(a) As used in this section:
(1) “Aerospace manufacturing project” means a project involving the production of helicopters in this state that, if certified by the commissioner as provided in subsection (b) of this section, will require primary helicopter production for current United States government programs, as of the date of the assistance agreement, to be carried out at a facility in this state and minimum expenditure requirements for aggregate payroll and supplier spend base levels, together with minimum employment requirements and capital expenditure targets in this state by an eligible taxpayer in furtherance of such project over a period of not less than fourteen years.
(2) “Assistance agreement” means a contract entered into between the commissioner and an eligible taxpayer, in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, including any amendments to or extensions of such contract.
(3) “Capital expenditure” means bona fide costs to the wholly-owned subsidiary and its subsidiaries for: (A) Acquisition of lands, buildings, machinery, equipment or any combination thereof, (B) site and infrastructure improvements, (C) planning costs, (D) research and development expenses, as defined in section 12-217n , including, but not limited to, development of new products and markets, and (E) development of diversification strategies, including plans for regional diversification strategies and consultants required for the completion of such strategies and plans.
(4) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development.
(5) “Company” means an entity with a place of business or wholly-owned subsidiary located in this state and the direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliates of such entity.
(6) “Compliance year” means each twelve-month period commencing July first and continuing through June thirtieth of the following year, provided the initial compliance year shall commence on July 1, 2018, and end on June 30, 2019. “Annual” shall refer to a compliance year.
(7) “Eligible taxpayer” means a company that, at the time application is made under subsection (b) of this section, (A) is engaged in the aerospace industry, (B) employs not less than six thousand individuals in this state, (C) operates the company's primary helicopter production facility for its current United States government programs in this state, (D) plans to bid on a low-rate production contract with the federal government for a helicopter, and (E) has a wholly-owned subsidiary with production facilities and its headquarters, as defined in the assistance agreement, in Connecticut prior to September 29, 2016.
(8) “Employee base level” means (A) for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2018, and prior to July 1, 2023, a base level of full-time employees in this state that is not less than an average of six thousand five hundred for each compliance year, and (B) for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2023, and prior to the conclusion of the assistance agreement, a base level of full-time employees in this state that is not less than an average of seven thousand for each compliance year, provided the average number of full-time employees for each compliance year shall be determined by adding the number of full-time employees at the end of each quarter of the respective compliance year and dividing the sum of such quarters by four.
(9) “Full-time employee” means an employee in this state of the company who works for a minimum of thirty-five hours per week. “Full-time employee” does not include an employee working on a temporary or seasonal basis or any individual who does not receive a federal Form W-2 from the company.
(10) “Minimum requirements” means the minimum conditions that the eligible taxpayer must satisfy during each compliance year to qualify for the annual grants for such compliance year described in subsection (e) of this section and the sales and use tax offset for such compliance year, described in subsection (d) of this section, including, but not limited to, achieving the employee base level, the payroll base level, the supplier spend base level, the maintenance of the wholly-owned subsidiary's headquarters, as defined in the assistance agreement, in Connecticut and the maintenance and operation of the company's primary helicopter production facility for its current United States government programs, as of the date of the assistance agreement, in this state.
(11) “Payroll base level” means (A) for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2018, and prior to July 1, 2023, a base level of aggregate gross pay for full-time employees in this state that is not less than six hundred eleven million dollars for each compliance year, and (B) for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2023, and prior to the conclusion of the assistance agreement, a base level of aggregate gross pay for full-time employees in this state that is not less than seven hundred million dollars for each compliance year.
(12) “Production” means the various operations related to the completion of a helicopter, including, but not limited to, procurement, engineering, manufacture, assembly, integration and testing.
(13) “Regular place of business” means any bona fide office, factory, warehouse or other space in this state at which a supply company is doing business in its own name in a regular and systematic manner, and which place is continuously maintained, occupied and used by the supply company in carrying on its business through its employees regularly in attendance to carry on the supply company's business in the supply company's own name. “Regular place of business” does not include a place of business for a statutory agent for service of process, or a temporary office or location used by the supply company only for the duration of the contract or an office maintained, occupied and used by a person affiliated with the supply company.
(14) “Supply company” means any commercial business with a regular place of business in this state that supplies goods and services necessary to support (A) the manufacturing of company products, or (B) company operations. “Supply company” does not include any local, state or federal revenue collection or taxing entity.
(15) “Supplier spend base level” means a total annual spend by the wholly-owned subsidiary with its supply companies in this state of not less than: (A) Three hundred million dollars for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2018, and prior to July 1, 2024; (B) four hundred ten million dollars for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2024, and prior to July 1, 2029; and (C) four hundred seventy million dollars for compliance years commencing on or after July 1, 2029, and prior to the conclusion of the assistance agreement, provided: (i) If an expenditure qualifies both for the supplier spend base level and the capital expenditures target, the eligible taxpayer may choose between such categories for which such expenditure may be counted, and (ii) in no event shall any such expenditure be counted toward more than one such category.
(16) “Sales and use tax” means the taxes due under chapter 219.
(17) “Sales and use tax offset” means the offset described in subsection (d) of this section.
(18) “Wholly-owned subsidiary” means a subsidiary of the company, or such subsidiary's successor to its operations, that has its headquarters, as defined in the assistance agreement, in Connecticut. “Wholly-owned subsidiary” includes any direct or indirect subsidiary of the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, and any limited liability company wholly owned directly or indirectly by the company's wholly-owned subsidiary.
(b) (1) Any eligible taxpayer that intends to undertake an aerospace manufacturing project may apply to the commissioner for certification of such project as a certified aerospace manufacturing project. In order to receive such certification, an eligible taxpayer shall apply to the commissioner, in a form acceptable to the commissioner and include such information as prescribed by the commissioner, including, but not limited to, (A) a detailed plan outlining the aerospace manufacturing project, (B) the term of such project, and (C) the estimated expenditures for such project. The commissioner may require such eligible taxpayer to submit such additional information as may be necessary to evaluate the application.
