(1)
Designation of the TIF Zone. The TIF Zone shall be designated in accordance with the requirements of 429 CMR 2.04.
(2)
Description of the Projects. The MWT-TIF Plan shall describe in detail all training, retraining, and workforce repositioning contemplate d for such MWT-TIF Zone as of the date of adoption of the MWT-TIF Plan that shall be eligible for the MWT-TIF Exemption. The MWT-TIF Program is designed to promote the timely development of projects which have been thoroughly planned and to which the municipality and private parties are prepared to commit themselves. The MWT-TIF Plan and the incorporated MWT-TIF Agreements embody those commitments as representations to the EACC that the parties will proceed forthwith with the workforce development programs described in the MWT- TIF Plan in accordance with the time schedules included in the MWT- TIF Plan. The description shall include a description of the projects proposed for the MWT-TIF Zone that will receive MWT-TIF Exemptions. The MWT-TIF Plan must include documentary evidence of the level of each employer's financial commitment to any MWT-TIF Project, including without limitation business plans including time schedules for development from initial planning to project completion, projected returns on the investment, the expected increase in job opportunities, and estimated tax revenues based upon increased valuation of the parcel within the MWT-TIF Zone. The MWT-TIF Plan shall include a budget for proposed project expenditures with supporting data.
(3)
Manufacturing Workforce Training Tax Increment Exemptions from Property Taxes. The MWT-TIF Plan shall authorize the tax increment exemptions from property taxes, for each parcel located in a MWT-TIF Zone for which an agreement has been executed with the owner of the parcel in accordance with 429 CMR 2.05(6).
(a)
Term of the Exemption. Each exemption shall be for a term no longer than the period specified in the agreement, not to exceed 20 years.
(b)
Calculation of the Exemption. The exemption shall be calculated for each fiscal year of the specified term. The amount of the exemption shall be equal to the exemption percentage multiplied by the amount by which the property's then current valuation exceeds the product of its base valuation multiplied by the adjustment factor, where the:
1. exemption percentage for each year of the term of the MWT-TIF Agreement is established by the municipality and stated in the MWT-TIF Plan, provided that such exemption percentage does not exceed 100%. The amount of the exemption percentage specified in the MWT-TIF Plan may vary from year to year but may, for each year, be stated as a percentage or as established by formula.
2. the base valuation is the assessed value established for the most recent fiscal year immediately prior to the fiscal year in which the property first becomes eligible for an exemption under 429 CMR 2.05(3).
3. the adjustment factor is equal to the product of the inflation factors for each fiscal year following the year of which the parcel first became eligible for the tax increment exemption, under 429 CMR 2.05(3); and
4. the inflation factor for each fiscal year shall be calculated as a fraction, the numerator of which shall equal the total assessed value of all parcels of commercial and industrial real estate in the municipality that are assessed at full and fair cash value for the current fiscal year minus the new growth adjustment for the current fiscal year attributable to the commercial and industrial real estate as determined pursuant to M.G.L. c. 59, § 21C(f) (the new growth adjustment pursuant to "Proposition 2½") and the denominator of which shall equal the total assessed value for the preceding year of all parcels included in the numerator. If the fraction is less than one, then the inflation factor for that fiscal year shall be one.
(c)
Total Amount of the Exemption. The employer must demonstrate a commitment to provide an investment in training of employees in an amount at least equal to the amount of the exemption sought. Such investment may be either cash or in-kind, and shall include those costs incurred as a direct consequence of undertaking the training for which the exemption is sought, but shall not include any of an employer's on-going costs of doing business if such costs are not directly related to this training, nor shall such investment consist of any investment used to satisfy the investment requirements of M.G.L. c. 29, § 2RR(f) for Workforce Training Fund grants or the investment requirements of M.G.L. c. 29, § 2WWW(f) for Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund grants.
(d)
Effective Date Tax Increment Exemption. The property becomes eligible for the tax increment exemption on the July first following the date on which the EACC approves the MWT-TIF Plan.
(4) Identification of the owner of each parcel of real property located in the MWT- TIF Zone. The MWT-TIF Plan shall include a list of the owners of each parcel of real property located within the MWT-TIF Zone as shown in the records of the Assessor's office of the municipality.
(5)
Delegation of Authority to Execute MWT-TIF Agreements. The MWT-TIF Plan shall refer to an ordinance or bylaw delegating to one municipal board, agency, or officer the authority to execute MWT-TIF Agreements and subsequent modifications thereto between the municipality and the owners of parcels of real property which are located in the MWT-TIF Zone.
(6)
Executed MWT-TIF Agreements. The MWT-TIF Plan shall include each executed agreement between such city or town and each eligible owner of a parcel of real property which is located in a MWT-TIF Zone. Each such agreement shall include the following:
(a) all material representations of the parties which served as a basis for the descriptions contained in the MWT-TIF Plan in accordance with 429 CMR 2.05(2) and which served as a basis for the granting of a MWT-TIF Exemption;
(b) any terms considered appropriate by the city or town relative to compliance with the MWT-TIF agreement including, but not limited to, that which shall constitute a default by the property owner and the remedies that shall be instituted between the parties for any such defaults, including an early termination of the agreement, provided that any exemption allowed pursuant to an executed agreement shall be recaptured in a manner similar to that provided under M.G.L. c. 63, § 31A(e) should the property owner default;
(c) a provision requiring that 75% of the eligible workforce shall receive training that is designed to retain employment in such city or town;
(d) a provision requiring that the Project shall be evaluated by the department of workforce development, through the Commonwealth Corporation, in the same manner as other workforce and job-training programs pursuant to M.G.L. c. 23H, § 11;
(e) a detailed recitation of all other benefits and responsibilities inuring to and assumed by the parties to such agreement;
(f) a provision that such agreement shall be binding upon subsequent owners of such parcel of real property; and
(g) provisions certifying that the property owner has sought the advice and recommenda-tions of the local applicable Workforce Investment Board, and information concerning the following factors:
1. whether the Project will increase the skills of low-wage, low-skilled workers;
2. whether the Project will create or preserve jobs at wages sufficient to support a family;
3. whether the Project will have a positive economic impact on a region with high levels of unemployment or a high concentration of low-skilled workers;
4. whether the employer has made a commitment to provide significant private investment in training during the duration of the Project and after the Project has been complete;
5. whether the Project will supplement, rather than replace, private investments in training;
6. whether the employer is a small business that lacks the capacity to provide adequate training without such assistance;
7. whether the Project will provide residents of the commonwealth with training for jobs that could otherwise be filled only by residents of other nations; and
8. whether the application was developed with employee participation.
(7)
Local Approvals. The MWT-TIF Plan shall be accompanied by evidence of local approvals of a MWT-TIF Zone and a MWT-TIF Plan, in accordance with 429 CMR 2.06.
