Business loan applicants must be within the IDL
The Tulsa City Council is looking into ways to provide more economic benefit to subsidize privately owned businesses exclusively located in Downtown Tulsa.
Councilors are looking at recommendations for the “Economic Development Infrastructure Fund, Downtown Revolving Loan Fund.” Tulsa has pumped hundreds of millions of tax money in Downtown in the past decade.
The taxpayer-funded no-interest loans are designed to “encourage quality jobs,” according to Mayor G.T. Bynum. But only businesses and housing within the Inner Dispersal Loop in Downtown Tulsa have a chance to get the loans.
“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,” Bynum said in a press release. “These policy recommendations ensure we target key programs like the EDIF to those projects and businesses which will help us do just that.”
There are four ways that the city can distribute the $7,000,000.00 available in zero-interest revolving loans.
“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.”
The standards for the government subsidies to retain existing businesses, expand existing businesses or subsidize new businesses from outside Tulsa are:
- They must pay an average wage of $51,945 (the average prevailing wage for Tulsa according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.)
- They must offer health insurance and allow for the accrual of paid time off.
- A business that employs entry-level workers can get an exemption for 80% of the wage requirement ($41,556).
- Private businesses that meet the county wage levels can be considered for “enhanced” awards.
- A business that creates more than 1,000 jobs with more than $100 million in investment, can get the wage requirement dropped to 70% (about $36,000 a year).
The loans are zero interest for a maximum of six years. The only upfront cost is an application fee (.5% of the loan amount).
Previous private businesses 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.