(A) No employer shall be eligible for the EDGE incentive established by this chapter without a valid certification by the Economic Development Director that the proposed new or expanded eligible business activity is qualified for it.
(B) A new or existing employer who is proposing to engage in any new or expanded eligible business activity in the city may qualify for the EDGE incentive established in this chapter by submitting a written application for it to the city with all of the information required by the city, which shall include, without limitation:
(1) Information about the organizational structure of the employer and the owners thereof;
(2) The business history of the employer;
(3) A description of the proposed new or expanded eligible business activity, including, without limitation, the location of it, along with the plans and anticipated cost of any new construction;
(4) An explanation of how the proposed new or expanded eligible business activity will promote the public purpose of relieving unemployment through new jobs and employment in the city that would not exist but for the EDGE incentive;
(5) A description of the functions and duties of each proposed position of employment in the proposed new or expanded eligible business activity, along with the number of those positions and range of compensation for each of them; and
(6) An explanation for how the business and the proposed new or expanded business activity meets any of the following factors:
(a) Directly increase future revenue/job creation in the city;
(b) Significantly decrease blight within the city;
(c) The businesses proposed new or expanded capital improvement will significantly increase the property tax value;
(d) The businesses proposed new or expanded capital improvement will significantly improve previously documented environmental hazards contained/contaminated on the property.
(7) A commencement date for the proposed new or expanded capital improvement or increase in payroll.
(C) An application for the EDGE incentive established in this chapter shall be reviewed by the Mayor, City Administrative Officer, and the Economic Development Director of the city for completeness, accuracy and compliance with this chapter; but the Economic Development Director shall not certify that the proposed new or expanded eligible business activities qualify for the EDGE incentive unless it is reasonable to believe from the information provided in the application and the Economic Development Director believes and is satisfied that:
(1) The proposed new or expanded eligible business activity proposed in the application will promote the public purpose of relieving unemployment through new jobs and employment in eligible business activities in the city that would not exist but for the EDGE incentive; and
(2) In the new jobs and employment developed in the new eligible business activity proposed in the application, the employer will actually pay during each annual period total gross wages for work and labor of employees engaged in eligible business activities in the city in excess of $750,000 for those employed in an area of the city. An existing employer may also qualify if it has $750,000 in total gross wages AND has incurred $500,000 in capital improvements within 12 months of the application OR has increased the total annual gross wages, above $750,000 by at least $500,000 and added a minimum of ten new jobs within 12 months of the application.
(3) The proposed new or expanded business activity and/or capital improvements meet at least one of the following factors:
(a) Directly increase future revenue/job creation in the city;
(b) Significantly decrease blight within the city;
(c) The businesses proposed new or expanded capital improvement will significantly increase the property tax value;
(d) The businesses proposed new or expanded capital improvement will significantly improve previously documented environmental hazards contained/contaminated on the property.
(D) In the event that it is reasonable to believe and the Economic Development Director does believe and is satisfied from the information provided in the application that the new or expanded eligible business activity proposed in the application will conform to the requirements in divisions (C)(1), (C)(2) and (C)(3) above, the Economic Development Director may certify in writing to the employer that the proposed new or expanded eligible business activities qualify for the EDGE incentive established in this chapter. The Economic Development Director shall look at the provisions of (C)(1), (C)(2) and (C)(3) above and shall consider all other incentives previously or currently offered to the employer prior to approving the application.
(E) In determining of the amount of incentive offered to each applicant, the Economic Development Director shall consider the following factors:
(1) The number of new jobs added by the proposed new or expanded business activity.
(2) The number of high quality jobs, including those with an average weekly wage that meets or exceeds the most recently reported average weekly wage for Kenton County, KY, as reported by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(3) The likelihood of any adverse impacts to the community created by the business activity, such as potential environmental or safety impacts.
(4) The potential use of public services by the business activity, such as police, fire or emergency services.
(5) Any additional investments and incentives associated with the development of the property, such as infrastructure investments or incentives such as TIF (Tax Increment Financing) districts or IRBs (Industrial Revenue Bonds).
(Ord. 2350, passed 11-2-2010; Ord. 2456, passed 11-7-2017; Ord. 2535, passed 3-1-2022)