Mississippi Industry Incentive Financing Revolving Fund created; use of funds; application for grant or loan
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As used in this section:
"Approved business enterprise" means any project that:
Locates or expands in this state and creates a minimum of two hundred fifty (250) new, full-time jobs with a total capital investment in the state of a minimum of Thirty Million Dollars ($30,000,000.00) in Tier 1 or Tier 2 counties;
Locates or expands in this state and creates a minimum of one hundred fifty (150) new, full-time jobs with a total capital investment in the state of a minimum of Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) in areas federally designated as low-income census tracts;
Locates or expands in this state and creates a minimum of one thousand (1,000) new, full-time jobs;
Is a manufacturer of high-end kitchen appliances having at least four hundred (400) employees working at its Mississippi facilities on January 1, 2015, and with a capital investment of at least Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000.00) made after July 1, 2014, through four (4) years after July 1, 2015, that expands in this state, and retains a minimum of four hundred (400) jobs; or
Locates or expands in this state with significant regional impact as determined by MDA.
"MDA" means the Mississippi Development Authority.
"Facility related to the project" means and includes any of the following, as they may pertain to the project:
Facilities to provide potable and industrial water supply systems, sewage and waste disposal systems and water, natural gas and electric transmission systems to the site of the project;
Building facilities and equipment necessary to operate the facility;
Rail lines;
Airports, airfields, air terminals and port facilities;
Highways, streets and other roadways; and
Fire protection facilities, equipment and elevated water tanks.
"Project" means any industrial, commercial, research and development, warehousing, distribution, transportation, processing, mining, United States government or tourism enterprise together with all real property required for construction, maintenance and operation of the enterprise that is approved by the MDA.
There is created a special fund in the State Treasury to be known as the Mississippi Industry Incentive Financing Revolving Fund which shall consist of monies from any source designated for deposit into the fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund. Monies in the fund shall be disbursed by the Mississippi Development Authority for the purposes authorized in subsection (3) of this section.
Monies in the fund that are derived from the proceeds of general obligation bonds may be used to reimburse reasonable actual and necessary costs incurred by the MDA for the administration of the various grant, loan and financial incentive programs administered by the MDA. An accounting of actual costs incurred for which reimbursement is sought shall be maintained by the MDA. Reimbursement of reasonable actual and necessary costs shall not exceed three percent (3%) of the proceeds of bonds issued. Reimbursements made under this subsection shall satisfy any applicable federal tax law requirements.
The MDA shall establish a program to make grants or loans from the Mississippi Industry Incentive Financing Revolving Fund to local governments, including, but not limited to, counties, municipalities, industrial development authorities and economic development districts, and approved business enterprises to construct or otherwise provide facilities related to the project. Local governments are authorized to accept grants and enter into loans authorized under the program, and to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of a project or any property related to the project in whole or in part.
Any business enterprise or local government desiring a grant or loan under this section shall submit an application to the MDA which shall include, at a minimum:
Evidence that the business or industry meets the definition of an approved business enterprise;
A description, including the cost, of the requested assistance;
A description of the purpose for which the assistance is requested; and
Any other information required by the MDA.
The MDA shall require that binding commitments be entered into requiring that:
The minimum requirements of this section and such other requirements as the MDA considers proper shall be met; and
If such requirements are not met, all or a portion of the funds provided by this section as determined by the MDA shall be repaid.
Upon receipt of the application from a business enterprise or local government for a grant or loan under this section, the MDA shall determine whether the enterprise meets the definition of an approved business enterprise and determine whether to provide the assistance requested in the form of a grant or a loan.
The MDA shall have sole discretion in providing grants or loans under this section. The terms of a grant or loan provided under this section and the manner of repayment of any loan shall be within the discretion of the MDA. Repayments of loans made under this section shall be deposited to the credit of the Mississippi Industry Incentive Financing Revolving Fund until the uncommitted balance in the fund reaches Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00). Once the uncommitted balance in the fund reaches Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00), repayments of loans under this section shall be deposited to the credit of Fund No. 3951 in the State Treasury to pay debt service on bonds until such time as the uncommitted balance in the fund falls below Fifty Million Dollars ($50,000,000.00).
The MDA shall notify the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee of the approval of any grant or loan application thirty (30) days prior to the disbursement of any monies for the loan or grant from the Mississippi Industry Incentive Financing Revolving Fund. The notification shall identify the applicant and the purposes for which the loan or grant is made.
Contracts, by local governments, including, but not limited to, design and construction contracts, for the acquisition, purchase, construction or installation of a project shall be exempt from the provisions of Section 31-7-13 if:
The MDA finds and records such finding on its minutes, that because of availability or the particular nature of a project, it would not be in the public interest or would less effectively achieve the purposes of this section to enter into such contracts on the basis of Section 31-7-13; and
The approved business enterprise that is involved in the project concurs in such finding.
When the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection are met:
The requirements of Section 31-7-13 shall not apply to such contracts; and
The contracts may be entered into on the basis of negotiation.
It is the policy of the MDA and the MDA is authorized to accommodate and support any enterprise that receives a loan under this section for a project defined in Section 17-25-23 that wishes to have a program of diversity in contracting, and/or that wishes to do business with or cause its prime contractor to do business with Mississippi companies, including those companies that are small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The term "socially and economically disadvantaged individuals" shall have the meaning ascribed to such term under Section 8(d) of the Small Business Act (15 USCS 637(d)) and relevant subcontracting regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; except that women shall be presumed to be socially and economically disadvantaged individuals for the purposes of this subsection.
The MDA shall promulgate rules and regulations, in accordance with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Law, for the implementation of this section.