620.1878. Definitions.
Definitions.
620.1878. For the purposes of sections 620.1875 to 620.1890, thefollowing terms shall mean:
(1) "Approval", a document submitted by the department to thequalified company that states the benefits that may be provided by thisprogram;
(2) "Average wage", the new payroll divided by the number of newjobs;
(3) "Commencement of operations", the starting date for the qualifiedcompany's first new employee, which must be no later than twelve monthsfrom the date of the approval;
(4) "County average wage", the average wages in each county asdetermined by the department for the most recently completed full calendaryear. However, if the computed county average wage is above the statewideaverage wage, the statewide average wage shall be deemed the county averagewage for such county for the purpose of determining eligibility. Thedepartment shall publish the county average wage for each county at leastannually. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision to thecontrary, for any qualified company that in conjunction with their projectis relocating employees from a Missouri county with a higher county averagewage, the company shall obtain the endorsement of the governing body of thecommunity from which jobs are being relocated or the county average wagefor their project shall be the county average wage for the county fromwhich the employees are being relocated;
(5) "Department", the Missouri department of economic development;
(6) "Director", the director of the department of economicdevelopment;
(7) "Employee", a person employed by a qualified company;
(8) "Full-time employee", an employee of the qualified company thatis scheduled to work an average of at least thirty-five hours per week fora twelve-month period, and one for which the qualified company offershealth insurance and pays at least fifty percent of such insurancepremiums;
(9) "High-impact project", a qualified company that, within two yearsfrom commencement of operations, creates one hundred or more new jobs;
(10) "Local incentives", the present value of the dollar amount ofdirect benefit received by a qualified company for a project facility fromone or more local political subdivisions, but shall not include loans orother funds provided to the qualified company that must be repaid by thequalified company to the political subdivision;
(11) "NAICS", the 1997 edition of the North American IndustryClassification System as prepared by the Executive Office of the President,Office of Management and Budget. Any NAICS sector, subsector, industrygroup or industry identified in this section shall include itscorresponding classification in subsequent federal industry classificationsystems;
(12) "New direct local revenue", the present value of the dollaramount of direct net new tax revenues of the local political subdivisionslikely to be produced by the project over a ten-year period as calculatedby the department, excluding local earnings tax, and net new utilityrevenues, provided the local incentives include a discount or other directincentives from utilities owned or operated by the political subdivision;
(13) "New investment", the purchase or leasing of new tangible assetsto be placed in operation at the project facility, which will be directlyrelated to the new jobs;
(14) "New job", the number of full-time employees located at theproject facility that exceeds the project facility base employment less anydecrease in the number of full-time employees at related facilities belowthe related facility base employment. No job that was created prior tothe date of the notice of intent shall be deemed a new job. An employeethat spends less than fifty percent of the employee's work time at thefacility is still considered to be located at a facility if the employeereceives his or her directions and control from that facility, is on thefacility's payroll, one hundred percent of the employee's income from suchemployment is Missouri income, and the employee is paid at or above thestate average wage;
(15) "New payroll", the amount of taxable wages of full-timeemployees, excluding owners, located at the project facility that exceedsthe project facility base payroll. If full-time employment at relatedfacilities is below the related facility base employment, any decrease inpayroll for full-time employees at the related facilities below thatrelated facility base payroll shall also be subtracted to determine newpayroll;
(16) "Notice of intent", a form developed by the department,completed by the qualified company and submitted to the department whichstates the qualified company's intent to hire new jobs and request benefitsunder this program;
(17) "Percent of local incentives", the amount of local incentivesdivided by the amount of new direct local revenue;
(18) "Program", the Missouri quality jobs program provided insections 620.1875 to 620.1890;
(19) "Project facility", the building used by a qualified company atwhich the new jobs and new investment will be located. A project facilitymay include separate buildings that are located within fifteen miles ofeach other or within the same county such that their purpose and operationsare interrelated;
(20) "Project facility base employment", the greater of the number offull-time employees located at the project facility on the date of thenotice of intent or for the twelve-month period prior to the date of thenotice of intent, the average number of full-time employees located at theproject facility. In the event the project facility has not been inoperation for a full twelve-month period, the average number of full-timeemployees for the number of months the project facility has been inoperation prior to the date of the notice of intent;
(21) "Project facility base payroll", the total amount of taxablewages paid by the qualified company to full-time employees of the qualifiedcompany located at the project facility in the twelve months prior to thenotice of intent, not including the payroll of the owners of the qualifiedcompany unless the qualified company is participating in an employee stockownership plan. For purposes of calculating the benefits under thisprogram, the amount of base payroll shall increase each year based on anappropriate measure, as determined by the department;
(22) "Project period", the time period that the benefits are providedto a qualified company;
(23) "Qualified company", a firm, partnership, joint venture,association, private or public corporation whether organized for profit ornot, or headquarters of such entity registered to do business in Missourithat is the owner or operator of a project facility, offers healthinsurance to all full-time employees of all facilities located in thisstate, and pays at least fifty percent of such insurance premiums. For thepurposes of sections 620.1875 to 620.1890, the term "qualified company"shall not include:
(a) Gambling establishments (NAICS industry group 7132);
(b) Retail trade establishments (NAICS sectors 44 and 45);
(c) Food and drinking places (NAICS subsector 722);
(d) Public utilities (NAICS 221 including water and sewer services);
(e) Any company that is delinquent in the payment of any nonprotestedtaxes or any other amounts due the state or federal government or any otherpolitical subdivision of this state;
(f) Any company that has filed for or has publicly announced itsintention to file for bankruptcy protection. However, a company that hasfiled for or has publicly announced its intention to file for bankruptcybetween January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2009, may be a qualified companyprovided that such company:
a. Certifies to the department that it plans to reorganize and not toliquidate; and
b. After its bankruptcy petition has been filed, it produces proof,in a form and at times satisfactory to the department, that it is notdelinquent in filing any tax returns or making any payment due to the stateof Missouri, including but not limited to all tax payments due after thefiling of the bankruptcy petition and under the terms of the plan ofreorganization.
