(a) The Director of Finance must pay, subject to appropriation, a Cybersecurity Investment Incentive Tax Credit Supplement to each Qualified Investor who meets certain eligibility standards.
(b) An individual or entity is a Qualified Investor eligible to receive the Supplement if:
(1) the individual or entity has been designated as a qualified investor under state law and has received a final tax credit certificate for the Maryland cybersecurity investment incentive tax credit for the preceding calendar year; and
(2) the tax credit received by the individual or entity was generated by an investment in a qualified Maryland cybersecurity company, as defined in state law, that has its headquarters and base of operations in the County.
(c) The County Executive, by regulations issued under Method (1), may impose other eligibility standards. However, those standards must not make any Qualified Investor ineligible to receive the Supplement who would be eligible under subsection (b).
(d) (1) The Supplement paid to each Qualified Investor must equal the product of:
(A) the amount of the credit the Qualified Investor received under the State Cybersecurity Investment Tax Credit Program, divided by the total amount of credits all Montgomery County individuals and entities received under the State Cybersecurity Investment Tax Credit Program during the preceding calendar year; and
(B) the total amount of funds appropriated to the Supplement Program for that fiscal year.
(2) The Supplement paid to any Qualified Investor must not exceed:
(A) 50% of the State tax credit that the individual or entity receives from the Maryland Cybersecurity Investment Tax Credit Program in the preceding calendar year; or
(B) 15% of the total annual appropriation for the Supplement program.
(e) The Director of Finance must request from the Comptroller of the Treasury and Maryland Department of Commerce, by April 30 of each year, a list of each Qualified Investor who:
(1) invested in a qualified Maryland cybersecurity company headquartered and based in Montgomery County; and
(2) was issued a final credit certificate by the State during the preceding calendar year.
(f) If the Comptroller of the Treasury agrees, the Director of Finance may arrange for the Comptroller to pay the Supplement on behalf of the County. To the extent that the Comptroller does not pay the supplement, the Director must pay the supplement within 60 days after receiving this list to each Qualified Investor.
(g) An individual or entity who submits a false or fraudulent application, or withholds material information, to obtain a payment under this Section has committed a Class A violation. In addition, the individual or entity must repay the County for all amounts improperly paid and all accrued interest and penalties that would apply to those amounts as if they were overdue taxes. An individual or entity who violates this Section is liable for all court costs and expenses of the County in any civil action brought by the County to recover any payment, interest, or penalty. The County may collect any amount due, and otherwise enforce this Section, by any appropriate legal action.
(h) If all or part of the allowed state tax credit is recaptured under the applicable state law, the Qualified Investor must repay the County within 60 days the portion of any Supplement paid by the County that was based on the recaptured credit.
(i) The Executive may issue regulations under Method (1) to implement this Section. (2013 L.M.C., ch. 25, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 36, § 1; 2019 L.M.C., ch. 21, §1.)
Editor’s note—2015 L.M.C., ch. 36, § 8 also states, in part: All other provisions of this Act take effect 180 days after the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation is designated under Section 30B-2.