ORDINANCE NO. BL2013-420

An ordinance amending Title 2 of the Metropolitan Code to create a small business economic development incentive grant program.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:

Section 1. Title 2 of the Metropolitan Code is hereby amended by adding the following new Chapter 2.212 – Small Business Economic Development Incentive Grants.

2.212.010 - Definitions.

"Board" means the industrial development board of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

"ECD" means the mayor's office of economic and community development.

“Full-time job” means a job provided by a qualified small business at a qualified project site at which the person employed in such job is compensated for working at least thirty (30) hours per week at the qualified project site.
"Metropolitan government" means the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

“Prohibited business” means retail, construction, restaurants, limited-service restaurants, nightclubs, hotels/motels, tattoo parlors, body piercing shops, cash advance, check cashing, title loan, pawnshops, adult entertainment, automobile sales, automobile service and/or repair, automobile parking, landfills, wrecker services, and businesses operating from residential property.

“Qualified project” means property located within the boundaries of the metropolitan government occupied by a qualified small business.

“Qualified project site” means a singular physical location at which a qualified small business operates.

"Qualified small business" means a company or firm that meets all of the following criteria:
1. The company or firm is engaged in a for-profit service or manufacturing industry that is not a prohibited business as defined herein;
2. Creates a minimum of twenty (20) new full-time jobs at the qualified project site within a twelve (12) month period who are making an average wage rate equal to or greater than one hundred percent (100%) of the annual wage rate average for all occupations within the Nashville-Davidson County Metropolitan Statistical Area as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; and
3. Employs a maximum of one hundred (100) persons, regardless of the locale in which they are employed, who are compensated for working at least thirty (30) hours per week prior to applying for a small business economic development incentive grant under this Chapter. No company or firm having more than one hundred (100) total employees shall be considered a qualified small business for purposes of this chapter.

“Veteran” means a person who has served in and been discharged honorably from the Armed Forces of the United States.

2.212.020 – Small business economic development incentive grants.
A. The metropolitan government may make economic development incentive grants to the board for a small business economic incentive grant program intended to encourage economic development within the boundaries of the metropolitan government. The amount of the small business economic development incentive grant during any year will be determined by multiplying the number of new full-time jobs of the qualified small business at the qualified project site within the boundaries of the metropolitan government during the preceding year by the amount of five hundred dollars ($500), and/or seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) for each newly-employed veteran at the project site, up to a maximum annual payment of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). Any grant made in accordance with the provisions of this section will be memorialized by an agreement between the board and the qualified small business that operates the qualified project, pursuant to which the board will authorize the use of such grant funds to reimburse the qualified small business for all or part of its documented expenditures related to the acquisition, preparation or occupancy of office space and other facilities, costs of moving to or relocating within the area of the metropolitan government, and costs associated with employee training.
B. In conjunction with the board, the ECD shall be responsible for administering the small business economic development incentive grant program approved by this chapter. The Board, with assistance from the ECD, shall adopt rules consistent with this chapter for the administration of the small business economic incentive grant program. Upon adoption, such rules shall be filed with the Metropolitan Clerk. Small business economic incentive grants shall be made to qualified small businesses on a first-come-first-served basis subject to the availability of funding approved for the program by the metropolitan council through the metropolitan government operating budget ordinance.
C. The ECD shall provide written notice to the metropolitan council within thirty (30) days of each small business economic development incentive grant made to a qualified small business.

2.212.030 Blighted property grants.
A. In accordance with T.C.A. § 7-51-1901, et seq., the metropolitan government, through ECD, may make grants to developers who invest in blighted property for the purpose of stabilizing the value of the neighborhood and increasing the value of the facilities being constructed or rehabilitated on blighted property.
B. Such grants shall be made from funds appropriated by the council from the general fund of the general services district for such purpose.
C. Such grant funds shall be used for the sole purpose of constructing or rehabilitating the exterior portions of commercial property located within a redevelopment district approved by the metropolitan council having a property value not to exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000) at the time the grant application is made to ECD based upon the appraised value of the property as determined by the Davidson County Property Tax Assessor and where the construction or rehabilitation investment exceeds one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
D. The amount of the grant shall be ten percent (10%) of the documented investment of the developer up to a maximum grant amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
E. ECD shall make blighted property grants to qualified developers on a first-come-first-served basis subject to the availability of funding approved for the program by the metropolitan council through the metropolitan government operating budget ordinance.

2.212.040 Grants subject to funding availability.
All agreements for small business economic development incentive grants and blighted property grants to be funded by the metropolitan government shall expressly provide that the metropolitan government's financial obligations thereunder are conditioned upon the appropriation of funds by the metropolitan council. The board shall have no obligation to make a small business economic development incentive grant, and the metropolitan government shall have no obligation to make a blighted property grant, if adequate funds are not available.

2.212.050 Development of rules and regulations.
ECD shall have the authority and responsibility to develop policies, procedures, rules, and/or regulations to implement this chapter. Such policies, procedures, rules, and/or regulations shall include a mechanism for obtaining proof of eligibility for the small business economic development incentive and blighted property grant programs.

Section 2. The mayor’s office of economic and community development shall submit the blighted property grant program to the Tennessee Attorney General pursuant to T.C.A. § 7-51-1903 once the necessary policies, procedures, rules, and/or regulations are developed.

Section 3. That this Ordinance shall take effect immediately after its passage, the welfare of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.

Sponsored by: Jerry Maynard, Charlie Tygard, Lonnell Matthews, Phil Claiborne, Ronnie Stein, Scott Davis, Walter Hunt, Chris Harmon, Sandra Moore, Karen Johnson, Buddy Baker, Megan Barry, Anthony Davis, Brady Banks, Bill Pridemore, Doug Pardue, Sean McGuire, Peter Westerholm, Fabian Bedne. Sheri Weiner, Chris Harmon

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Introduced:	April 16, 2013
Passed First Reading:	April 16, 2013
Referred to:	Budget & Finance Committee
Deferred:	May 7, 2013
Passed Second Reading:	May 21, 2013
Passed Third Reading:	June 4, 2013
Approved:	June 6, 2013
By: