North Dakota Century Code Title 54. State Government § 54-60.1-04. Failure to meet goals--Modification of goals

1. At a minimum, the financial obligation provision of a business incentive agreement must require a recipient that fails to meet business incentive agreement goals to pay back to the grantor the assistance, prorated to reflect any partial fulfillment of goals.  A grantor may extend for up to one year the period for meeting the business incentive agreement goals if the grantor determines that circumstances have made it impossible for the recipient to achieve the required goals.  A grantor may extend the period for meeting business incentive agreement goals by another additional year by documenting in writing the reason for the extension and attaching a copy of the documentation to the grantor's next annual report.  Notwithstanding the five-year commitment in the business incentive agreement, a grantor may authorize a recipient to move from the jurisdiction in which the business incentive is used within the five-year period after the benefit date if, after a public hearing, the grantor approves the recipient's request to move.  If after extending the period for achieving the goals of the business incentive agreement for two years a grantor determines that a business incentive agreement goal of creation or retention of jobs has changed and justifies a decrease, after a public hearing, the grantor may decrease the job goals in the agreement to a lesser number or to zero and may adjust the average compensation goals to reflect changed circumstances.  Justification for decreasing job goals may include that other public benefits adequately offset the failure to meet the initial job goals.

2. A recipient that fails to meet the terms of a business incentive agreement may not receive a business incentive from any grantor for a period of five years from the date of failure or until a recipient satisfies the repayment obligation under this section, whichever occurs first.  For purposes of this subsection, if the recipient is an individual, the disqualification attaches to the individual and if the recipient is a business entity, the disqualification attaches to the business and to each owner or shareholder of twenty percent or more of the business.