Tulsa City Council To Consider Economic Development Infrastructure Fund, Downtown Revolving Loan Fund Policy Recommendations

Press release from City of Tulsa:

September 3, 2020

Update Thursday, September 3: Yesterday, the Tulsa City Council approved policy recommendations for the Economic Development Infrastructure Fund and Downtown Revolving Loan Funds. More information can be found in the release below.

(Tulsa, OK) - Today, the Tulsa City Council will consider policy recommendations for the Economic Infrastructure Fund (EDIF) and Downtown Revolving Loan Funds.

EDIF policy recommendations include additional policies to allow recipients to qualify for incentives to support and encourage quality jobs, which support the City’s goal of improving per capita income.

“As we seek to grow our economy and ensure economic mobility for Tulsa’s residents, attracting and retaining quality jobs that provide a living wage is critical,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said. “When we look at income disparities across our city, we have to find innovative ways to ensure hard-working families are able to improve their economic status no matter which zip code they live in. These policy recommendations ensure we target key programs like the EDIF to those projects and businesses which will help us do just that.”

Additionally, the Downtown Revolving Loan Fund policy recommendations now set new guidelines and align processes across four funding programs that will be used to determine how the City will distribute $7 million in available zero interest revolving loans. These loans have historically been critical to the growth of downtown businesses, and help to increase sales tax revenue, enhance Downtown property tax values, and increase the economic well-being of citizens across Tulsa.

“We are committed to implementing strong public policies which align with the City’s stated objectives around shared prosperity, said Kian Kamas, the City’s Chief of Economic Development. “The EDIF has been one of the City’s most successful economic development tools, and with the changes being considered today, we look to build upon our recent successes to ensure we target this tool to those projects which will drive progress and economic mobility for Tulsans. Additionally, the proposed updates to our Downtown Revolving Loan Fund policy will create consistency across multiple funding sources and allow us to quickly deploy funds to projects in Downtown that will help us continue and accelerate the momentum we have witnessed over the past decade.”

Key additions to the EDIF Policy ensure business retention, expansion, or attraction projects that will meet the following standards:

• Average wage of jobs retained or created must meet or exceed the prevailing average wage in the prior calendar year as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis - For Tulsa County in 2020, this equates to an average wage of $51,945
• Businesses must offer basic health insurance and allow for the accrual of paid time off
• Projects that create job opportunities for Tulsans who experience barriers to employment and provide access to jobs that allow for career advancement from entry-level positions may request an exemption to 80 percent of the average wage requirement - For Tulsa County in 2020, this equates to an average wage of $41,556
• Projects which meet the average county wage requirements and job opportunity measures are eligible to be considered for enhanced EDIF awards
• Catalytic projects, defined as those creating 1,000 or more new jobs and resulting in $100,000,000 or more in capital investment, may request an exemption to 70 percent of the average wage requirement, but must meet at least two of the program’s job opportunity measures - For Tulsa County in 2020, this equates to an average wage of $36,361

Key updates to the Downtown Revolving Loan Fund policy include:

• Loans will continue to be zero interest for a maximum of six years
• Applicants will be responsible only for an application processing fee, which is equal to an annual interest rate of .5 percent of the principal loan amount
• Applicants must be located within the Inter Dispersal Loop (IDL) and contribute to the creation or retention of new business, development or employment

Previous business expansion and attraction projects funded by EDIF include L3Harris, Amazon, Greenheck Group, and USA BMX.

Previous development projects utilizing the Downtown Revolving Loan Fund include Hartford Commons, The Adams Apartments, and The Boxyard, among others.

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This press release was produced by the City of Tulsa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.