California
City EDC
Assisting Companies to Expand
or Relocate
A nonprofit corporation, California City Economic Development Corporation
(Cal City EDC) provides information and facilitation for companies looking
to expand or relocate in "AFFORDABLE" California
City.

Local and State Incentives for California
City Businesses
In a concerted effort to attract and retain quality employers, the City
of California City has developed an impressive array of incentive programs.
These incentives are designed to provide companies locating within the
City a competitive edge by reducing both startup and long term operating
costs. Insuring the profitability of business is the foundation for
a higher standard of living for all of California City's residents.
The incentives summarized below are valid as of July 1999.
Contact California City EDC for specific details and applicability
to your situation at (800) 373-2000 or send us email.
Enterprise Zone State Tax Credits
Hiring credit starts at 50% of qualified employee's wages. $26,000 +
over 5 years.
Sales and use tax credits for qualified machinery.
Qualified property may be expensed in one year.
100% of net operating losses and tax credits may be carried over.
Lenders (institutional and private) receive deduction for interest
earned in Zone.
Bid preference of 5%-9% on State of California contracts.
Detailed information on specific Enterprise Zone areas is available.
Additional information is available from the State of California - Franchise
Tax Board in Publication 1047*. Notice: Be sure to contact your tax
consultant prior to making any decisions pertaining to Enterprise Zone
Tax Credits.
Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ)
Projects using post consumer waste materials may be eligible for special
loan funds. Visit the Recycling
Market Development Store for examples of products that might qualify.
Eligible applicant may borrow 50% of project costs to $1,000,000.
Fixed low rates set annually by the Board. Term and amortization schedule
determined by the asset's useful fife (10 yrs. max).
Manufacturers Investment Credit
State of California tax credit equal to 6% of qualified machinery cost
may be taken in addition to credits earned in Enterprise Zone.
Job Credits and Fee Deferrals
Each jurisdiction in Kern County offers some kind of "Job Credit" program
that benefits new or outstanding manufacturers. Depending on the
location these "Job Credits" could be used to lower development fees or
offset other development costs.
Personal Property Tax Rebate
Companies located in the County of Kern may apply for a rebate of personal
property taxes paid on qualified manufacturing process property. Create
and maintain for 5 years at least 10 new jobs paying $10.00 per hour or
more.
Electric Rate Discount
Local municipal utilities offer discounted and negotiated rates for
commercial/industrial customers. Savings from normal rates are significant.
Want more information? State
Programs
Before the competition for prime industries became intense enough for
states, cities and other municipal organizations to offer incentives, there
was a very limited number of ways to finance a business expansion.
The business would either withdraw money from retained earnings or borrow
from a bank.
Today there are many new ways to finance an expansion. States
and communities now work to help finance business expansion as an investment
that will provide tax revenues and create new jobs. Smart businesses
that want to expand will investigate and leverage these benefits to help
increase growth.
In order to take advantage of these new financing mechanisms, businesses
must get a loan review committee that is both creative and innovative.
It is also helpful if the committee understands how the business expansion
or relocation will generate additional revenues to repay the loan.
Here are a few of the ways local and state governments can help to finance
business expansion.
Industrial Revenue Bonds
Industrial Revenue Bonds are available in every state for manufacturers
and processing oriented companies looking for money to expand their facilities.
These can be used for real estate acquisition, new construction, additions,
machinery purchase and other activities that improve production capacity.
Industrial Revenue Bonds are generally issued by the state or local
government, but are technically obligations of the end user and carry a
tax-exempt interest rate at the federal, and sometimes, state level.
This generates a very favorable source of borrowing which can be one or
two percentage points below the prime rate.
An important thing to remember is that the company can issue no more
than 10 million in bonds per project, and no more than 40 million collectively
at any one time. In addition, the company cannot have capital expenditures
in excess of 10 million for three years following the issuance of the bonds.
In many cases, this limits the usefulness of this form of finance.
For example, Vorwood Co. is a Shasta-county based machine manufacturer
that sells to mobile home companies and cabinet-makers in the United States
and internationally. Seeking to expand its facilities, Vorwood sought the
help of the Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County. Shasta
County succeeded in assisting Vorwood in accessing grant funds from the
state of California. Vorwood used these funds to purchase additional land
and build a new facility on property adjacent to its current location.
This co-effort by Shasta County EDC and the City of Anderson to assist
in finding state funding kept Vorwood from leaving California. The
company was investigating a move at that time to another state, which had
offered a loan package with payment not beginning until sometime in the
future.
Revolving Loan Funds
Many communities have established Revolving Loan Funds that are generally
available to smaller businesses. These funds offer varying provisions
and restrictions.
Some communities will provide a low interest loan from these Revolving
Loan Funds for the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Others
will offer Revolving Loan Funds for the construction or remodeling of new
facilities. Sometimes these funds are even available for working
capital needs for expanding businesses.
Generally, Revolving Loan Funds are limited in size to less than $100,000
in principal and have repayment periods of three to five years.
For many years, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) provided
grants to communities to establish revolving loan funds. Many communities
have established programs to assist expanding businesses with below prime
expansion capital.
