ROB BRANDT – BUSINESS ATTORNEY Let’s face it, a phone call to your business attorney is typically an afterthought, not a before thought. As in, before you find yourself on the wrong end of a civil lawsuit. Hiring an experienced business lawyer early in the game helps to ensure you still have a business come […]

SB 68 renames the Missouri Works Training Program to the “Missouri One Start Program,” which provides flexible funding for a company’s training costs associated with a new facility, expansion or retraining project.  Companies may utilize industry training funds to offset training costs for new products, new manufacturing processes, technological innovation, and productivity improvement.   Under SB 68, a company is no longer required to retain its current number of employees, instead becoming eligible by maintaining at least one-hundred jobs in the year preceding the application.

Rules promulgated by the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) significantly alter Missouri’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (HTC). The emergency rules, which took effect March 30, 2019, implement Senate Bill 590 enacted during the 2018 legislative session. The rules are expected to become final during the second half of 2019.

As part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress designated certain Qualified Opportunity Zones to encourage new investment in economically-distressed communities through tax incentives. Opportunity Zone investments are intended to infuse new capital, development and economic growth in such Opportunity Zones. To date, the U.S. Treasury Department has issued two sets of guidance and proposed regulations regarding this developing tax incentive.

Recent legislation reduces the amount of Historic Preservation Tax Credits (HTC) available annually and imposes additional restrictions on developers seeking HTC to support historic rehabilitation projects. Senate Bill 590 and Senate Bill 773, enacted during the 2018 legislative session, reduce the annual aggregate cap on HTC for projects receiving $275,000 or more in tax credits from $140 million to $90 million, with an additional $30 million available for projects on properties located in qualified census tracts.

Missouri businesses, local governments, and real estate, public finance and economic development professionals should be aware of a number of provisions related to economic development in legislation enacted during the 2017 regular legislative session of the Missouri General Assembly.

Beginning in 2017, new tax incentives are available for manufacturers or distributors of manufactured goods shipped through Missouri ports. Senate Bill 861 (2016) enacted three new tax deductions for companies transporting cargo through water ports and airports in Missouri. See Sections 143.2100-.2115, RSMo. The Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) and the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) are charged with jointly administering the new tax deductions. Taxpayers and tax professionals should be aware of these deductions and take steps to determine their eligibility for the 2017 tax year.

A high-profile state audit of Transportation Development Districts (TDDs) could mean big changes for this frequently-used economic development tool. Developers, property owners and businesses should take steps to ensure compliance with current law and prepare for uncertainty in the wake of calls for a “total overhaul” of the TDD law.