OAR 123-690-4600: Minimum Average Annual Compensation

For purposes of the minimum average annual compensation to be met and maintained under ORS 285C.412(1)(c), (2)(b), (3)(c), (4)(c) or (5)(d) by a certified business firm: (1) Compensation includes total calendar-year remuneration that is: (a) In the form of wages, salary, bonuses, commissions, shift differential, overtime pay, profit-sharing, paid vacation and so forth that comprise taxable income, as well as associated fringe or financial benefits (whether taxable or not) such as life insurance, medical coverage or retirement plans, but excluding: (A) Free meals, club membership or comparable workplace amenities; (B) Payroll-based tax or cost mandated by federal, state or local law, such as worker’s compensation or unemployment insurance or the employer’s share under FICA; and (C) Gratuities or tips, other than what is anyways part of taxable income for purposes of employee withholding. (b) Paid to any employee located and performing work for the certified business firm at the Facility Site, consistent with OAR 123-690-4200(1), regardless of hours worked per week or the permanence or newness of the employee’s position, except if excluded by OAR 123-690-4200(7)(b). (2) Actual compensation described in section (1) of this rule shall be annualized in the case of jobs at the Facility Site, in which the employee works less than 40 hours per week or for less than the entire calendar year, by dividing 1,820 by the hours of actual time worked on the job for the calendar year and multiplying that quotient by the employee’s actual compensation. (3) The firm shall add all employees’ total annual compensation under section (1) or (2) of this rule, as applicable, and divide that sum by the number of applicable (annualized) employees or positions to derive average annual compensation. (4) In a calendar year after the calendar year in which exempt facility property is first placed in service – but in or before the fifth such year – this computed average annual compensation must equal or exceed : (a) 1.5 times the Current County Wage; or (b) 1.3 times the Current County Wage, but only if: (A) The first year of the 7 to 15-year exemption under ORS 285C.409(1)(c) begins in or after 2018 (regardless of when the business firm applied or was certified); and (B) The Facility Site is located entirely inside a qualified rural county at the time that the written agreement in OAR 123-690-2000 was executed . (5) The firm shall provide notice to the assessor in writing as soon as possible after satisfaction of section (4) of this rule is achieved, with payroll records or other evidence as necessary or appropriate.