HB 1597 -- Rural Empowerment Zones

Sponsor:  Wilson (119)

This bill allows the governing body of any county to submit an
application to the Department of Economic Development to
designate areas within the county as rural empowerment zones.
The department will review the application to ensure that the
area meets all of the following criteria:

(1)  The area is one of pervasive poverty, unemployment, and
general distress;

(2)  At least 65% of the population has earned income below 80%
of the median income of all residents within the state;

(3)  The population of the area is between 400 and 3,500 at the
time of the designation;

(4)  The level of unemployment within the area exceeds 150% of
the average rate of unemployment for the state over the previous
twelve months or the percentage of area residents employed on a
full-time basis is less than 50% of the statewide percentage;

(5)  The area is more than 10 miles from any existing rural
empowerment zone;

(6)  The area is in a third or fourth classification county; and

(7)  The area is not in an existing enterprise zone.

New businesses and revenue-producing enterprises located in the
zone will be exempt from paying all Missouri income taxes
attributable to the business until August 28, 2014, provided the
business creates a certain number of new full-time jobs within
one year from the date on which the tax exemption begins.  New
businesses must create at least 10 new jobs; revenue-producing
enterprises that employ fewer than 20 people must create at least
five new jobs; and revenue-producing enterprises that employ 20
or more people must create a number of new jobs equal to 25% of
the number of full-time employees employed by the
revenue-producing enterprise.

Missouri House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 23, 2004 at 11:15 am