SB21: Bill Text

SB21,1464,21 (3) Eligibility for tax benefits. A person is eligible to receive tax benefits if, in each year for which the person claims tax benefits under this section, the person increases net employment in this state in the person's business above the net employment in this state in the person's business during the year before the person was certified under sub. (2), as determined by the authority under its policies and procedures.

SB21,1464,23 (4) Awards, limits, expiration. (a) The authority may award all of the following tax benefits to a person certified under sub. (2):

SB21,1464,25 1. An amount equal to up to 10 percent of the amount of wages that the person paid to an employee in an eligible position in the taxable year.

SB21,1465,4 2. An amount equal to up to 5 percent of the amount of wages that the person paid to an employee in an eligible position in the taxable year, if the eligible position is offered at the claimant's business in an economically distressed area, as determined by the authority.

SB21,1465,9 3. An amount equal to up to 50 percent of the person's training costs incurred to undertake activities to enhance an employee's general knowledge, employability, and flexibility in the workplace; to develop skills unique to the person's workplace or equipment; or to develop skills that will increase the quality of the person's product.

SB21,1465,14 4. An amount equal to up to 3 percent of the person's personal property investment and 5 percent of the person's real property investment in a capital investment project, if the project involves a total capital investment of at least $1,000,000 or, if less than $1,000,000, the project involves a capital investment that is equal to at least $10,000 per employee employed on the project.

SB21,1465,20 5. An amount, as determined by the authority, equal to a percentage of the amount of wages that the person paid to an employee in an eligible position in the taxable year, if the eligible position was created or retained in connection with the person's location or retention of the person's corporate headquarters in Wisconsin and the job duties associated with the eligible position involve the performance of corporate headquarters functions.

SB21,1465,23 (b) Subject to a reallocation by the authority under s. 235.15 (3) (d), the authority may allocate up to $10,000,000 in tax benefits under this section in any calendar year. Any unused allocation may be carried forward.

SB21,1465,25 (5) Duties. (a) The authority shall notify the department of revenue, on at least a quarterly basis, when the authority certifies a person to receive tax benefits.

SB21,1466,2 (b) The authority shall notify the department of revenue within 30 days of revoking a certification made under sub. (2).

SB21,1466,5 (c) The authority may require a person to repay any tax benefits the person claims for a year in which the person failed to maintain an eligible position required by an agreement under sub. (2) (b).

SB21,1466,8 (d) The authority shall determine the maximum amount of the tax credits under ss. 71.07 (3y), 71.28 (3y), and 71.47 (3y) that a certified business may claim and shall notify the department of revenue of this amount on at least a quarterly basis.

SB21,1466,10 (e) The authority shall annually verify the information submitted to it by the person claiming tax benefits under ss. 71.07 (3y), 71.28 (3y), and 71.47 (3y).

SB21,1466,12 (f) The authority shall adopt policies and procedures for the implementation and operation of this section.

SB21,3947 Section 3947. 235.609 of the statutes is created to read:

SB21,1466,16 235.609 Bonds for certain mortgages and securities and for the housing development fund. The authority may issue its negotiable notes and bonds to do any of the following:

SB21,1466,20 (1) Purchase certain mortgages and securities and make secured loans for housing for persons and families of low and moderate income, for the rehabilitation of existing structures, and for the construction of facilities appurtenant to existing structures consistent with the provisions and purposes of this chapter.

SB21,1466,22 (2) Make secured loans to assist eligible elderly homeowners in paying property taxes and special assessments.

SB21,1466,24 (3) Provide moneys for the housing development fund in order to make temporary loans to sponsors of housing projects as provided in this subchapter.

SB21,3948 Section 3948. 236.13 (2m) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB21,1467,14 236.13 (2m) As a further condition of approval when lands included in the plat lie within 500 feet of the ordinary high-water mark of any lake, any navigable stream, or any other body of navigable water or if land in the proposed plat involves lake or navigable stream shorelands referred to in s. 236.16, the department of natural resources, to prevent pollution of navigable waters, or the department of safety and professional services, and to protect the public health and safety, may require assurance of adequate drainage areas for private on-site wastewater treatment systems and building setback restrictions, or provisions by the owner for public sewage disposal facilities for waters of the state, as defined in s. 281.01 (18), industrial wastes, as defined in s. 281.01 (5), and other wastes, as defined in s. 281.01 (7). The public sewage disposal facilities may consist of one or more systems as the department of natural resources or the department of safety and professional services determines on the basis of need for prevention of pollution of the waters of the state or protection of public health and safety.

