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An Act relative to the economic development of the Commonwealth |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the
same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 5 of chapter 293 of the acts of 2006 is hereby amended by striking the word “proposal.” in the definition of “Economic development project,” and inserting in place thereof the following:-
proposal; provided, however, that not more than 60 percent of any economic development project may be used for recreational purposes; and provided further, that no portion of an economic development project shall be constructed over any property owned by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof.
SECTION 2. Section 6 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
(b) In addition to the provisions of said chapter 23G and said chapter 40D of the General Laws pertaining to the security of bonds issued by the agency, bonds issued by the agency pursuant to this act may be secured by a pledge of state infrastructure development assistance as provided in section 8 under a trust agreement or other financing document with such terms and conditions as the agency may determine in accordance with this act and the applicable provisions of said chapter 23G and said chapter 40D; provided, however, that any state infrastructure development assistance provided pursuant to section 8 of this act shall be applied solely to the payment of, and security for, bonds issued for the purposes described in paragraph (a) in accordance with the infrastructure development assistance agreement between the agency, the commonwealth, the municipality and the developer executed pursuant to section 8 of this act and shall not exceed the amount necessary for debt service payments on such bonds.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c) of said section 6 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out, in the first sentence, the words “section 10” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- section 8.
SECTION 4. Subsection (b) of section 7 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:-
Notwithstanding a pending vote of the governing body, the economic development proposal application process shall proceed upon mutual agreement of the secretary, municipal officers, and developer, subject to final approval of the proposal by a 2/3 vote by said governing body.
SECTION 5. Subsection (c) of said section 7 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out clause (iii) and inserting in place thereof the following:-
(iii) the secretary certifies that the municipality has established a liquidity reserve for the benefit of the commonwealth for each assessment parcel within an economic development project in an amount equal to twice the total annual debt service due on the bonds allocable to said assessment parcel established pursuant to section 9 of this act; provided further that said reserve shall be funded by the municipality, or from the proceeds of bonds issued by the agency in accordance with this act, from amounts provided by the developer, or with surety bonds, insurance policies or other credit facilities satisfactory to the secretary; and provided further said reserve shall be maintained as long as the municipality is obligated to provide local infrastructure development assistance with respect to such assessment parcel; and
SECTION 6. Said section 7 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (d) and inserting in place thereof the following:-
(d) The secretary shall certify no more than 5 economic development proposals received pursuant to the provisions of this act; provided that the aggregate principal amount of bonds issued pursuant to section 6 of this act shall not exceed $200,000,000; provided further, that no economic development proposal which secured municipal approval pursuant to subparagraph (b) of this section 7 prior to the effective date of this act shall be certified by the secretary; provided further, that no economic development proposal shall be certified by the secretary after January 1, 2012; and provided further, that the secretary shall not approve more than 2 economic development proposals from any one municipality.
SECTION 7. Subsection (a) of section 8 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out clauses (iii) and (iv) and inserting in place thereof the following:-
(iii) the municipality shall provide local infrastructure development assistance to the commonwealth with respect to the economic development project to the extent and for such time as is provided in section 10 of this act; (iv) the commonwealth shall provide infrastructure development assistance to the agency in amounts sufficient to pay the debt service payable in each fiscal year on any bonds issued by the agency to finance costs of public infrastructure improvements included in such economic development project, subject to reimbursement of all or a portion of such state infrastructure development assistance through the collection of infrastructure assessments as provided in section 9 of this act and, under the circumstances provided in section 10 of this act, from local infrastructure assistance provided by the municipality.
SECTION 8. Section 8 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following:-
(b) The agency shall pledge the infrastructure development assistance agreement and the rights of the agency to receive state infrastructure development assistance as provided in section 10 of this act pursuant to said agreement as security for the payment of bonds issued by the agency to finance costs of the public infrastructure improvements described in said agreement. The obligation of the commonwealth to pay such state infrastructure development assistance to the agency at the times and in the amounts provided in the infrastructure development assistance agreement shall constitute a general obligation of the commonwealth for which the full faith and credit of the commonwealth shall be pledged for the benefit of the agency.
SECTION 9. Section 10 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence of subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-
For as long as state infrastructure assistance shall be provided in accordance with this Section, the commissioner shall determine and certify to the secretary and treasurer of the municipality the amount of new state tax revenues generated with respect to each commercial component of the certified economic development project, such determination and certification to be made after the commissioner has received the relevant data necessary for such determination and annually thereafter.
SECTION 10. Said section 10 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following:-
(b) To the extent, and for so long as, the commissioner determines that the new state tax revenues generated by a completed and occupied commercial component of a certified economic development project is less than the allocable debt service apportioned to that commercial component, such amount shall constitute a revenue shortfall for said commercial component and the municipality shall be obligated to provide local infrastructure development assistance in an amount equal to the amount of the shortfall. Local infrastructure development assistance provided by the municipality shall be paid to the commonwealth in reimbursement for state infrastructure development assistance provided by the commonwealth with respect to such certified economic development project. Local infrastructure development assistance shall constitute a general obligation of the municipality to which its full faith and credit shall be pledged. To the extent the municipality shall fail to provide all or any portion of such local infrastructure development assistance to or for the credit of the commonwealth, the secretary shall certify the amount that is unpaid to the state treasurer and the state treasurer shall reduce amounts distributable or payable by the commonwealth to such municipality by the amount unpaid in accordance with section 20 of chapter 59 of the General Laws. Notwithstanding the foregoing, once the cumulative new state tax revenues attributable to an assessment parcel allocable to a commercial component of a certified economic development project first equal or exceed an amount equal to the principal amount of bonds issued by the agency which are allocable to such commercial component, plus an amount equal to all interest accrued on such bonds to such date, the municipality shall have no obligation thereafter to provide local infrastructure development assistance with respect to such assessment parcel.
SECTION 11. Subsection (b) of section 11 of said chapter 293 is hereby amended by striking out clauses (i) through (v), inclusive, and inserting in place thereof the following:-
(i) the tax credit described in section 38N of chapter 63 of the General Laws; (ii) a community development action grant pursuant to section 57A of chapter 121B of the General Laws; (iii) a public works economic development program grant under clause (c) of the first paragraph of section 17 of chapter 732 of the acts of 1981; or (iv) or any other economic assistance program as may be determined by the secretary or the commissioner.
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