Entering the project-specific data will generate a clean impact report showing the costs and benefits associated with a project. Let’s crank it up a notch by evaluating incentives and calculating ROI on the economic development deal using the Public Support page in Impact DashBoard.
Public Support
The Public Support page includes a tab for each tax district included in the analysis. Each tab allows the user to configure tax-district specific incentives. Impact DashBoard allows for three types of incentives on the Public Support page:
- Property Tax Abatement
- Sales Tax Rebate
- Non-Tax Incentive
Property Tax Abatement
The Property Tax Abatement section of the Public Support page allows the user to specify a property tax abatement schedule – the percent of property tax that will be abated each year – to apply to a scenario. The value of the property taxes abated are quantified and presented on the right. To allow for maximum flexibility you can specify a unique abatement schedule by property type. Property tax abatement can be specified independently for any tax district included in the analysis.
Property Tax Abatement will reduce the property tax benefit shown in the reports. The value of the abatement will be noted in a footnote and detailed in special tables in the Detailed Report.
Sales Tax Rebate
A Sales Tax Rebate can be modeled on the Public Support page as well. The sales tax rebate schedule can be specified just like the property tax abatement schedule. Remember, the sales tax rebate applies to the scenario’s taxable sales only. The Sales Tax Rebate section of the Public Support page will only be available if (1) the tax district collects a sales tax and (2) the scenario includes taxable sales.
Property Tax Abatement will reduce the property tax benefit shown in the reports. The value of the abatement will be noted in a footnote and detailed in special tables in the Detailed Report.
Non-Tax Incentive
Non-Tax Incentive is a generic term used in Impact DashBoard to refer to a wide range of economic development incentives not tied to a specific tax revenue source. A Non-Tax Incentive can include a cash or near-cash incentive like an economic development grant, job creation grant, paid-for infrastructure improvements, free or discounted land, or a number of other types of incentives. The Non-Tax Incentive is treated as an investment in the project and compared to the return on investment – measured by the tax district’s net benefits. A Non-Tax Incentive can be specified four different ways.
- Incentive Amount – The most straightforward way to specify a Non-Tax Incentive is to enter the value of the Incentive each year.
- Incentive Per Job – To apply a fixed incentive amount per each job hired users can choose the Incentive Per Job option. If employment is phased over multiple years, the incentive will correspond to the number of employees hired each year.
- Rate of Return – Users can specify a desired rate of return for an incentive and Impact DashBoard will calculate the incentive that will produce the specified return. The calculation relies on the average annual rate of return which is calculated as Average Annual Net Benefits / Incentive Amount.
- Payback Period – Impact DashBoard can determine the incentive associated with a specific payback period. The payback period represents the amount of time it takes the tax district to recover the incentive amount in accrued net benefits.
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Impact DashBoard 101 Series
Impact DashBoard is an online application that allows economic developers to collect, organize, and analyze economic development project data. Impact DashBoard enables users to produce economic and fiscal impact reports, evaluate incentives, and run an unlimited number of scenarios. Learn more about Impact DashBoard here.