Master Leases and Speculative Buildings
Some communities have constructed speculative buildings in the hope
of attracting new or relocating companies to enhance the vibrancy of their
communities. These speculative building programs are usually built
with community or state dollars and have the advantage of flexibility in
terms of usage, lease rate or term.
The major benefit to the community is not the profit made on the development
of real estate, but on the taxes and income the new job creation will have
on other community activities. Thus, negotiations with speculative
building community leaders will tend to focus on the investment and tax
benefits as opposed to lease rate benefits.
Special loan programs
Other economic development players can also be used as sources of funding
for new or expanding businesses. A number of states have set up separate
entities to fund these programs, I-Bank in California, the Texas Economic
Development Bank, and the Mississippi Business Finance Corporation for
example.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, as another example, operates a highly
successful business loan program to help companies purchase new equipment
and buildings to expand jobs and investment in its Service Territory.
In addition, utilities, short line railroads, municipal sewer and water
districts are often a source of financing that is frequently overlooked
by expanding companies.
Loan Guarantees
Another way that state and local governments can assist expanding businesses
is through the use of loan guarantee programs.
Loan guarantees allow the borrower to obtain lower cost funding for
real estate or equipment purchases by guaranteeing the repayment of all
or a portion of the loan. This allows the business to obtain credit
where it may not have qualified on its own or would have obtained a much
lower interest rate.
For example, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania operates the Capital Access
Program, a loan guarantee program targeted to all businesses with capital
needs. Proceeds of the loan can be used for land and buildings, equipment
and working capital. Loans for up to $500,000 can be term or line of credit.
Rates and terms are negotiated with the participating bank.
State or Local Grant Programs
More states and local communities than the untrained eye would see
have established grant programs that can be leveraged to help finance business
expansion and relocation projects.
Texas recently funded the Texas Enterprise Fund with over $200 million
in discretionary capital to help offset start-up costs associated with
major investment programs. The Toyota Tundra truck plant in San Antonio
benefited from this fund.
Other community funds can be leveraged to lower off-site infrastructure
costs. One such find is the federally-funded Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) program or the Economic Development Administrations
Title IX public improvement grant program.
Often communities have raised funds that can be used for economic development
projects that will create jobs and taxes in their communities. An example
of this is California's Smart Growth Economic Development Infrastructure
Fund. This fund promotes the creation of industrial parks and other needed
infrastructure in qualified distressed counties through direct funding
of projects identified in the local strategic plan for economic development.
Micro-Loan programs
Some states and communities offer micro-loans – small loans to help
new businesses with expansion capital. Sometimes these programs are
run in coordination with the Small Business Administration, which works
with financial institutions to obtain credit where it may not ordinarily
be available.
The California Development Corporation (statewide CDC) offers long-term,
fixed-rate subordinated financing via the SBA 504 loan program. The 504-loan
program can finance land, new construction, buildings, and equipment with
a useful life of at least 10 years. This program can finance up to 40 percent
of total project costs up to $1.3 million in some instances.
Tax Increment Financing
Another commonly utilized financing tool is the use of Tax Increment
Financing for lowering the start-up costs associated with corporate expansion.
Tax Increment Financing is a technique of financing that is found in
almost all states. It involves the recapture of sales or property
taxes to repay loans or bond obligations incurred to pay for on or off-site
improvements, which then generate the taxes through economic activity.
Many sports stadiums, such as the Staples Center in Los Angeles have
utilized this technique for creating something out of nothing. Very
often projects must be located in special zones, such as a Redevelopment
Zone or an Economic Development Zone in order to qualify for this program.
These zones can be expanded or newly created if a project is attractive
enough for a new community.
Incubator Programs
Some communities and states have established programs to assist with
the start-up of new businesses in technology industries that they would
like to encourage development.
These communities will often partner with local universities to create
business incubator programs where research and production space, shared
services and other business needs are subsidized. These programs
allow technology intensive businesses to concentrate their resources on
research and development as opposed to the rather mundane tasks of accounting,
finance and real estate.
Exploring your options
No matter where a business is seeking to expand, it is likely that
one or more of these programs or programs like these will be available
to help. Businesses must explore the options by finding out what
is available before committing to a specific financing path.
The local economic development board, banker and city manager are often
great sources to help determine what programs are available to an expanding
business. Another good option is to hire a specialist. An incentives
consulting firm, like California City Location Services, specializes in
knowing what is available on the local and state level to help companies
lower expansion costs.
California City provides a single point of contact with expertise in
garnering incentives, local knowledge and relationships all over the United
States, familiarity with recent legislation and compliance issues and a
long term ability to track and file appropriate paperwork. This will
ensure the ongoing delivery of incentives and financial rewards based on
the incentives generated.
California City will negotiate, manage, track and execute incentive
programs as their sole function. There is little or no cost to the
company because they are paid only on a successful performance. Often
this is money that the company never would have received without their
services anyway so the company can’t lose.
Contact California City EDC at (760) 373-2000 or send us email.
Administrative Office and Hours
California City EDC
8001 Cal City Blvd.
California City Ca 93505
(760) 373-2007
(800) 892-2007
FAX (760) 373-1414
edc@calcity.org
ccedc@ccis.com
email inquiry form
map and driving
instructions to office
Office hours:
Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST
Read the Historical
Summary of Economic Development of California City
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