1.This Act may be cited as
the Suburban Core Opportunity,
Restoration, and Enhancement (SCORE) Act of 2005
.
2.
(a)As
used in this Act—
(1)the term
unit of local government
means any city, other than a
metropolitan city located in a metropolitan statistical area, county, town,
township, parish, village, hamlet, or other general purpose political
subdivision of a State that contains within its boundaries an eligible SCORE
project area;
(2)the term
State
means any State of the United States, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and
America Samoa;
(3)the term
metropolitan area
means a standard metropolitan statistical area
as established by the Office of Management and Budget;
(4)the term
metropolitan city
means—
(A)a city within a
metropolitan area which is the central city of such area, as defined and used
by the Office of Management and Budget; or
(B)any other city,
within a metropolitan area, which has a population of 50,000 or more;
(5)the term
Secretary
means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
and
(6)the term
SCORE project area
means any area that—
(A)is not eligible
to be designated as a renewal community under section 1400E of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986;
(B)is not smaller
than a census-designated place (CDP
) as defined by the United
States Bureau of the Census; and
(C)includes some of
the following:
(i)Close proximity
to existing development and infrastructure, including access to mass
transit.
(ii)Substandard,
deteriorating, distressed, abandoned, or underutilized residential, commercial,
and industrial properties.
(iii)An average
housing cost-burden of at least 50 percent of gross income.
(iv)A
commercial property vacancy rate 30 percent higher than the average commercial
vacancy rate for all metropolitan areas.
(v)An older,
economically obsolescent regional mall, commonly referred to as a
Greyfield mall
.
(b)Basis and
modification of definitionsWhere appropriate, the definitions in
subsection (a) shall be based, with respect to any fiscal year, on the most
recent data compiled by the United States Bureau of the Census and the latest
published reports of the Office of Management and Budget available 90 days
prior to the beginning of such fiscal year. The Secretary may by regulation
change or otherwise modify the meaning of the terms defined in subsection (a)
in order to reflect any technical change or modification thereof made
subsequent to such date by the United States Bureau of the Census or the Office
of Management and Budget.
3.Designation of
SCORE project areas
(a)From among the areas nominated for designation under this
section, the Secretary may designate 1 or more SCORE project areas.
(b)Limitations on
designationNo area may be designated under subsection (a)
unless—
(1)the area is
nominated by 1 or more units of local government, including municipal and
county authorities;
(2)the unit of local
government provides written assurances and other documentation satisfactory to
the Secretary that—
(A)it convened a
SCORE advisory committee to enter into a collaborative community planning
process to determine the SCORE project area to be nominated;
(B)the SCORE
advisory committee held a series of open meetings to develop a vision statement
with the consensus of the community that describes—
(i)the
geographical extent of the SCORE project area;
(ii)the community's
goals in applying for such a designation; and
(iii)the community's
plan for the use of any funds received under this Act; and
(C)the SCORE
advisory committee passed a resolution, that was later adopted by the unit of
local government, adopting the vision statement agreed to in subparagraph (B);
and
(3)the Secretary
determines that any information furnished is reasonably accurate.
4.Planning grants
for SCORE project areas
(a)
(1)The Secretary may award a grant to a unit of local
government to plan activities in accordance with the provisions of this
section.
(2)A
grant awarded under subsection (a) shall not exceed $250,000.
(3)The Secretary shall award grants under this section on a
competitive basis.
(b)A
unit of local government seeking a grant under this section on behalf of a
designated SCORE project area shall submit an application to the Secretary at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require.
