| (a) The Bank may not designate a nominated qualified
business as an enterprise project unless it determines that:
(1) the business meets the requirements set forth in
the Act, §2303.402, and this chapter;
(2) the qualified business is located in, or has made
substantial commitment to locate in an enterprise zone or at a qualified
business site;
(3) the applicant's governing body has not reached
the maximum number of designation allowed during the biennium;
(4) the applicant's governing body has demonstrated
that a high level of cooperation exists between public and private
entities;
(5) the designation of the qualified business as an
enterprise project will contribute significantly to the achievement
of the plans of the applicant for development and revitalization of
the area;
(6) the designation of the qualified business as an
enterprise project will further the public purposes of the Act and
significantly benefit the goals of the program which include, but
are not limited to, high impact projects or activities, targeted industry
clusters and creation of primary jobs; and
(7) the applicant's governing body is in compliance
with the Act.
(b) For job creation, a qualified business must be
seeking to create new jobs, or for an existing business seeking to
expand and increase their current level of employment in Texas. The
program, however, does not allow benefit for moving existing jobs
from one municipality or county in Texas to another within the state.
(c) For job retention, a qualified business must submit
to the governing body a written request for the retained job benefit
with documentation verifying which criteria is applicable. The governing
body must authenticate the documentation. A copy of the request from
the qualified business requesting the retained jobs benefit to the
governing body, as well as the backup documentation, must be attached
to the application under the applicable Tab. The governing body liaison
must verify that the documentation meets at least one requirement
for the retained jobs benefit on the application form. In any case,
for job retention, the qualified business must maintain the same level
of employment that existed 90 days prior to the date of designation.
Documentation that the level of employment has been maintained must
be submitted with the job certification application to the Comptroller
of Public Accounts. Any of the retained jobs that are subsequently
vacated must meet the 25% or 35% economically disadvantaged or enterprise
zone resident hiring requirement, as applicable, when the vacant position
is filled. The retained job benefit may not be used to receive benefit
for moving existing jobs from one municipality or county in Texas
to another within the state.
(d) Municipalities or counties with a population of
250,000 or more, based on the most recent decennial census, are eligible
for up to nine enterprise project designations during a state biennium
based upon availability.
(e) Municipalities or counties with a population of
less than 250,000, based on the most recent decennial census, are
eligible for up to six enterprise project designations during a state
biennium based upon availability.
(f) The Bank may not allocate more than 12 project
designations during a quarterly round unless there were fewer than
12 project designations allocated during a previous round in the biennium
to offset the difference. The Bank may allocate the remaining nine
designations during any round, and may award a designation to a lower
scoring project over and above a higher scoring project if it proposes
to create a significant number of new jobs and makes a substantial
capital investment.
(g) The governing body of a county with a population
of one million (1,000,000) or more may nominate for designation as
an enterprise project a project or activity of a qualified business
that is located within the jurisdiction of a municipality located
in the county. A county during any biennium may not use in any one
municipality more than three of the maximum number of designations
the county is permitted under Texas Government Code §2303.4069(d)(2).
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §176.3 adopted to be effective May 28, 2006, 31 TexReg 4420; amended to be effective November 10, 2011, 36 TexReg 7545; amended to be effective January 4, 2015, 39 TexReg 10420 |
