Economic Vitality Committee Agenda and Packet 2025 03 06

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11: Cityof r Louisville COLORADO - SINCE 1878 ECONOMIC VITALITY COMMITTEE SUBJECT: HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL INCENTIVE PROGRAMS OR DESIGNATIONS DATE: MARCH 6, 2025 PRESENTED BY: VANESSA ZARATE, CECD, ECONOMIC VITALITY MANAGER SUMMARY: The Economic Vitality team, through City Council, provides the business community with various incentives through the Business Assistance Program. In addition, the Louisville Revitalization Commission provides various incentives to businesses and property owners within the urban renewal boundaries. Incentives provided by the City of Louisville are performance and rebate based, providing positive direct and indirect impacts to the City of Louisville. The Economic Vitality team works with partners across the state to gain designations for Louisville corridors and businesses. These designations typically allow businesses to gain tax credits or other incentives through state and/or federal partners. In 2024, Staff presented various options to the EVC in terms of potential program changes or additions that could benefit our business community. Since that time, we have adopted an Enhanced Assistance portion of our Business Assistance Program. In addition, we are currently in the process of gaining CHIPS and Enterprise Zone Designations for the City of Louisville. Staff is presenting today some very high-level ideas of potential incentives or programs that could be of benefit to the businesses in Louisville. These incentive programs are currently not fully vetted nor has any corresponding policy been drafted. The intent of the conversation today is to express a variety of different incentive options that have been implemented elsewhere and see where EVC thinks these incentives might align with community goals. Based on this feedback, staff will better be able to prepare incentive proposals. Amend Existing Business Assistance Program (BAP) for Small Retail/Restaurant The EVC has previously suggested amending the BAP program for small active businesses- retail and restaurants- that can allow for an administrative BAP approval process. This approval would be for the first five years of their operations with a reimbursement schedule of 100-80-60-40-20. This administratively approved BAP, with a staged reimbursement would allow active businesses, that bring sales tax into the community, and moving into small scale spaces to receive an administrative approval, with guaranteed terms for their incentive.