Section 16-a - Regional revolving loan program(1) The corporation shall establish a fund to be known as the "regional revolving loan trust fund" and shall pay into such fund any monies made available to the corporation for such fund from any source. The monies held in or credited to the fund shall be expended solely for the purposes set forth in this section. The corporation shall not commingle the monies of such fund with any other monies of the corporation or any monies held in trust by the corporation.(2) The corporation shall allocate any monies made available for such fund for the purpose of making grants to regional corporations. The grants shall be allocated as follows: (a) fifty percent divided equally among the regions;(b) fifty percent according to a formula weighted in favor of those regions with the greatest levels of economic distress as determined by poverty rates, number of persons receiving public assistance, unemployment rates, rate of employment decline and such other indicators of economic distress as the corporation deems appropriate; and(c) in the event a regional corporation advises the corporation that it does not require all or a portion of the funds to be distributed pursuant to this subdivision, such funds shall be re-distributed by the corporation equally among the other regional corporations.(3) In accordance with the rules and regulations of the corporation, each regional corporation shall establish two special accounts for monies received by the regional corporation pursuant to the provisions of this section. The grant monies received from the corporation, earnings on such monies, and any principal repayments shall be deposited in a loan fund account; any interest earned by the regional corporation on loans will be deposited in a separate interest repayment account. A regional corporation shall be authorized to provide financing assistance to eligible projects. Any interest earned from its loans may be used by a regional corporation for the cost of administering the programs authorized by this section.(3-a) Notwithstanding subdivision three of this section, where applicable, the corporation is authorized to enter into agreements as may be necessary for the administration and reporting of funds repaid, received, expended or collected in a manner consistent with the provisions in section sixteen-t of this act. The use of such funds by the corporation shall be consistent with the terms, conditions and restrictions set forth in subdivision four of this section, to provide financial assistance to eligible regional corporations as defined in subdivision eighteen of section three of this act. Outstanding expenses, loans and other obligations executed prior to the effective date of this subdivision shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the original contract or contracts.(4) Regional corporations shall be selected by the corporation from among eligible applicants to administer a regional revolving loan program. An eligible applicant shall: (a) represent at least two entire contiguous counties;(b) have available to it staff with sufficient expertise to analyze applications for financial assistance, to regularly monitor financial assistance to clients, and have made arrangements to provide management or technical assistance to clients;(c) have an effective plan to market its services to small businesses through such entities as chambers of commerce, industry trade associations, banks, local development corporations, community based organizations and industrial development agencies; and(d) have established a loan committee composed of five or more persons experienced in commercial lending or in the operation of a for-profit business and a staff person of the regional office of the department of economic development. Such loan committee shall review every application to the regional corporation for financial assistance pursuant to this section, shall determine the feasibility of the transaction proposed in the application and shall recommend to the board of directors or other governing body of the regional corporation such action as the committee deems appropriate.(5) Applications to the corporation for certification or recertification as a regional corporation shall:(a) describe the applicant corporation, including its organization, membership, loan committee, staff, and sources of other funds, if any;(b) identify the geographic region to be served;(c) explain the methods and criteria to be used in determining firms eligible for financial assistance from the regional revolving loan program;(d) describe the means for coordinating financial assistance available from the regional revolving loan program with financial assistance available from other public funding sources within the region and how such program will be used to leverage private financing for projects;(e) at any time, the corporation may consider proposals to reconfigure geographic areas served by regional corporations; and(f) contain such other information as the corporation deems appropriate.(6) The corporation shall select, from among eligible applicants, regional corporations to administer revolving loan programs, on the basis of:(a) the ability of the regional corporation to administer the financial assistance programs authorized under this section;(b) the extent of coordination with other publicly supported financial assistance programs available within the region represented by the regional corporation;(c) the degree of public and private support within the region for the applicant regional corporation; and(d) the ability of the regional corporation to provide financial and other assistance to businesses located in distressed areas within the region. (6-a)The corporation shall, every five years, recertify that each regional corporation has complied with the terms and conditions of this section. In the event a regional corporation is not recertified, or its certification is withdrawn pursuant to subdivision nineteen of this section, then the corporation shall give written notice to such regional corporation which shall thereafter neither make new loans nor undertake new obligations except upon written approval of the corporation. The corporation may thereafter certify another regional corporation in the manner provided in this section for the selection of regional corporations. Upon the certification of a successor regional corporation, all remaining loan funds, records and accounts of the regional corporation not recertified shall be transferred to the corporation and the regional corporation not recertified shall cease to function pursuant to this section. The corporation shall transfer returned funds to a successor regional corporation, or in the event no successor regional corporation is formed, equally to other existing regional corporations. (7) A regional corporation certified by the corporation shall use the funds received from the corporation, subject to the terms, conditions and restrictions set forth in this section, to provide financial assistance to eligible businesses as defined in subdivision seventeen of section three of this act, for projects that demonstrate a substantial likelihood of providing increases in net new permanent jobs or retaining jobs in businesses that need such financial assistance to remain viable.