SB21,3949 Section 3949. 237.07 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB21,1467,20 237.07 (3) (a) For each fiscal year, the authority shall submit to the department of administration an audited financial statement of the funding received by the authority from the department of natural resources under s. 237.08 (2) and by the authority from contributions and other funding accepted by the authority under s. 237.08 (3).

SB21,3950 Section 3950. 237.08 (2) of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3951 Section 3951. Chapter 238 (title) of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3952 Section 3952. Subchapter I (title) of chapter 238 [precedes 238.01] of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3953 Section 3953. 238.01 (intro.) and (1) of the statutes are repealed.

SB21,3954 Section 3954. 238.01 (2) of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3955 Section 3955. 238.01 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 235.01 (3).

SB21,3956 Section 3956. 238.02 of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3957 Section 3957. 238.03 (title) of the statutes is renumbered 235.03 (title) and amended to read:

SB21,1468,7 235.03 (title) Duties of board the authority concerning economic development.

SB21,3958 Section 3958. 238.03 (1) of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3959 Section 3959. 238.03 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 235.03 (2), and 235.03 (2) (intro.) and (c), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1468,12 235.03 (2) (intro.) For each program developed and implemented by the board authority under this subchapter, the board authority shall do all of the following:

SB21,1468,17 (c) Require that each recipient of a grant or loan under the program submit a report to the corporation authority. Each contract with a recipient of a grant or loan under the program must specify the frequency and format of the report to be submitted to the corporation authority and the performance measures to be included in the report.

SB21,3960 Section 3960. 238.03 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 235.03 (3), and 235.03 (3) (intro.), (a) and (b) (intro.), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1468,22 235.03 (3) (intro.) The board authority shall require for each economic development program developed and implemented by the board authority all of the following:

SB21,1469,14 (a) That each recipient of a grant or loan under the program of at least $100,000 submit to the corporation authority, within 120 days after the end of the recipient's fiscal year in which any grant or loan funds were expended, a schedule of expenditures of the grant or loan funds, including expenditures of any matching cash or in-kind match or at a different time as provided in policies and procedures approved by the board an attestation, signed by the director or principal officer of the recipient to attest to the accuracy of the schedule of expenditures. The recipient shall engage an independent certified public accountant to perform procedures, approved by the corporation and consistent with applicable professional standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, to determine whether the grant or loan funds and any matching cash or in-kind match were expended in accordance with the grant or loan contract. The board shall also require the recipient of such a grant or loan to make available for inspection the documents supporting the schedule of expenditures. The board shall include the requirements under this paragraph in the contract with grant or loan recipients. The attestation shall verify that the grant or loan funds and any matching cash or in-kind match were expended in accordance with the grant or loan contract.

SB21,1469,19 (b) (intro.) That the board authority, if a recipient of a grant or loan under the program submits false or misleading information to the corporation authority or fails to comply with the terms of a contract entered into with the corporation authority, without providing satisfactory explanation for the noncompliance, do all of the following:

SB21,3961 Section 3961. 238.04 of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3962 Section 3962. 238.045 of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3963 Section 3963. 238.046 of the statutes is renumbered 235.014, and 235.014 (1) and (2), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1470,13 235.014 (1) A member of the board or an employee of the corporation authority to whom the board delegates its authority to contract shall notify the corporation's authority's legal counsel or, if the corporation's legal counsel is unavailable, the chief executive officer of the corporation authority if the member or employee has a direct or indirect, private, pecuniary interest in a contract that is being negotiated, bid for, or entered into with the corporation authority. If the corporation's authority's legal counsel or chief executive officer is notified under this section, he or she shall report the name of the individual from whom he or she received the notification and the contract in which the individual has a private, pecuniary interest to the board. A member or employee who notifies the corporation's authority's legal counsel or chief executive officer under this section is not authorized to participate in the member's or employee's capacity as a member of the board or an employee of the corporation authority in the making of the contract or to perform in regard to the contract some official function requiring the exercise of discretion on the member's or employee's part.

