77-1030.

Application; form; contents; confidentiality; fee; municipality; duties; certification; written agreement; contents; modification.

(1) In order to utilize the incentives set forth in the Nebraska Advantage Transformational Tourism and Redevelopment Act, the taxpayer shall file an application, on a form developed by an association of municipalities organized statewide, requesting an agreement.

(2) The application shall contain:

(a) A written statement describing the plan of employment and investment for a qualified business in this state;

(b) Sufficient documents, plans, and specifications as required by the municipality to support the plan and to define a project and a feasibility study. The plans shall include evidence that demonstrates that the project is feasible only with the incentives provided by the act;

(c) A nonrefundable application fee of two thousand five hundred dollars; and

(d) A timetable showing the expected local option sales tax refunds and what year they are expected to be claimed.

The application and all supporting information shall be confidential except for the name of the taxpayer, the location of the project, and the amounts of increased employment and investment.

(3) An application must be complete to establish the date of the application. An application shall be considered complete once it contains the items listed in subsection (2) of this section, regardless of the municipality's additional needs pertaining to information or clarification in order to approve or not approve the application.

(4) The municipality shall conduct an internal review of the feasibility study. If the municipality determines that the feasibility study demonstrates that the project can meet the requirements of the act, then the municipality shall conduct its own study with an independent third party, the cost of which shall be paid in full by the applicant. The cost of the study required under this subsection shall be in addition to the fee required under subsection (2) of this section. The purpose of the study is to verify or nullify the results of the feasibility study provided by the applicant. Additionally, the study shall examine the ability of the applicant to meet the requirements of the act. The study shall make a recommendation to the municipality on whether to proceed with the project or not.

(5) Once satisfied that the plan in the application defines a project consistent with the purposes stated in the Nebraska Advantage Transformational Tourism and Redevelopment Act in one or more qualified business activities within this state, that the taxpayer and the plan will qualify for incentives under the act, and that the required levels of employment and investment for the project will be met prior to the end of the fourth year after the year in which the application was submitted, the municipality shall certify the application. Certification shall require approval by a majority vote by the members of the governing body of the municipality. A municipality shall notify the Department of Revenue of any application certified under this section on or before January 1 immediately following such certification. For any application certified under this section prior to July 18, 2014, the certifying municipality shall notify the Department of Revenue of such application on or before January 1, 2015.

(6) After certification, the taxpayer and the municipality shall enter into a written agreement. The taxpayer shall agree to complete the project, and the municipality shall designate the approved plan of the taxpayer as a project and, in consideration of the taxpayer's agreement, agree to allow the taxpayer to use the incentives contained in the Nebraska Advantage Transformational Tourism and Redevelopment Act. The application, and all supporting documentation, to the extent approved, shall be considered a part of the agreement. The agreement shall state:

(a) The levels of employment and investment required by the act for the project;

(b) The time period under the act in which the required levels must be met;

(c) The documentation the taxpayer will need to supply when claiming an incentive under the act;

(d) The date the application was filed; and

(e) A requirement that the company update the municipality annually on any changes in plans or circumstances which affect the timetable of local option sales tax refunds as set out in the application. If the company fails to comply with this requirement, the municipality may defer any pending local option sales tax refunds until the company does comply.

(7) A taxpayer and a municipality may enter into agreements for more than one project and may include more than one project in a single agreement. The projects may be either sequential or concurrent. A project may involve the same location as another project. No new employment or new investment shall be included in more than one project for either the meeting of the employment or investment requirements or the creation of incentives. When projects overlap and the plans do not clearly specify, then the taxpayer shall specify in which project the employment or investment belongs.

(8) The taxpayer may request that an agreement be modified if the modification is consistent with the purposes of the act and does not require a change in the description of the project. Once satisfied that the modification to the agreement is consistent with the purposes stated in the act, the municipality and taxpayer may amend the agreement.

(9) The agreement shall include performance-based metrics to insure compliance with the act.