Nebraska § 77-5731 - Reports; content; joint hearing.

§ 77-5731. Reports; content; joint hearing.

(1) The Tax Commissioner shall submit electronically an annual report to the Legislature no later than October 31 of each year. The report shall be on a fiscal year, accrual basis that satisfies the requirements set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. The Department of Revenue shall, on or before December 15 of each even-numbered year, appear at a joint hearing of the Appropriations Committee of the Legislature and the Revenue Committee of the Legislature and present the report. Any supplemental information requested by three or more committee members shall be presented within thirty days after the request.

(2) The report shall list (a) the agreements which have been signed during the previous year, (b) the agreements which are still in effect, (c) the identity of each taxpayer who is party to an agreement, and (d) the location of each project.

(3) The report shall also state, for taxpayers who are parties to agreements, by industry group (a) the specific incentive options applied for under the Nebraska Advantage Act, (b) the refunds and exemptions allowed on the investment, (c) the credits earned, (d) the credits used to reduce the corporate income tax and the credits used to reduce the individual income tax, (e) the credits used to obtain sales and use tax refunds, (f) the credits used against withholding liability, (g) the number of jobs created under the act, (h) the expansion of capital investment, (i) the estimated wage levels of jobs created under the act subsequent to the application date, (j) the total number of qualified applicants, (k) the projected future state revenue gains and losses, (l) the sales tax refunds owed, (m) the credits outstanding under the act, (n) the value of personal property exempted by class in each county under the act, (o) the value of property for which payments equal to property taxes paid were allowed in each county, and (p) the total amount of the payments.

(4) In estimating the projected future state revenue gains and losses, the report shall detail the methodology utilized, state the economic multipliers and industry multipliers used to determine the amount of economic growth and positive tax revenue, describe the analysis used to determine the percentage of new jobs attributable to the Nebraska Advantage Act assumption, and identify limitations that are inherent in the analysis method.

(5) The report shall provide an explanation of the audit and review processes of the department in approving and rejecting applications or the grant of incentives and in enforcing incentive recapture. The report shall also specify the median period of time between the date of application and the date the agreement is executed for all agreements executed by June 30 of the current year.

(6) The report shall provide information on project-specific total incentives used every two years for each approved project. The report shall disclose (a) the identity of the taxpayer, (b) the location of the project, and (c) the total credits used, exemptions used, and refunds approved during the immediately preceding two years expressed as a single, aggregated total. The incentive information required to be reported under this subsection shall not be reported for the first year the taxpayer attains the required employment and investment thresholds. The information on first-year incentives used shall be combined with and reported as part of the second year. Thereafter, the information on incentives used for succeeding years shall be reported for each project every two years containing information on two years of credits used, exemptions used, and refunds approved. The incentives used shall include incentives which have been approved by the department, but not necessarily received, during the previous two years.

(7) The report shall include an executive summary which shows aggregate information for all projects for which the information on incentives used in subsection (6) of this section is reported as follows: (a) The total incentives used by all taxpayers for projects detailed in subsection (6) of this section during the previous two years; (b) the number of projects; (c) the new jobs at the project for which credits have been granted; (d) the average compensation paid employees in the state in the year of application and for the new jobs at the project; and (e) the total investment for which incentives were granted. The executive summary shall summarize the number of states which grant investment tax credits, job tax credits, sales and use tax refunds or exemptions for qualified investment, and personal property tax exemptions and the investment and employment requirements under which they may be granted.

(8) No information shall be provided in the report that is protected by state or federal confidentiality laws.