SF 511 – Renewable energy tax credits
HF 654 – Changes to IEDA’s Programs
HF 660 – Require public hearing prior to increase in city franchise fee
HF 662 – Vital records copies
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 511 relates to tax incentives for renewable energy production. The bill makes these changes to existing renewable energy tax credit programs:
- Provides a two-year extension to the in-service deadline for projects approved for renewable energy tax credits under 476C after January 1, 2008. Projects approved for tax credits prior January 1, 2008, will continue to have an in-service deadline of January 1, 2017. The bill also provides that 1 MW of credits revoked from approved projects that do not meet the deadline for coming into service will be reserved for small wind projects (100kW or less) that are located in a small wind innovation zone.
- Increases the tax credit cap for solar energy systems by $2 million to an annual cap of $6.5 million. The bill also reduces the amount of the credit from 60 percent of the federal credit to 50 percent of the federal credit beginning for installations on or after January 1, 2016.
- The bill also establishes a new wind energy system tax credit that functions similar to the existing solar energy system tax credit. This new program provides a tax credit for the installation of small wind energy systems that produce energy for on-site use (100 kW or less). The credit is equal to 50 percent of the federal credit with a cap of $5,000 for residential systems and $20,000 for commercial installations. Installations that receive this credit cannot also receive production tax credits under 476B or 476C. [5/14: short form (Schultz “no”; McCoy excused)]
HF 654 makes numerous changes to programs and duties of the Iowa Economic Development Authority.
The bill contains minor changes to The Life Cycle Cost Analysis for Public Facilities. The requirement for life cycle cost analysis was established more than 30 years ago to ensure that public agencies optimize energy efficiency when constructing or renovating public buildings. The State Building Code Commissioner currently reviews the life cycle cost analysis. The bill places the authority for further defining the evaluation methodology with the State Building Code Commissioner instead of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Also, the bill adds a new definition of “addition” and amends some existing definitions.
The bill makes changes to Iowa Economic Development Authority’s STEM and Targeted Industry Internship programs to clarify the manner in which matching funds will be determined. The state share of both programs is half of the total wages paid to a student. Those dollars are provided on a reimbursement basis.
The bill makes some minor changes regarding amendments for enterprise zones for compliance reasons. Also, the bill states the Authority may enter into an agreement and issue housing enterprise zone tax credits to a housing business if the city or county mailed the application forms on or after June 1, 2014 (prior to July 1, 2014), but the applications were not received by the Authority, the forms were approved by the necessary governing bodies and the housing business would otherwise be eligible under the Code section that was repealed.
The committee adopted an amendment that added language that passed the Senate in SF 233 and SF 499. It includes:
- Changes to the Reinvestment Districts and the Flood Mitigation Program. It allows a sanitary or combined water and sanitary district to be eligible for the Flood Mitigation Program. Under current law, in communities where both Flood Mitigation and Reinvestment Districts exist, the Department of Revenue must allocate sales tax revenue to Flood Mitigation first, then to Reinvestment Districts. The amendment flips the order, so Reinvestment Districts get the sales tax first. This will not happen often. In addition, Reinvestment Districts are a much smaller area (25 acres vs. the entire city limits). The amendment allows the Department of Revenue to keep a portion of the transfers under Reinvestment District and Flood Mitigation programs to cover administrative costs for the programs.
- Procedural changes to the judicial process in chapter 657A to help cities deal with nuisance structures and creates a new revolving loan fund at Iowa Economic Development Authority. Iowa Economic Development Authority would loan money directly to cities at an attractive interest rate and use repayments to increase available funds over time. [5/14: short form (McCoy excused)]
HF 660 would require cities to hold a public hearing and publish notice of the intent to impose or increase a franchise fee. A franchise fee is an assessment cities may charge on the gross revenues of a utility issued a franchise for the provision of services within the city. [5/14: short form (McCoy excused)]
HF 662 strikes the current required fee for searching for a vital record when no record is found on file and allows Public Health or a County Recorder to charge a fee when no copy is made when no record is found on file. The bill also allows county recorders to receive all records through the electronic birth certificate system. This would include birth records and the name of the parents on an adoption decree. The electronic birth certificate distribution system is available to Recorders and not to the public, and links offices of county registrars to state vital records so that the records may be issued at the county level. [5/14: short form (McCoy excused)]