(a) Purpose. The purpose of the Village of Middlefield's Job Retention Grant Program (the "Program") is to provide an economic incentive for businesses to remain or expand within the Village. The Program specifically seeks to retain and create jobs pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in this Chapter. The Program awards an annual grant payment from the Village to an eligible business equal to a percentage of specified retained and/or new annual payroll from jobs situated at designated locations within the Village, calculated on an annual basis. Grant awards shall be appropriated and paid from the Village's non-tax-generated revenues, such as interest income, permit fees, service charges, activity fees or other form of non-tax-generated revenues.
(b) Definitions. The following terms shall be defined as follows.
(1) "Business" means any nonprofit corporation and any enterprise, activity, profession, going concern or undertaking of any nature conducted for profit or ordinarily conducted for profit, whether by an individual, partnership, association, limited liability company, corporation or other entity.
(2) "Retained Annual Payroll" means the dollar amount of retained or preserved payroll attributable to Retained Jobs.
(3) "Retained Jobs" means any position in existence on the date of a Program grant award and with respect to which a Business pays wages to an employee situate in the Village, which remains in existence continuously for the twelve-month period following the date on which the grant is awarded, and/or each anniversary thereafter.
(4) "New Annual Payroll" means the dollar amount of new or additional payroll attributable to New Jobs.
(5) "New Jobs:" means any position created by a Business for an employee situated in the Village and added to the Business's payroll after the date of a Program grant award that increases the Businesses aggregate payroll attributable or reported in the Village.
(c) Business Eligibility. A Business is eligible for the Program if it is located in the Village and has and will maintain a Retained Annual Payroll reported in the Village of not less than $1,800,000, provided, however that any Business engaged primarily in the retail sale of goods or services shall not be eligible unless authorized by Council.
(d) Application Procedures. Application forms for the Program are available from the Director of Economic Development. Once a completed application and an application fee are received by the Director of Economic Development, the Economic Development Committee will review the application and make a recommendation regarding eligibility and appropriate terms for the Grant to the Mayor and Council. All Grants must be approved by Village Council. After approval by Council, a Grant Agreement will be prepared by the Village for execution by the eligible business. The Grant Agreement must be executed before the Business is eligible for any payment under the Program.
(e) Grant Requirements. To receive a grant, a Business must:
(1) Agree to maintain a specified amount of Retained Annual Payroll equal to the greater of $1,800,000 or the amount of Payroll attributable to its employees situate in the Village as of the date of the grant award.
(2) Comply with the laws and ordinances of the Village of Middlefield.
(3) Not be delinquent on any tax payment to the State of Ohio or any political subdivision within the State of Ohio.
(4) Enter into a Grant Agreement with the Village of Middlefield .
(5) Agree to solicit employment applications from qualified Village of Middlefield residents and consider those applications for employment positions that are available during the term of the Grant Agreement.
(6) Comply with the terms of the Grant Agreement.
(f) Grant Terms. All Grant Agreements shall contain the following terms:
(1) An agreement to maintain a specific Retained Annual Payroll for a stated number of years, not to exceed ten (10) years.
(2) A stated amount of grant payment to be made or a formula to determine the grant payment based upon Retained Annual Payroll. The maximum grant shall be equal to an amount that is 40% of the required municipal tax withholdings on Retained Jobs if the participant also has a real estate property tax abatement on the facility where the Retained Jobs are located.
(3) Acknowledgment that payments are payable only after the Retained Annual Payroll has been maintained for one calendar year and each anniversary thereof.
(4) A schedule for grant payments during the term of the Agreement if Retained Annual Payroll is maintained.
(5) A requirement for the Business to make an Annual Report on or before a specified date each year during the term of the Agreement stating the Retained Annual Payroll and all payroll generated within the Village during the prior calendar year. A filing fee for the Annual Report is required.
(6) Provisions governing the termination of the Grant Agreement including a term that requires the Business to return to the Village of Middlefield all grant payments received, if the Business relocates outside of the Village of Middlefield during the term of the Grant Agreement and 3 years after the grant agreement ends".
(7) The Grant Agreement may be terminated at any time by the Village, in the Village's sole and absolute discretion.
(g) Application Confidentiality.
(1) Financial statements and other information (including, but not limited to tax returns) submitted by an applicant to the Village or its officials are not considered public records subject to Ohio R.C. 149.43.
(2) The Mayor, the Village Administrator and the Fiscal Officer may, however, make use of the following information obtained through the Job Retention Tax Credit Program for the purpose if issuing public reports:
A. Name of business entity;
B. Description of the project;
C. Location of the project;
D. Number of jobs retained;
E. Amount of fixed asset investment in the project;
F. Percent and terms of the tax credit, dollar value of the tax credit, years the company wants the tax credit to begin and end; and
G. The business entity's designated contact person, office address, email address, and telephone number.
(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the information contained within the Grant Agreement authorized pursuant to subsections (e) and (f) hereof is considered to be a public record.
(4) The Village Administrator, the Fiscal Officer and the Village Tax Administrator may also make use of the statements and other information obtained pursuant to this section in enforcing the provisions of this chapter and the Job Retention Tax Credit Agreement, including, if necessary, the use of said information in court proceedings related thereto.
(Ord. 23-154. Passed 11-9-23.)