H. B. 211
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Trump)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Introduced November 9, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §5B-2E-5 and §5B-2E-11 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to tourism
development projects; modifying total amount of tourism
development project tax credit available during calendar
years; and establishing a termination date for action on
applications for tourism development projects and validity of
such projects not previously approved.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §5B-2E-5 and §5B-2E-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2E. WEST VIRGINIA TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ACT.
§5B-2E-5. Tourism development project application; evaluation
standards; consulting services; preliminary and final
approval of projects.
(a) Each eligible company that seeks to qualify a tourism development project for the tax credit provided by this article
must file a written application for approval of the project with
the development office.
(b) With respect to each eligible company making an
application to the development office for the tourism development
project tax credit, the development office shall make inquiries and
request documentation, including a completed application, from the
applicant that shall include: A description and location of the
project; capital and other anticipated expenditures for the project
and the sources of funding therefor; the anticipated employment and
wages to be paid at the project; business plans that indicate the
average number of days in a year in which the project will be in
operation and open to the public; and the anticipated revenues and
expenses generated by the project.
(c) Based upon a review of the application and additional
documentation provided by the eligible company, if the executive
director of the development office determines that the applicant
and the tourism development project may reasonably satisfy the
criteria for final approval set forth in subsection (d) of this
section, then the director of the development office may grant a
preliminary approval of the applicant and the tourism development
project.
(d) After preliminary approval by the executive director of
the development office, the development office shall engage the services of a competent consulting firm or firms to analyze the
data made available by the applicant and to collect and analyze
additional information necessary to determine that, in the
independent judgment of the consultant, the tourism development
project:
(1) Likely will attract at least twenty-five percent of its
visitors from outside of this state;
(2) Will have approved costs in excess of one million dollars;
(3) Will have a significant and positive economic impact on
the state considering, among other factors, the extent to which the
tourism development project will compete directly with or
complement existing tourism attractions in the state and the amount
by which increased tax revenues from the tourism development
project will exceed the credit given to the approved company;
(4) Will produce sufficient revenues and public demand to be
operating and open to the public for a minimum of one hundred days
per year; and
(5) Will provide additional employment opportunities in the
state.
(e) The applicant shall pay to the development office, prior
to the engagement of the services of a competent consulting firm or
firms pursuant to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section,
for the cost of the consulting report or reports and shall
cooperate with the consulting firm or firms to provide all of the data that the consultant considers necessary or convenient to make
its determination under subsection (d) of this section.
(f) The executive director of the development office, within
thirty days following receipt of the consultant's report or
reports, shall review, in light of the consultant's report or
reports, the reasonableness of the project's budget and timetable
for completion and, in addition to the criteria for final approval
set forth in subsection (d) of this section, the following
criteria:
(1) The quality of the proposed tourism development project
and how it addresses economic problems in the area in which the
tourism development project will be located;
(2) Whether there is substantial and credible evidence that
the tourism development project is likely to be started and
completed in a timely fashion;
(3) Whether the tourism development project will, directly or
indirectly, improve the opportunities in the area where the tourism
development project will be located for the successful
establishment or expansion of other industrial or commercial
businesses;
(4) Whether the tourism development project will, directly or
indirectly, assist in the creation of additional employment
opportunities in the area where the tourism development project
will be located;
(5) Whether the tourism development project helps to diversify
the local economy;
(6) Whether the tourism development project is consistent with
the goals of this article;
(7) Whether the tourism development project is economically
and fiscally sound using recognized business standards of finance
and accounting; and
(8) The ability of the eligible company to carry out the
tourism development project.
(g) The development office may establish other criteria for
consideration when approving the applications.
(h) The executive director of the development office may give
its final approval to the applicant's application for a tourism
development project and may grant to the applicant the status of an
approved company: Provided, That the total amount of tourism
development project tax credits for all approved companies may not
exceed one million five hundred thousand five million dollars each
calendar year. The executive director of the development office
shall act to approve or not approve any application within sixty
days following the receipt of the consultant's report or reports or
the receipt of any additional information requested by the
development office, whichever is later. The decision by the
executive director of the development office is final.
§5B-2E-11. Termination.
The development office may not accept any new application on
or after the first day of January, two thousand seven thirteen, and
all applications submitted prior to the first day of January, two
thousand seven thirteen, that have not been previously approved or
not approved, shall be deemed not approved and shall be null and
void as of the first day of January, two thousand seven thirteen.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to enlarge the total amount
of tourism development project tax credit authorized each year from
$1.5 million to $5 million, and to extend the expiration date of
the tourism development project tax credit from January 1, 2007 to
January 1, 2013.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be
added.
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