Section 527.30  Eligibility Determination

a)         Any taxpayer that is engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce for the purpose of manufacturing, processing, assembling, warehousing, or distributing products, conducting research and development, providing tourism services, or providing services in interstate commerce, office industries, or agricultural processing, but excluding retail, retail food, health, or professional services is an eligible business.

b)         A taxpayer who is operating an eligible business that is located, or plans to be located, in the State of Illinois may be an "applicant".  Applicant does not include a taxpayer who closes or substantially reduces an operation at one location in the State and relocates substantially the same operation to another location in the State.

1)         This does not prohibit a taxpayer from expanding its operations at another location in the State, provided that existing operations of a similar nature located within the State are not closed or substantially reduced within the last two years.  For the purpose of this Section, "substantially reduced" means a reduction in employment of 33.33% or more.

2)         This also does not prohibit a taxpayer from moving its operations from one location in the State to another location in the State for the purpose of expanding the operation, provided that the Department determines that the expansion cannot reasonably be accommodated within the municipality in which the business is located, or in the case of a business located in an incorporated area of the county, within the county in which the business is located.  A determination under this subsection (b)(2) shall be made by the Department after conferring with the chief elected official of the municipality or county and taking into consideration any evidence offered by the municipality or county regarding the ability to accommodate expansion within the municipality or county. [35 ILCS 10/5-15]

c)         In order to qualify for Credits under the Act, an applicant's project must:

1)         involve an investment of at least $5,000,000 in capital improvements to be placed in service and employ at least 25 new employees within the State as a direct result of the project if the applicant has more than 100 employees at the time of the EDGE application; or

2)         involve an investment of at least $1,000,000 in capital improvements to be placed in service and to employ at least 5 new employees within the State as a direct result of the project if the applicant has 100 or fewer employees at the time of the EDGE application.

3)         involve an investment at a level specified by the Department in capital improvements to be placed in service; employ new employees within the State at a level specified by the Department; and provide a substantial economic benefit to the State [35 ILCS 10/5-20], as determined by the Department.

A)        The Director may approve projects that do not meet the minimum job creation and investment thresholds specified in Section 527.30(c)(1) for an applicant meeting all other requirements in the Act and this Part provided that one or more of the following conditions are met:

i)          the applicant business is located in a distressed community with an unemployment rate that is higher than the State's average;

ii)         the applicant business is located in an area with limited economic development prospects as evidenced by prior and current development activities;

iii)         approval would support a business with potential to generate additional growth in the area and create jobs as a result of spin-off businesses; or

iv)        approval would avert loss of one of the area's major sources of employment.

B)        The greater the impact on the economy of the area in which the applicant is located, the lower the amount of job creations and investment by the applicant that will be necessary for the Director to approve the application; or

d)         The applicant must demonstrate that if not for the credit the project would not occur in Illinois by providing documentation evidencing that:

1)         the applicant has multi-state location options and could reasonably and efficiently locate outside of the State; or

2)         at least one other state is being considered for the project; or

3)         receipt of the credit is a major factor in the applicant's decision and that, without the credit, the applicant likely would not create new jobs in Illinois; or

4)         the credit is essential to the applicant's decision to create or retain new jobs in the State.

e)         Identify a cost differential, using best available data, in the projected costs for the applicant's project compared to the costs in the competing state, including the impact of the competing state's incentive programs [35 ILCS 10/5-25], for example, by demonstrating:

1)         specific costs of labor, utilities, taxes and other costs of an out-of-state site or the industry's cost structure in the competing region; or

2)         specific cost differential due to the impact of a competing state's incentive programs.

f)          In order to qualify for increased EDGE benefits under the Business Location Efficiency Incentive Act, the applicant must submit a location efficiency report that:

1)         describes the existence of infrastructure at the Project site and satisfies Business Location Efficiency Incentive Act's standards for affordable workforce housing or affordable and accessible mass transit; or

2)         if the Department determines from the location efficiency report that the applicant is seeking assistance in an area that is not location efficient, the Department may award an increase in State economic development assistance if an applicant submits, and the Department accepts, an employee housing and transportation remediation plan or creates jobs in a labor surplus area as defined by the Department of Employment Security at the end of each calendar year.

(Source:  Amended at 31 Ill. Reg. 8085, effective May 23, 2007)