(a) "For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals," as defined in this section is a form of delivering healthcare services to the public through operation of a full service, for-profit, acute care hospital and is limited to such.
(b) The tax category is to be for services which are performed by entities providing For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals. It is not meant to cover, and the tax category is not applicable to, the services by such entities providing day/evening medical clinics, treatment centers that operate as express or trauma treatment on a daily schedule without the benefits or classification as an acute care hospital with full care hospital services. The tax is to be applicable to businesses whose primary line of business or the primary type conducted is "For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals." If a business purports to fit within the category at least 50% or more of the business' gross income must be attributable to the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals aspect.
(c) The tax category is not applicable to:
(d) Any person desiring to be an Approved For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer shall make application to the City Finance Director of Wheeling on or before each fiscal year, or upon such later date during a fiscal year that such person first commences For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals within the City. No person shall qualify for treatment as an Approved For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer prior to approval by the Finance Director in a timely application filed pursuant to this Section 787.55. Failure to timely apply shall render ineligible any party later claiming to qualify for treatment as an Approved For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer for such period wherein no application was timely received.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision in this article to the contrary, the rate of tax imposed by this article shall be Seventeen Cents ($.17) per One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) of gross income from For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals rendered by each Approved For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer and such gross income shall not be otherwise taxed pursuant to any other provision of this article.
(f) To obtain the benefit of the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Tax classification set forth herein, the City Finance Director shall have full authority and discretion to grant or deny an application made pursuant to this section in his discretion considering the standards, definitions and purposes set forth in this Section 787.55. If the City Finance Director denies an application pursuant to this Section 787.55, the person filing such application shall, fifteen (15) days from notice of such denial, file a petition for the City Finance Director to such denial. The City Finance Director shall conduct a hearing concerning petition within ninety (90) and shall thereafter render a final order concerning the petition. An aggrieved applicant may appeal an adverse final order to the Circuit Court of Ohio County by filing a petition with the Circuit Court within sixty (60 ) days after notice of the final order. Failure to timely file a petition concerning a denial or a final order, as the case may be, shall render such denial or final order final and not subject to any further administrative of judicial relief.
(g) Administration.
(1) The powers granted to the City Finance Director pursuant to the Section 787.55 are in addition to all other powers granted the City Finance Director in this Article. The administration of Section 787.55, For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer, is vested in and shall be exercised by the Finance Director who, in connection therewith, shall prescribe all necessary forms.
(2) The Finance Director may prescribe necessary rules, regulations and procedures that are in conformity with Section 787.55 for administration of the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer provisions.
(3) The Finance Director may conduct an annual audit of each business approved as a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer to determine the continued eligibility of the taxpayer and to certify that the provisions provided in this Section 787.55, including without limitation, job levels and required investment amount are met and sustained for the taxable period.
(4) All businesses requesting to be eligible as a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer and those granted such status hereunder shall agree to make all their financial records available for inspection and audit by the City Finance Director and shall provide copies of all annual audited financial statements and tax returns if so requested by the City to assure compliance with the provisions provided in Section 787.55.
(5) The amount reported by an For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer may be reviewed annually by the Finance Director to verify information and to determine continued eligibility of the business. The procedure for verification of information will be developed as needed by the Finance Director.
(6) All businesses declared to be a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer hereunder must file a quarterly B & O Tax return, report gross income to the City and are subject to all of the laws contained in the City's Business and Occupation Taxation Code and abide by all local, state, and federal laws pertaining to such business and licensure.
(7) Should a business begin to assert placement into the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Tax category after the fiscal year has begun then the ability to claim that a business is subject to a levy amount as a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer shall be prorated through such time as the application is made and accepted and thereafter shall be so taxed beginning with the future quarter within the taxable year after the adoption of this Section 787.55 in 2017.
(8) There is no retroactivity to be applied to a taxpayer claiming to be a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer and no retroactive calculations shall be made on any taxes paid prior to the adoption of this Section 787.55. Therefore, the section concerning "Limitations on Claims for Refunds or Credits" shall not apply for any taxpayer attempting to claim a retroactive recalculation under this For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals category.
(h) Required Job Creation for For-profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer.
(1) Any For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer as defined in Section 787.55 which, after the adoption of this section retains, creates or increases its full-time average yearly work force of or by ten (10) persons over base year employment, shall be eligible as For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer if all other requirements of this section are also met.
"Base year employment" means the average employment within the City, which the predecessor of or the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospital utilizes to conduct activity taxable under Section 787.55 during the twelve-month period immediately preceding first application for this credit.
(2) In order for a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals to qualify for this credit, the full-time jobs retained or created shall be located within the City and shall be utilized in the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals activity. In addition, if the number of qualifying jobs decreases so that the employment level drops below the "base year employment" of full-time jobs or at a minimum twenty (20) full-time jobs, then the ability to claim eligibility as a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer shall be lost.
(3) In addition to full-time job creation and retention, any For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer must also provide financial documentation and verification of capitol investments and/or improvements in the business property utilized for the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals business, which must be located within the City and which investment shall not be less than Twenty Five Million Dollars ($25,000,000.00).
(4) The City Council's Finance Committee may request that the City Finance Director annually submit a summary report to Council on applications for For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayers which were approved, render an opinion as to whether or not the continuation of such a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals category is financially sound for the City's budget and solvency and make any recommendations concerning the continuation of the category or any needed modifications thereto which recommendations are subject to comment and opinion by the Legal Department.
(i) No Overlap Provision. Taxpayers must make a choice at the beginning of the tax year or at the start of the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospital as to the classification as a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer or claim tax credits, yet a taxpayer cannot claim both. Taxpayers have a choice concerning their eligibility as a taxpayer in the For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Category found in Section 787.55 and the tax credit that may be claimed under the provisions of this article. This tax credit sections contained in this Article being Sections 787.26 through 787.30 Industrial Expansion Credit; Sections 787.31 through 787.35 Industrial Revitalization Credit; Sections 787.40 through 787.42 Employment Credit; Section 787.53 Downtown Business District Enhancement Tax Credit; Management Information Service Taxpayer Credit Sections 787.46 through 787.52; Shared Services Taxpayers at Section 787.54; and the categorization as a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer found in Section 787.55 are mutually exclusive. Any taxpayer may assert a credit pursuant to one of the taxpayer credit sections as enumerated above within this paragraph but may not assert such credits under more than one section and may not also assert that they are eligible in the tax category of For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer. For example, a taxpayer asserting an Industrial Revitalization Credit may not also assert a Downtown Business District Enhancement Credit, nor may a Management Information Services Taxpayer assert eligibility as a Shared Services Taxpayer, nor may an entity receiving a Downtown Business District Enhancement Credit assert to be eligible for a For-Profit Acute Healthcare Hospitals Taxpayer. The taxpayer's election as to which credit will be asserted shall be binding upon the taxpayer. (Ord. 14991. Passed 8-15-17.)