Bill > H3550

This bill authorizes the city of Somerville to establish a Municipal Job Creation and Retention Trust, which will be overseen by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. The Trust's purpose is to help create and keep jobs within Somerville for its residents, and it can receive funds from various sources, including those related to the Somerville Zoning Ordinance, which is a set of rules governing land use and development in the city. The Trust can use these funds to make grants and loans, manage property, and hire advisors. Additionally, the bill allows Somerville to create a "linkage fee" program, where certain development projects that require special permits or zoning approvals and exceed a specific size threshold will have to pay a fee. These linkage fees will go into a separate fund managed by the Trust, ensuring they are used specifically for job creation and retention initiatives within the city, rather than becoming part of the city's general revenue.