(c)A grant awarded to a unit of local government on behalf of
a designated SCORE project area pursuant to subsection (a) shall be used to
create a strategic plan for the SCORE project area. Such a strategic plan shall
include plans for—
(1)increasing the
types of housing available within the SCORE project area;
(2)protecting
natural resources, farmland, and critical environmental lands within the SCORE
project area;
(3)preserving or
increasing the amount of open space, public plazas, parks, and recreation areas
within the SCORE project area;
(4)increasing the
construction of mixed use properties and buildings within the SCORE project
area;
(5)enhancing and
promoting public transportation and improved circulation and access within the
SCORE project area, including the construction and renovation of streets for
pedestrian use, improving access to and condition of transit stations and
facilities, and the creation of commercial and mixed use properties adjacent to
transit stations;
(6)preserving the
character of the community within the SCORE project area, including limits on
the choice of architectural designs and the loss of historic features;
and
(7)programs or
initiatives that enhance the economic base of the SCORE project area, including
the creation of business improvement districts, facade enhancement programs,
retail store recruitment, and community marketing.
(d)
(1)Any unit of local government seeking to receive funds
under this section shall work in close association with a SCORE advisory
committee.
(2)The SCORE advisory committee shall hold at least one
hearing, open to the public, concerning the strategic plan with stakeholders
and other interested groups within the community so that the opinions of such
parties can be taken into account and so that outside groups can learn of the
strategic plan.
(3)Copies of the strategic plan as well as the date and time
of the hearing shall be made available to the public at least two weeks prior
to the hearing.
(4)90 day period
for commentsAfter the hearing, any interested party shall have
90 days in which to submit comments to the strategic plan advisory committee.
At the end of this period, the SCORE advisory committee shall hold an
additional hearing, open to the public, to discuss any revisions made to the
strategic plan.
(e)Authorization
of appropriations
(1)There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for
fiscal year 2006 to carry out the provisions of this section.
(2)Amounts
available until expendedAmounts appropriated under paragraph (1)
shall remain available until expended.
5.Revitalization
grants for SCORE project areas
(a)
(1)The Secretary may award a grant to a unit of local
government to fund activities to revitalize SCORE project areas in accordance
with the provisions of this section.
(2)No unit of local government may receive grants under this
section totaling more than $50,000,000.
(3)The Secretary shall award grants under this section on a
competitive basis.
(b)A unit of local government seeking a grant
under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require.
(c)
(1)Any unit of local government receiving a grant pursuant
to subsection (a) shall establish a separate fund, to be known as a SCORE
Reinvestment Fund, to be administered by the unit local government, in
consultation with a SCORE advisory committee. The SCORE Reinvestment Fund shall
be credited with all grant funds made available under this Act.
(2)A
unit of local government, in consultation with a SCORE advisory committee,
shall distribute such sums as are necessary from the SCORE Reinvestment Fund to
fund projects to revitalize SCORE project areas.
(d)
(1)A grant awarded to a unit of local government and
distributed from a SCORE Reinvestment Fund shall be used to—
(A)acquire real,
commercial, or industrial property and existing structures within a SCORE
project area;
(B)pay for the costs
of hiring engineers to develop or redevelop real, commercial, or industrial
property and existing structures within a SCORE project area; and
(C)pay for the
construction, reconstruction, alteration, rehabilitation, or to make
substantial improvements to real, commercial, or industrial property and
existing structures with a SCORE project area.
(2)No
more than 20 percent of the sums distributed from a SCORE Reinvestment Fund
shall be allocated to any single project to revitalize SCORE project
areas.
(e)Certification
of assessed valuesAny unit of local government receiving a grant
pursuant to subsection (a) must determine and certify the assessed value of all
taxable real property within the SCORE project area as of the date the unit of
local government applied for the grant, and for each fiscal year
thereafter.
(f)A unit of local government receiving a grant pursuant to
subsection (a) shall ensure that—
(1)it will receive
for each fiscal year the equivalent of any tax revenues generated from taxes
levied on the assessed value of real property within the SCORE project area as
of the date it applied for the grant;
(2)until an amount
equal to the amount of the grant awarded pursuant to subsection (a) is
collected, the SCORE Reinvestment Fund will receive all taxes generated as
result of any increase in the assessed value of all taxable real property
within a SCORE project area after the date it applied for the grant; and
(3)after an amount
equal to the amount of the grant awarded pursuant to subsection (a) is
collected, the SCORE Reinvestment Fund will receive 50 percent of all taxes
generated as result of any increase in the assessed value of all taxable real
property within a SCORE project area after the date it applied for the
grant.
