reimbursement Program as described above, and to restate the provisions of the Program as a whole. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin does hereby revise and restate the general guidelines of the City's Sales Tax Reimbursement Program as follows. 1. The objective of this Sales Tax Reimbursement Program ("Program") is to: (a) improve the aesthetic nature and physical appearance of existing buildings and promote site improvements to commercial properties in the existing commercial/office/industrial areas of Dublin; (b) target existing buildings throughout the community with the goal of improving the existing building stock and also lowering long-term vacancy rates in the community; (c) generate additional sales tax revenue for the City by encouraging businesses to establish a presence in the City; and (d) attract new jobs to the City. The provisions of this Resolution are intended to provide general guidelines for the Program, and are not intended to describe all of the requirements that maybe imposed in an agreement entered into pursuant to the Program. 2. The Program is primarily intended to be made available to proposed new businesses considering locating in the City. An exception may be considered, on a case-by-case basis, for existing Dublin ~+~ s businesses that might relocate or expand within the City, provided that they can show that such a move or expansion is expected to result in additional sales tax revenues above the amount they have historically paid in an amount that meets the minimum sales tax revenue targets required for the applicable agreement category, as described in Section 5. 3. Agreements entered into pursuant to the Program shall limit the eligible reimbursement amount to the actual cost of eligible improvements paid by the business owner for improvements to structures and the property site. The eligible reimbursement amount shall be certified by the provision of documentation showing the amount actually paid for the eligible improvements. Eligible improvements are: a) Exterior improvements (including painting, facade repair, replacement signage) b) Interior improvements to the building c) Site improvements (including parking lots, driveways, landscaping, etc.). d) Reimbursement for demolition of existing buildings and replacement with new buildings may, at the City's discretion, be considered on a case-by-case basis. 4. Business owners may apply for consideration as participants in the Program. If approved for consideration by City Staff, the business owner and City Staff shall negotiate a written agreement for the recovery of the costs of certain improvements made to the property at which their business is proposed to be located. Any such agreement is subject to all applicable state and federal laws and must be approved by the City Council before being executed by the City. 5. There will be two general categories of agreements under the Program: Five Year Agreements, and Ten Year Agreements. Under both categories, payments by the City to the business owner will be made no more than once each year, and the amount of the payment in any one year will be no more than fifty percent (50%) of the sales tax revenue attributable to the business in the preceding year. Furthermore, in no event shall the total amount paid by the City over the entire repayment term exceed the eligible reimbursement amount. a) Five Year Agreements shall provide a maximum repayment term of five years. A Five Year Agreement would be made available to businesses that expect to generate at least $100,000 in sales tax revenue each year (this requires annual taxable sales of $10 million). In order to receive any payment in a given year, participants will be required to certify, by providing copies of sales tax returns, that the business generated at least $100,000 in sales tax revenue for the City in the preceding year. b) Ten Year Agreements shall provide for a maximum repayment term of ten years. A Ten Year Agreement would be made available to businesses that expect to generate at least $500,000 in sales tax revenue each year (this requires annual taxable sales of $50 million). In order to receive any payment in a given year, participants will be required to certify, by providing copies of sales tax returns, that the business generated at least $500,000 in sales tax revenue for the City in the preceding year. 6. The Program shall terminate on January 5, 2011, absent further action by the City Council modifying the termination date. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 6th day of October, 2009 by the following vote: AYES: 5eh5 NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk 1300822.1