SECTION 176.3. Qualification for Designation of Enterprise Projects

(a) The Bank may not designate a nominated qualified business as an enterprise project unless it determines that:

(1) the business meets the requirements set forth in the Act, §2303.402, and this chapter;

(2) the qualified business is located in, or has made substantial commitment to locate in an enterprise zone or at a qualified business site;

(3) the applicant's governing body has not reached the maximum number of designation allowed during the biennium;

(4) the applicant's governing body has demonstrated that a high level of cooperation exists between public and private entities;

(5) the designation of the qualified business as an enterprise project will contribute significantly to the achievement of the plans of the applicant for development and revitalization of the area;

(6) the designation of the qualified business as an enterprise project will further the public purposes of the Act and significantly benefit the goals of the program which include, but are not limited to, high impact projects or activities, targeted industry clusters and creation of primary jobs; and

(7) the applicant's governing body is in compliance with the Act.

(b) For job creation, a qualified business must be seeking to create new jobs, or for an existing business seeking to expand and increase their current level of employment in Texas. The program, however, does not allow benefit for moving existing jobs from one municipality or county in Texas to another within the state.

(c) For job retention, a qualified business must submit to the governing body a written request for the retained job benefit with documentation verifying which criteria is applicable. The governing body must authenticate the documentation. A copy of the request from the qualified business requesting the retained jobs benefit to the governing body, as well as the backup documentation, must be attached to the application under the applicable Tab. The governing body liaison must verify that the documentation meets at least one requirement for the retained jobs benefit on the application form. In any case, for job retention, the qualified business must maintain the same level of employment that existed 90 days prior to the date of designation. Documentation that the level of employment has been maintained must be submitted with the job certification application to the Comptroller of Public Accounts. Any of the retained jobs that are subsequently vacated must meet the 25% or 35% economically disadvantaged or enterprise zone resident hiring requirement, as applicable, when the vacant position is filled. The retained job benefit may not be used to receive benefit for moving existing jobs from one municipality or county in Texas to another within the state.

(d) Municipalities or counties with a population of 250,000 or more, based on the most recent decennial census, are eligible for up to nine enterprise project designations during a state biennium based upon availability.

(e) Municipalities or counties with a population of less than 250,000, based on the most recent decennial census, are eligible for up to six enterprise project designations during a state biennium based upon availability.

(f) The Bank may not allocate more than 12 project designations during a quarterly round unless there were fewer than 12 project designations allocated during a previous round in the biennium to offset the difference. The Bank may allocate the remaining nine designations during any round, and may award a designation to a lower scoring project over and above a higher scoring project if it proposes to create a significant number of new jobs and makes a substantial capital investment.

(g) The governing body of a county with a population of one million (1,000,000) or more may nominate for designation as an enterprise project a project or activity of a qualified business that is located within the jurisdiction of a municipality located in the county. A county during any biennium may not use in any one municipality more than three of the maximum number of designations the county is permitted under Texas Government Code §2303.4069(d)(2).

Source Note: The provisions of this §176.3 adopted to be effective May 28, 2006, 31 TexReg 4420; amended to be effective November 10, 2011, 36 TexReg 7545; amended to be effective January 4, 2015, 39 TexReg 10420