SB21,1470,23 (2) An employee of the corporation authority shall notify the corporation's authority's legal counsel or, if the corporation's legal counsel is unavailable, the chief executive officer of the corporation authority if the employee has a controlling interest in an entity that is negotiating, bidding for, or entering into a contract with the corporation authority. If the corporation's authority's legal counsel or chief executive officer is notified under this section, he or she shall report the name of the individual from whom he or she received the notification and the contract at issue to the board. The board shall prohibit the corporation authority from entering into any contract with an entity in which an employee of the corporation authority has a controlling interest.

SB21,3964 Section 3964. 238.05 of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3965 Section 3965. 238.06 of the statutes is renumbered 235.015 and amended to read:

SB21,1471,6 235.015 Liability limited. Neither the state nor any political subdivision of the state, nor any officer, employee, or agent of the state or a political subdivision of the state who is acting within the scope of employment or agency, is liable for any debt, obligation, act, or omission of the corporation authority.

SB21,3966 Section 3966. 238.07 of the statutes is renumbered 235.016, and 235.016 (1), (2) (intro.), (3) and (4), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1471,13 235.016 (1) Annually, by January October 1, the board authority shall submit to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2), a report identifying the economic development and housing programs and projects that the board authority intends to develop and implement during the current calendar fiscal year.

SB21,1471,18 (2) (intro.) Annually, no later than October l, the board authority shall submit to the joint legislative audit committee and the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2), a report for the previous fiscal year on each of the economic development programs of the corporation authority that contains all of the following:

SB21,1471,20 (3) The board authority shall make readily accessible to the public on an Internet-based system the information required under sub. (2).

SB21,1471,25 (4) Annually, beginning in 2014 2016, the board shall have an independent audit conducted of the corporation's authority's financial statements for the previous fiscal year and submit the audit report to the joint legislative audit committee and the chief clerk of each house of the legislature, for distribution to the legislature under s. 13.172 (2).

SB21,3967 Section 3967. 238.08 of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3968 Section 3968. 238.09 of the statutes is renumbered 235.017, and 235.017 (1), (2) and (3), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1472,5 235.017 (1) When the corporation authority is required to publicly solicit proposals from multiple vendors of goods or services.

SB21,1472,7 (2) How the corporation authority is to evaluate proposals from multiple vendors.

SB21,1472,9 (3) How the corporation authority is to assess any conflict of interest a vendor may have if the vendor sells goods or services to the corporation authority.

SB21,3969 Section 3969. 238.10 of the statutes is renumbered 235.018, and 235.018 (1) to (4), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1472,18 235.018 (1) Allocation. The corporation authority shall establish under 26 USC 146 and administer a system for the allocation of the volume cap on the issuance of private activity bonds, as defined under 26 USC 141 (a), among all municipalities, as defined in s. 67.01 (5), and any corporation formed on behalf of those municipalities, and among this state, the Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority, the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority, and the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority authority.

SB21,1472,24 (2) Amendment to allocation. At any time prior to December 31 in any year, the corporation authority may adopt rules policies and procedures to revise the allocation system established for that year under sub. (1), except that any revision under this subsection does not apply to any allocation under which the recipient of that allocation has adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of a private activity bond, as defined in 26 USC 141 (a).

SB21,1473,5 (3) Conditions. The corporation authority may establish any procedure for, and place any condition upon, the granting of an allocation under this section which the corporation authority deems to be in the best interest of the state including a requirement that a cash deposit, at a rate established by the corporation authority, be a condition for an allocation.

SB21,1473,8 (4) Certification. If the corporation authority receives notice of the issuance of a bond under an allocation under subs. (1) to (3), the corporation authority shall certify that that bond meets the requirements of 26 USC 146.

SB21,3970 Section 3970. 238.11 of the statutes is renumbered 235.11, and 235.11 (1), (2) and (5), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1473,16 235.11 (1) The corporation authority shall prescribe the notice forms to be used under s. 66.1103 (4m) (a) 1. The corporation authority shall include on the forms a requirement for information on the number of jobs the person submitting the notice expects to be eliminated, created, or maintained on the project site and elsewhere in this state by the project which is the subject of the notice. The corporation authority shall prescribe the forms to be used under s. 66.1103 (4m) (b).

