(A) There is established the County Economic Development for a Growing Economy (County EDGE) incentive program.
(B) QUALIFIED EMPLOYER means a private firm that hires seven or more county residents for newly created jobs if the firm has a business presence in the county at the time of application for the County EDGE.
(C) The County EDGE shall provide an incentive payment to a qualified employer who creates new jobs located in the county that are filled by the county residents. The amount of the incentive payment shall be determined by the decision matrix contained in Attachment A, attached to the ordinance from which this section is derived.
(D) In order for a qualified employer to receive an incentive payment, the award of the County EDGE incentive must be approved by the County Council prior to the fulfillment of the jobs. An application for an award of a County EDGE shall be presented to the County Council by a representative of the County Economic Development Corporation, with a recommendation for approval of the EDGE incentive.
(E) An annual audit of the qualified employer shall be carried out by the County Treasurer, or the designee thereof, including the County Economic Development Corporation as a qualified designee, prior to the transfer of an incentive payment to the qualified employer. Such an audit shall confirm the number of employees who are residents of the county who were hired under an expansion of employment qualified under this section for the county EDGE, the amount of wages the county resident employees received, and the amount of EDIT tax paid by the county resident employees. The Treasurer shall confirm the total amount county EDIT tax paid by the qualified county resident employees, and that amount shall be provided as the incentive payment to the qualified employer.
(Ord. 1-2-20.7, passed 12-6-2010)