The Kern County Board of Supervisors is set to review a proposal Tuesday from local economic development officials that would lift existing caps on tax rebates, and bring new jobs to the county.
The current policy allows the businesses a 90 percent rebate on new taxes they generate, up to $500,000 over five years.If adopted, the new plan would do away with the cap on the length and amount of tax rebates. It also would raise the threshold for the number of jobs businesses need to create to qualify in most cases, from 10 to 100. A business can also qualify with 10 or more employees if it pays workers 200 percent of the "sustainable wage rate."
Called Advance Kern, the proposed changes also bring the county’s policy into compliance with a state law that requires public review for incentives over $100,000. A variety of businesses are being targeting by the project including e-commerce, logistics, value-added agriculture, and aerospace. County economic development officials hope it will create new jobs and diversify the county’s economic base. The move comes just weeks after economic development officials submitted a plan to lure Amazon's "HQ2" campus to Kern County.