(8) The decision to approve or reject an application for financial assistance pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be made by a majority of the directors of the regional corporation, and such decision shall be final. No member of the board or other governing body of a regional corporation shall participate in a decision on a project application when such member is a party to or has a financial interest in such project. Any member who cannot participate in a decision on a project application for such reason shall not be counted as a member of the board or other governing body for purposes of determining the number of members required for a majority vote on such application.(9) No employee or officer of any regional corporation shall be a party to or have any financial interest in any project that receives financial assistance pursuant to this section.(10) A regional corporation, in approving applications for financial assistance, shall give priority to projects: (a) that will provide increases in net new permanent jobs;(b) located in economically distressed areas as defined by the corporation or employing persons who live in such areas;(c) of minority or women-owned enterprises or enterprises owned by dislocated workers, such workers as defined in the Workforce Investment Act (P.L. 105-220); and(d) of businesses in the early stages of development that have been denied access to credit.(11) The funds allocated to each regional corporation pursuant to this section may be used to guarantee the repayment of a working capital loan provided by a banking organization to finance an eligible project. Guarantees may be provided for up to ninety percent of the required total project financing, provided that no more than one hundred thousand dollars may be guaranteed for any project. Guarantees may be made for the following types of financing: short and medium term loans for working capital, revolving lines of credit, and seasonal inventory and accounts receivable loans. Guarantees may be made for up to ninety percent of the required total financing up to a maximum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars for interim financing where another lender or guarantor will provide permanent financing within one hundred eighty days. In no event may a loan guarantee be for a term longer than five years. Any loan made by a banking organization that is guaranteed pursuant to this subdivision shall be secured by a security agreement, chattel paper, loan agreement, or such other instruments or documents deemed necessary or convenient by the regional corporation to secure the loan. Any guarantee made pursuant to this subdivision shall be backed by a minimum reserve within the account established by each regional corporation of at least twenty-five percent of the amount guaranteed that is outstanding. (11-a)A regional corporation, in addition to receiving funds as provided in this section, may also apply for and accept funds from any other source for the purpose of furthering its goals and objectives. Such funds may be used in the same manner as funds received from the corporation to carry out the purposes of this section. (12) The funds of each regional corporation derived pursuant to this section may be used to provide loans for working capital for eligible projects; provided that the amount of the loan does not exceed ninety percent of the total project cost, or one hundred thousand dollars, whichever is less. The interest rate and the terms on such loans shall be determined by the regional corporation, but in no event shall the interest rate be less than five percent. The term of any loan shall not exceed five years. All loans shall be secured by lien positions on collateral at the highest level of priority that can accommodate the borrower's ability to raise sufficient debt and equity capital for the project.(13) A regional corporation shall not provide any financial assistance authorized by this section unless the following conditions are met:(a) the applicant has demonstrated that there is little prospect of obtaining the project financing requested from other public sources of funding within the region, including local revolving loan funds, and that there is little prospect of obtaining adequate project financing from private sources of capital, or in the case of a loan guarantee, that there is little prospect of obtaining project financing without the guarantee; except that in the case of local revolving loan funds, financial assistance from the regional revolving loan fund account may be provided for a project in conjunction with financial assistance from a local revolving loan fund, provided that assistance from the regional revolving loan fund is no greater than that provided by the local revolving loan fund, and that a project qualifying for financial assistance available from a local revolving loan fund is not denied such assistance;(b) the applicant has a minimum equity interest of at least ten percent in the business or project;(c) there is a reasonable prospect of repayment;(d) the project is located in the region represented by the regional corporation;(e) the project will comply with any applicable environmental rules or regulations;(f) the applicant has certified that it will not discriminate against any employee or any applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or age;(g) a staff member or a representative of the regional corporation acting in an official capacity has personally visited the project site and/or the applicant's place of business; and(h) financial commitments for the project have been obtained from other public and private sources.