(g)Authorization
of appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 to carry out
the provisions of this section.
6.Requirement for
audits and reports by units of local government
(a)The
Secretary may not award a grant under section 5 for a fiscal year unless the
unit of local government shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual
report in such form and containing such information as the Secretary determines
to be necessary for—
(1)securing a record
and a description of the purposes for which a grant received by a unit of local
government pursuant to section 5 was expended and of the recipients of such
expenditures;
(2)determining
whether the grant awarded was expended in accordance with the purposes and
limitations required pursuant to subsection (d) of section 5; and
(3)determining the
percentage of the grant awarded that was expended by the unit of local
government for administrative expenses during the preceding fiscal year.
(b)
(1)The Secretary may not award a grant under section 5 for a
fiscal year unless the unit of local government shall establish such fiscal
controls and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to ensure the
proper disbursal of, and accounting for, amounts received by the unit of local
government under such section.
(2)The
Secretary may not award a grant under section 5 unless the unit of local
government shall—
(A)provide for a
single financial and compliance audit of each SCORE Reinvestment Fund;
(B)perform an audit
biennially and that such an audit will cover expenditures in each fiscal year;
and
(C)conduct such an
audit in accordance with standards established by the Comptroller General of
the United States for the audit of governmental organizations, programs,
activities, and functions.
(3)For
purposes of paragraph (2), the term financial and compliance
audit
means an audit to determine whether the financial statements of
an audited SCORE Reinvestment Fund present fairly the financial position, and
the results of financial operations, of the SCORE Reinvestment Fund in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and whether the SCORE
Reinvestment Fund has complied with laws and regulations that may have a
material effect upon the financial statements.
(c)Availability to
the publicThe Secretary may not award a grant under section 5
for a fiscal year unless the unit of local government shall make copies of the
reports and audits described in this section available for public
inspection.
(d)Evaluations by
Comptroller GeneralThe Comptroller General of the United States
shall, from time to time, evaluate the expenditures by units of local
government of grants awarded under section 5 in order to ensure that
expenditures are consistent with the provisions of this section.
7.Interaction with
Community Development Block Grant Programs
(a)Business
located within SCORE project areasA business located within an area
designated as a SCORE project area under section 3 that is receiving Federal
funds provided to States and units of general local government under section
106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306), or,
if applicable, receiving funds as a result of a guarantee or grant under
section 108 of that same Act, shall be deemed to have met for any job creation
or job retention effort undertaken with such funds—
(1)the certification requirement of section
104(b)(3) of such Act; and
(2)the requirements
of section 105(c) of such Act.
(b)Housing units
in SCORE project areasAll units of housing that are located
within an area designated as a SCORE project area under section 3 and that are
receiving Federal funds provided to States and units of general local
government under section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306), or, if applicable, receiving funds as a result of a
guarantee or grant under section 108 of that same Act, shall be considered a
single structure with respect to the requirements of section 105(c) of such
Act.
(c)Economic
development projects in SCORE project areasAny economic
development project located within an area designated as a SCORE project area
under section 3 that is receiving Federal funds provided to States and units of
general local government under section 106 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306), or, if applicable, receiving funds as
a result of a guarantee or grant under section 108 of that same Act, shall be
exempt from the public benefit standards established under section 105(e) of
such Act.
8.Tax benefits for
SCORE project areas
(a)Chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended
by adding at the end the following new subchapter:
ZSCORE project
areas benefits
Sec. 1400M. Tax benefits for SCORE
project areas.
1400M.Tax benefits
for SCORE project areas
(a)Expansion of
work opportunity tax credit
(1)For purposes of section 51, a SCORE project area business
employee shall be treated as a member of a targeted group.