Any taxpayer who is awarded benefits under this subsection and who filesfor bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, Title11 U.S.C., shall immediately notify the department and shall forfeit suchbenefits and shall repay the state an amount equal to any state tax creditsalready redeemed and any withholding taxes already retained;
(g) Educational services (NAICS sector 61);
(h) Religious organizations (NAICS industry group 8131);
(i) Public administration (NAICS sector 92);
(j) Ethanol distillation or production; or
(k) Biodiesel production.
Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, theheadquarters or administrative offices of an otherwise excluded businessmay qualify for benefits if the offices serve a multistate territory. Inthe event a national, state, or regional headquarters operation is not thepredominant activity of a project facility, the new jobs and investment ofsuch headquarters operation is considered eligible for benefits under thissection if the other requirements are satisfied;
(24) "Qualified renewable energy sources" shall not be construed toinclude ethanol distillation or production or biodiesel production;however, it shall include:
(a) Open-looped biomass;
(b) Close-looped biomass;
(c) Solar;
(d) Wind;
(e) Geothermal; and
(f) Hydropower;
(25) "Related company" means:
(a) A corporation, partnership, trust, or association controlled bythe qualified company;
(b) An individual, corporation, partnership, trust, or association incontrol of the qualified company; or
(c) Corporations, partnerships, trusts or associations controlled byan individual, corporation, partnership, trust or association in control ofthe qualified company. As used in this subdivision, "control of acorporation" shall mean ownership, directly or indirectly, of stockpossessing at least fifty percent of the total combined voting power of allclasses of stock entitled to vote, "control of a partnership orassociation" shall mean ownership of at least fifty percent of the capitalor profits interest in such partnership or association, "control of atrust" shall mean ownership, directly or indirectly, of at least fiftypercent of the beneficial interest in the principal or income of suchtrust, and ownership shall be determined as provided in Section 318 of theInternal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
(26) "Related facility", a facility operated by the qualified companyor a related company located in this state that is directly related to theoperations of the project facility;
(27) "Related facility base employment", the greater of the number offull-time employees located at all related facilities on the date of thenotice of intent or for the twelve-month period prior to the date of thenotice of intent, the average number of full-time employees located at allrelated facilities of the qualified company or a related company located inthis state;
(28) "Related facility base payroll", the total amount of taxablewages paid by the qualified company to full-time employees of the qualifiedcompany located at a related facility in the twelve months prior to thefiling of the notice of intent, not including the payroll of the owners ofthe qualified company unless the qualified company is participating in anemployee stock ownership plan. For purposes of calculating the benefitsunder this program, the amount of related facility base payroll shallincrease each year based on an appropriate measure, as determined by thedepartment;
(29) "Rural area", a county in Missouri with a population less thanseventy-five thousand or that does not contain an individual city with apopulation greater than fifty thousand according to the most recent federaldecennial census;
(30) "Small and expanding business project", a qualified company thatwithin two years of the date of the approval creates a minimum of twentynew jobs if the project facility is located in a rural area or a minimum offorty new jobs if the project facility is not located in a rural area andcreates fewer than one hundred new jobs regardless of the location of theproject facility;
(31) "Tax credits", tax credits issued by the department to offsetthe state income taxes imposed by chapters 143 and 148, RSMo, or which maybe sold or refunded as provided for in this program;
(32) "Technology business project", a qualified company that withintwo years of the date of the approval creates a minimum of ten new jobsinvolved in the operations of a company:
(a) Which is a technology company, as determined by a regulationpromulgated by the department under the provisions of section 620.1884 orclassified by NAICS codes;
(b) Which owns or leases a facility which produces electricityderived from qualified renewable energy sources, or produces fuel for thegeneration of electricity from qualified renewable energy sources, but doesnot include any company that has received the alcohol mixture credit,alcohol credit, or small ethanol producer credit pursuant to 26 U.S.C.Section 40 of the tax code in the previous tax year;
(c) Which researches, develops, or manufactures power systemtechnology for: aerospace; space; defense; hybrid vehicles; or implantableor wearable medical devices; or
(d) Which is a clinical molecular diagnostic laboratory focused ondetecting and monitoring infections in immunocompromised patientpopulations;
(33) "Withholding tax", the state tax imposed by sections 143.191 to143.265, RSMo. For purposes of this program, the withholding tax shall becomputed using a schedule as determined by the department based on averagewages.
(L. 2005 S.B. 343, A.L. 2007 1st Ex. Sess. H.B. 1, A.L. 2008 H.B. 2058 merged with S.B. 718, A.L. 2009 H.B. 191)Effective 6-04-09