(2) All decisions of the commissioner with respect to any application received under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be made in the commissioner's discretion. The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to authorize suit against this state by any taxpayer that is denied certification by the commissioner and shall not be construed as a waiver of sovereign immunity.
(c) (1) Upon certification by the commissioner of an application as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the commissioner may enter into an assistance agreement with an eligible taxpayer pursuant to which the commissioner may, in consideration of the eligible taxpayer's agreement to meet the minimum requirements in a compliance year in connection with the certified aerospace manufacturing project, and as further inducement for the eligible taxpayer to enter into an aerospace manufacturing project, agree to make certain grants to the eligible taxpayer and permit the eligible taxpayer to offset its sales and use tax liability up to a specified amount for the corresponding compliance year. Such assistance agreement shall list: (A) The specifications of the certified aerospace manufacturing project; (B) the length of time the certified aerospace manufacturing project will take to complete; (C) the minimum requirements the eligible taxpayer agrees to meet during each compliance year; (D) the commitment by the eligible taxpayer to maintain the headquarters, as defined in the assistance agreement, of the wholly-owned subsidiary or its successor in Connecticut and to operate the eligible taxpayer's primary helicopter production facility for its current United States government programs, as of the date of the assistance agreement, in Connecticut; (E) the grants, as determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of this section, that the eligible taxpayer is eligible to receive during the term of the assistance agreement based on meeting the minimum requirements, and the terms and conditions the eligible taxpayer is required to satisfy in order to receive such grants, including, but not limited to, the information required to be submitted to the commissioner by the eligible taxpayer and provisions for the commissioner to access relevant records of the eligible taxpayer and to verify the accuracy of such records; (F) the terms and conditions of the repayment of any grants, and other required financial penalties resulting from the failure on the part of the eligible taxpayer to comply with the terms of the assistance agreement; (G) the amount of sales and use tax, subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (d) of this section, that the eligible taxpayer is eligible to offset for each compliance year set forth in the assistance agreement, provided the eligible taxpayer meets the minimum requirements for each such compliance year; (H) the terms and conditions of the repayment of any such sales and use tax offsets, and other required financial penalties resulting from the failure on the part of the eligible taxpayer to otherwise comply with the terms of the assistance agreement; (I) the manner and method for the eligible taxpayer to provide notice of any disputed claim under the assistance agreement; and (J) any other terms and conditions the commissioner may require.
(2) Any eligible taxpayer that enters into an assistance agreement with the commissioner under this subsection may, in the event of any disputed claims under such assistance agreement, bring an action against this state to the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford for the purpose of having such claim determined, provided notice of any such disputed claim is first given to the commissioner in the manner and method described in such assistance agreement. No such action shall be allowed unless it is brought not later than two years after the date on which the eligible taxpayer gave proper notice to the commissioner in accordance with such assistance agreement. All legal defenses under such assistance agreement, except sovereign immunity, are reserved to this state.
(3) If the provisions of subsection (c) or (e) of section 32-223 or section 32-462 are in conflict with such assistance agreement, the provisions of such assistance agreement shall supersede.
(d) (1) The assistance agreement may provide for the offset of sales and use tax amounts otherwise payable by the eligible taxpayer under the provisions of chapter 219. The offset of sales and use taxes shall be made in the form, timing and manner determined by the commissioner in consultation with the Commissioner of Revenue Services. The offset of sales and use tax amounts shall be calculated after the application of all other sales and use tax exemptions set forth in chapter 219 in effect on September 29, 2016, and any subsequent amendments to chapter 219. Nothing in this subsection shall affect the eligible taxpayer's ability to claim the sales and use tax exemptions it otherwise qualifies for under any provision of the general statutes.
(2) The amount of sales and use tax liability that the commissioner may permit an eligible taxpayer to offset for any certified aerospace manufacturing project shall not exceed five million seven hundred fourteen thousand dollars per compliance year, nor exceed eighty million dollars in the aggregate over the term of the assistance agreement, provided if such eligible taxpayer's actual sales and use tax liability is less than five million seven hundred fourteen thousand dollars in any compliance year, the eligible taxpayer may carry forward, for a period not to exceed three years, the difference between (A) five million seven hundred fourteen thousand dollars in addition to any carry-forward from prior years, and (B) the eligible taxpayer's actual sales and use tax liability for such compliance year after applying any exemptions allowed pursuant to chapter 219. The carry forward amount shall be utilized on a first earned, first used basis, prior to the use of any current year offset by the eligible taxpayer to offset its sales and use tax liability in excess of the five million seven hundred fourteen thousand dollar annual limitation. At the end of each compliance year, the commissioner shall notify the Commissioner of Revenue Services whether the eligible taxpayer has met all minimum requirements necessary to qualify for the offset or is required to repay such amount in accordance with the terms of the assistance agreement.
(e) The commissioner shall make grants to an eligible taxpayer subject to an assistance agreement for the achievement of employment, payroll, supplier spend, capital expenditures and performance incentive targets and the satisfaction of other minimum requirements in accordance with this subsection.
(1) For each compliance year, the commissioner shall make an employment grant equal to the maximum grant for achieving the employment target for the company in accordance with the table contained in this subdivision, except that if the average number of full-time employees is less than the employment target for a compliance year, the employment grant shall be such maximum grant reduced by an amount equal to such maximum grant multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the employment target in this state less actual employment in this state and the denominator of which shall be the employment target in this state less the employee base level in this state, in accordance with the table contained in this subdivision.