(A) An applicant shall submit to the Director a completed incentive program application, which shall include the following at a minimum:
(1) A description of the project, total project cost, sources of funding and purpose of the incentive application.
(2) A 5-year pro forma, including the number of new jobs to be created, the wages, salaries, bonuses and commissions expected to be paid and the amount of Newport employee withholdings expected to be generated by the new jobs.
(3) General information about company management capabilities, including résumés of top management and the company's marketing strategies.
(4) Such financial and non-financial information about the applicant and/or its principals as is required by this subchapter or as otherwise deemed necessary by the Director or the Committee.
(5) Certification that the applicant is an equal opportunity employer and agrees that it shall not discriminate in hiring and employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability and that it shall comply with all federal, state and local equal opportunity policies and laws to insure non-discrimination because of race, creed, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability. The applicant shall certify that it has adopted an Affirmative Action Plan and agrees to provide a copy of same to the City upon request and further agrees to provide the City a summary of its work force during the term of the Agreement delineating the above classifications.
(B) Each application and its supporting documentation and information shall be executed under oath by an authorized representative of the applicant or of the applicant's principal with personal knowledge of the facts and representations made therein. It shall be unlawful for any such person to materially misrepresent any statement or fact in the application or supporting documents or information submitted to the Director, the Committee or the City. Upon conviction for violation of same said person shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 12 months or both. For purposes of this subsection it is not an element of the offense for the City to rely on the material misrepresentation.
(C) (1) The Director shall review each application to verify the information submitted therewith and determine:
(a) Whether the application meets the program eligibility requirements;
(b) The accuracy of the factual representations in the application and the applicant's employment and financial projections;
(c) The amount of the incentive for which the applicant qualifies and the terms upon which the Director would recommend approval to the Committee;
(d) Special credit risks presented by the applicant or the project;
(e) Whether the withholding tax credit is in the best interests of the City using sound financial criteria which would be most appropriate for the applicant; and
(f) Any and all other matters deemed appropriate to weigh the credit worthiness of the applicant, the incentive program application and the project.
(2) The Director may request additional information from the applicant at any time.
(D) After the Director’s review of the application, he shall submit it with his recommendations to the Committee for consideration of the merits and compliance with the provisions hereof. If approved, the incentive program application shall then be submitted to the Board of Commissioners for final approval. No employee withholdings credit shall be made without prior approval of the Board of Commissioners. Following final approval of the withholding tax credit by the Board of Commissioners, the Mayor shall be authorized to execute on behalf of the City any and all documents necessary to effect closing of the employee withholdings credit.
(Ord. O-2007-005, passed 4-23-2007; Am. Ord. O-2015-003, passed 5-18-2015)