(14) Grants made by the corporation pursuant to this section shall not be made available for: (a) projects that would result in the relocation of any business operation from one municipality within the state to another, except under one of the following conditions: (i) when a business is relocating within a municipality with a population of at least one million where the governing body of such municipality approves such relocation; or (ii) the regional corporation notifies each municipality from which such business operation will be relocated and each municipality agrees to such relocation;(b) projects of newspapers, broadcasting or other news media; medical facilities, libraries, community or civic centers; or public infrastructure improvements;(c) refinancing any portion of the total project cost or other existing loans or debts of an applicant, except for the purpose of transferring to the employees or to other local interests ownership of a company that would otherwise depart from or cease or substantially reduce operations in the state;(d) providing funds, directly or indirectly, for payment, distribution, or as a loan, to owners, partners or shareholders of the applicant enterprise, except as ordinary income for services rendered; and(e) retail projects, except where the regional corporation finds there will be an increase in net new permanent jobs.(15) A regional corporation may charge application, commitment and loan guarantee fees pursuant to a schedule of fees adopted by the regional corporation and approved by the corporation.(16) The regional corporations shall submit annual reports for the previous fiscal year to the corporation describing the financial assistance provided pursuant to this section, including: the number of projects assisted; the amount and type of assistance provided; a description of the projects; the number of jobs created or retained; the status of outstanding loans, guarantees, earnings and account balances; and such other information as the corporation may require.(17) The corporation shall, assisted by the commissioner of economic development and in consultation with the department of economic development, promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the state administrative procedure act setting forth procedures to be followed by, and the responsibilities and obligations of, regional corporations and the corporation. Such rules and regulations shall be consistent with the program plan required by subdivision nineteen of section one hundred of the economic development law.(18) For any positions opened as a result of assistance provided in this section, businesses so assisted shall first consider unemployed or low income individuals eligible to participate in programs funded through the Workforce Investment Act (P.L. 105-220) who shall be referred to the business by local workforce investment boards created pursuant to such act or by the job service division of the department of labor.(19) The corporation shall annually conduct an audit of each regional corporation to ensure conformity of all aspects of program administration and of financial assistance transactions with the substantive and procedural provisions of this section. In the event that the corporation finds instances of substantive noncompliance by a regional corporation with any of the provisions of this section and such instances were, or should have been, known to be in noncompliance, the regional corporation shall return, within thirty days, upon demand by the corporation, all uncommitted grant funds on hand and provide an accounting of the loans currently outstanding. The corporation may withdraw a regional corporation's certification:
(a) when a member of a board of directors or other governing body, an officer or an employee of said regional corporation is party to or has financial interests in loan projects;(b) when said regional corporation fails to comply with the requirements for project loans pursuant to this section; or(c) when a regional corporation makes no loans within the previous fiscal year and there is more than one hundred thousand dollars remaining in its loan fund account. The corporation shall transfer funds returned from a decertified regional corporation to a successor regional corporation, or, if there be none, distribute such funds equally among other existing regional corporations. Outstanding loans and other obligations payable to such a decertified regional corporation shall be assigned to its successor regional corporation, or to the corporation or an agent designated by the corporation upon such terms and conditions as the corporation shall determine.
(20) Reporting. (a) The lending organization shall submit to the corporation annual reports stating: the number of program loans made; the amount of program funding used for loans; the use of loan proceeds by the borrower; the number of jobs created or retained; the status of each outstanding program loan, including fund balance; and such other information as the corporation may require. (b) The corporation shall, on or before October 1, 1988 and on or before each October first thereafter, submit a report to the governor and the legislature on the operations and accomplishments of the regional revolving loan program. Such report shall include a summary of the information contained in the reports submitted pursuant to subdivision sixteen of this section and of the results of the audits performed by the corporation pursuant to subdivision nineteen of this section, and shall set forth the status of the regional revolving loan program for the previous fiscal year, including grants to the regional corporations, earnings and account balances as reported to the corporation. The report to be submitted on October 1, 2005 and on or before each October first thereafter shall be consolidated with the annual program report of the corporation required under the provisions of subdivision (b) of section thirty of this act, as amended.(c) Beginning April 1, 2019, the corporation shall publish on its website the information contained in the annual reports required under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision in aggregate form omitting borrower identifiable information.(21) Evaluation. (a) The corporation shall submit to the director of the division of the budget, the chairperson of the senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly ways and means committee an evaluation of this program prepared by an entity independent of the corporation. Such evaluation shall be submitted by September 1, 2005 and by September first every four years thereafter. (b) Between evaluation due dates, the corporation shall maintain the necessary records and data required to satisfy such evaluation requirements and to satisfy information requests received from the director of the budget, the chairperson of the senate finance committee and the chairperson of the assembly ways and means committee between such evaluation due dates.(22) The corporation shall recertify existing regional corporations or, in the event a regional corporation's certification has been withdrawn, seek successor corporations among eligible applicants after April first, two thousand two.N.Y. Urban Development Corporation Act Law § 16-a
Amended by New York Laws 2018, ch. 378,Sec. 1, eff. 12/18/2017.Amended by New York Laws 2017, ch. 474,Sec. 2, eff. 12/18/2017.Amended by New York Laws 2017, ch. 474,Sec. 1, eff. 12/18/2017.