1707.02 CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION.

   The following are guidelines for considering applications to participate in a Job Creation Tax Credit Program. (The City may, in its sole discretion and on a case-by-case basis, consider applications that do not meet all of the below referenced criteria, if extenuating circumstances exist and the spirit of the program is otherwise satisfied.)

   (a)   Any “eligible business”, as that term is defined in the City of Wooster’s Enterprise Zone Policy, which commits to the creation of at least twenty-five (25) new full-time jobs in the City of Wooster, may be eligible for the job creation tax credit. Firms new to the City and current businesses that are expanding are eligible to participate.

   (b)   Each applicant shall commit to establishing, within three years of the approval of its application, a minimum of twenty-five (25) new jobs in the City of Wooster. “New jobs” does not include transfers of jobs from affiliated companies within Wooster. Each applicant must also commit to retaining the current number of jobs and to maintaining current levels of payroll, as well as maintaining its operations at those levels within the City of Wooster for at least one additional year for each year in which the tax credit is given. The jobs creation tax credit does not apply to wage and salary increases of jobs existing at the time the application is submitted.

   (c)   Each applicant shall concurrently secure a state tax credit pursuant to the job creation agreement with the State of Ohio as authorized by Ohio R.C. 122.17.

   (d)   Each applicant shall document that receiving the City income tax credit is a major factor in the taxpayer’s decision to go forward with the job creation program.

   (e)   The average wage of new jobs shall be at least 1.75 times the minimum wage established by federal law.

   (f)   Each applicant shall comply with all applicable Municipal Code provisions.

      (Ord. 2008-30. Passed 11-3-08.)