Bill > H3499

This bill establishes a tax increment financing program, managed by the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, to encourage the growth of small businesses in specific areas of the Commonwealth. The program will offer tax and fee exemptions to qualifying businesses, with a maximum exemption of 100% that decreases annually over a period of up to 10 years. To be eligible, a business must be new to the Commonwealth (not relocating existing jobs or substantially similar to an existing business), not be in certain excluded industries like restaurants or retail, meet the federal definition of a small business, and demonstrate the potential to create new, full-time jobs with benefits that pay a living wage. The program will be limited to a maximum of six designated "business zones," each containing a municipality that meets at least two of five criteria: being a Massachusetts Micropolitan NECTA, having underutilized former mill or manufacturing infrastructure, possessing vacant "Brownfields" land (land with potential environmental contamination), or having poverty and unemployment rates higher than the state average. Businesses creating 50 or more new jobs will be required to establish training programs for local workers or prioritize local hiring. The Secretary is also mandated to issue regulations for this program by January 1, 2017.