SB21,1473,21 (2) If the corporation authority receives a notice under s. 66.1103 (4m) (a), the corporation authority shall estimate, no later than 20 days after receipt of the notice, whether the project that is the subject of the notice is expected to eliminate, create, or maintain jobs on the project site and elsewhere in this state and the net number of jobs expected to be eliminated, created, or maintained as a result of the project.

SB21,1473,24 (5) The corporation authority shall issue an estimate made under sub. (2) to the city, village, town, or county which will issue the bonds to finance the project which is the subject of the estimate.

SB21,3971 Section 3971. 238.12 of the statutes is renumbered 235.12 and amended to read:

SB21,1474,7 235.12 Repayment of grants, loans, and tax benefits. (1) In this section, "tax benefits" means the credits under ss. 71.07 (2dd), (2de), (2di), (2dj), (2dL), (2dm), (2dr), (2ds), (2dx), (3g), and (3t), 71.28 (1dd), (1de), (1di), (1dj), (1dL), (1dm), (1ds), (1dx), (3g), and (3t), 71.47 (1dd), (1de), (1di), (1dj), (1dL), (1dm), (1ds), (1dx), (3g), and (3t), and 76.636.

SB21,1474,15 (2) The corporation authority may not award a grant or loan under this chapter to a person or certify a person to receive tax benefits unless the corporation authority enters into an agreement with the person that requires the person to repay the grant, loan, or tax benefits if, within 5 years after receiving the grant or loan or being certified to receive tax benefits, the person ceases to conduct in this state the economic activity for which the person received the grant or loan or for which the person was certified to receive tax benefits and commences substantially the same economic activity outside this state.

SB21,3972 Section 3972. 238.125 of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3973 Section 3973. 238.127 of the statutes is renumbered 235.127, and 235.127 (2) (intro.), (c) (intro.), (e), (h) and (j), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1474,24 235.127 (2) (intro.) The corporation authority shall establish and administer a state main street program to coordinate state and local participation in programs offered by the national main street center, created by the national trust for historic preservation, to assist municipalities in planning, managing and implementing programs for the revitalization of business areas. The corporation authority shall do all of the following:

SB21,1475,3 (c) (intro.) With help from interested individuals and organizations, develop a plan describing the objectives of the state main street program and the methods by which the corporation authority shall:

SB21,1475,12 (e) Annually select, upon application, up to 5 municipalities to participate in the state main street program. The program for each municipality shall conclude after 3 years, except that the program for each municipality selected after July 29, 1995, shall conclude after 5 years. The corporation authority shall select program participants representing various geographical regions and populations. A municipality may apply to participate, and the corporation authority may select a municipality for participation, more than one time. In selecting a municipality, however, the corporation authority may give priority to those municipalities that have not previously participated.

SB21,1475,16 (h) Provide training, technical assistance and information on the revitalization of business areas to municipalities which do not participate in the state main street program. The corporation authority may charge reasonable fees for the services and information provided under this paragraph.

SB21,1475,18 (j) The corporation authority shall expend at least $250,000 annually on the state main street program.

SB21,3974 Section 3974 . 238.13 of the statutes, as affected by 2015 Wisconsin Act .... (this act), is renumbered 235.13, and 235.13 (2) (a) (intro.), (3) (intro.) and (f) and (5), as renumbered, are amended to read:

SB21,1475,23 235.13 (2) (a) (intro.) The corporation authority may make a grant to a person if all of the following apply:

SB21,1475,25 (3) (intro.) The corporation authority may consider the following criteria in making awards under this section:

SB21,1476,2 (f) Any other factors considered by the corporation to be authority considers relevant to assessing the viability and feasibility of the project.

SB21,1476,5 (5) Before the corporation authority awards a grant under this section, the corporation authority shall consider the recommendations of the department of natural resources.

SB21,3975 Section 3975. 238.13 (2) (b) 2. of the statutes is repealed.

SB21,3976 Section 3976. 238.13 (2) (b) 3. of the statutes is created to read:

SB21,1476,9 238.13 (2) (b) 3. The recipient of a grant under this section shall contribute to the project an amount that is equal to at least 50 percent of the amount of the grant.

SB21,3977 Section 3977. 238.13 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB21,1476,13 238.13 (5) Before the corporation awards a grant under this section, the corporation shall consider the recommendations of the department of administration and the department of natural resources.