(2)Score project
area business employeeFor purposes of this subsection—
(A)The term SCORE project area business
employee means, with respect to any period, any employee of a SCORE
project area business if substantially all the services performed during such
period by such employee for such business are performed in the SCORE project
area in which the business is located.
(B)Score project
area businessThe term SCORE project area business
means any trade or business which is located in a SCORE project business
area.
(C)Special rules
for determining amount of creditFor purposes of applying subpart
F of part IV of subchapter B of this chapter to wages paid or incurred to any
SCORE project area business employee—
(i)section 51(a)
shall be applied by substituting the sum of 15 percent of the qualified
first-year wages, 10 percent of the qualified second-year wages, and 5 percent
of the qualified third-year wages
for 40 percent of the
qualified first-year wages
,
(ii)in lieu of
paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b), the following definitions and special
rule shall apply:
(I)Qualified
first-year wagesThe term qualified first-year wages
means, with respect to any individual, qualified wages attributable to service
rendered during the 1-year period beginning with the later of the day the
individual begins work for the employer or the first day of the designation of
the SCORE project area in which the employer is located.
(II)Qualified
second-year wagesThe term qualified second-year
wages means, with respect to any individual, qualified wages
attributable to service rendered during the 1-year period beginning on the day
after the last day of the 1-year period with respect to such individual
determined under subclause (I).
(III)Qualified
third-year wagesThe term qualified third-year wages
means, with respect to any individual, qualified wages attributable to service
rendered during the 1-year period beginning on the day after the last day of
the 1-year period with respect to such individual determined under subclause
(II).
(IV)Only first
$15,000 of wages per year taken into accountThe amount of the
qualified first, second, and third year wages which may be taken into account
with respect to any individual shall not exceed $15,000 per year, and
(iii)subsections
(c)(4) and (I)(2) of section 51 shall not apply.
(b)Special
allowance for certain SCORE project area property
(1)In the case of any qualified SCORE project area
property—
(A)the depreciation
deduction provided by section 167(a) for the taxable year in which such
property is placed in service shall include an allowance equal to 50 percent of
the adjusted basis of such property, and
(B)the adjusted
basis of the qualified SCORE project area property shall be reduced by the
amount of such deduction before computing the amount otherwise allowable as a
depreciation deduction under this chapter for such taxable year and any
subsequent taxable year.
(2)Qualified Score
project area propertyFor purposes of this subsection—
(A)The term qualified SCORE project area
property means property—
(i)which is
nonresidential real property or residential rental property,
(ii)substantially
all of the use of which is in the active conduct of a trade or business by the
taxpayer in the SCORE project area in which such property is located,
(iii)the original
use of which in the SCORE project area commences with the taxpayer after the
date of the designation of such area, and
(iv)which is
acquired by the taxpayer by purchase (as defined in section 179(d)) after the
date of such designation, but only if no written binding contract for the
acquisition was in effect before such date.
(B)
(i)30 percent
additional allowance propertySuch term shall not include
property to which section 168(k) applies.
(ii)Alternative
depreciation propertyThe term qualified New York Liberty
Zone property shall not include any property described in section
168(k)(2)(D)(I).
(iii)For purposes of this subsection, rules similar to the rules
of section 168(k)(2)(D)(iii) shall apply.
(C)For purposes of this subsection, rules similar to the rules
of subparagraph (E) of section 168(k)(2) shall apply, except that—
(i)the date
of the designation of the SCORE project area
shall be substituted for
September 10, 2001
each place it appears, and
(ii)clause (I)
thereof shall be applied without regard to and before January 1,
2005
.
(D)Allowance
against alternative minimum taxFor purposes of this subsection,
rules similar to the rules of section 168(k)(2)(G) shall apply.
(c)For purposes of this section, the term SCORE project
area means an area designated under the Suburban Core Opportunity,
Restoration, and Enhancement (SCORE) Act of
2005.
.
(b)The table of subchapters for chapter 1 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
item:
Subchapter Z—SCORE project areas
benefits
.