Our service area has access to a competitive range of incentives for locating and expanding your business including tax credits and exemptions that encourage business growth and job creation. The Monroe County EDC service area proudly brings an enterprise zone to the table and will additionally work with the state of Illinois to secure enterprise zone-like benefits to larger scale projects that wish to locate in the region. Contact us for help in accessing these tax assistance programs.

Illinois Enterprise Zone Benefits. Businesses  located (or those that choose to locate) in  a designated enterprise zone in or around our service area  can become eligible to obtain special state and local tax incentives. This program is designed to stimulate economic growth and neighborhood revitalization. The Monroe County EDC service area features the Monroe-Randolph County Enterprise Zone (map) & American Bottom Enterprise Zone (map). Availability of Zone benefits is ongoing to qualifying projects such as:

  • 6.25% state sales tax exemption on building materials used in the Enterprise Zone.  Materials must be permanently affixed to property and purchased from a qualified retailer.  No state minimum investment or job creation/retention requirement, but there is a local requirement in Monroe-Randolph EZ that investment be at least $10,000. 
  • 0.5% State Investment Tax Credit for investing in qualified property in the zone such as machinery, equipment, and buildings.  Credit can be carried forward for up to 5 years.  No minimum investment or job creation/retention requirements. 
  • Utility Tax Exemption on gas, electricity & the Illinois Commerce Commission’s administrative charge & telecommunication excise tax is available to businesses located in an Enterprise Zone.  To be eligible, business must make an investment of at least $5M and create a minimum of 200 full-time equivalent jobs (OR) invest $20M and retain at least 1,000 full time equivalent jobs in Illinois. 
  • Machinery and Equipment 6.25% Sales Tax Exemption on purchases of tangible personal property to be used or consumed within an enterprise zone in the process of manufacturing or assembly of tangible personal property for wholesale or retail sale or lease.  This exemption includes repair and replacement parts for machinery and equipment, manufacturing fuels, material and supplies for the maintenance, repair or operations of manufacturing, or assembling machinery or equipment. To be eligible, businesses must make an investment of at least $5M and create a minimum of 200 full-time equivalent jobs (OR) invest at least $40M and retain at least 90% of the jobs existing to date. 
  • How to Access Enterprise Zone Benefits.  Go to the following links to find everything you need to know about the Enterprise Zone, its benefits, and necessary forms to apply for benefits: 
  • American Bottom Enterprise Zone Process Guide and Applications

Questions should be directed to the appropriate Enterprise Zone Administrator:  Monroe-Randolph [email protected] or American Bottom [email protected] .

High Impact Business Program (HIB).  This program supports a large-scale economic development activity by providing tax incentives (similar to Enterprise Zone) to companies that make substantial capital investments in operations and create or retain an above average number of jobs. 

  • Qualifying Business Applicants: Companies located in Illinois outside of an Enterprise Zone (EZ) that meet the follow requirements:
    • invest  a minimum of $12M and create 500 full-time jobs. 

(OR) 

    • $30M investment with retention of $1,500 full-time jobs. 
  • HIB Program Expanded to Include Following Applicants:  qualified new electric generating facilities; production operations at a new coal mine; new or upgraded transmission facility that supports the creation of 150 Illinois coal jobs (or) a newly constructed gasification facility as a “Coal/Energy High Impact Business”; Wind energy facilities contingent upon the business constructing a new  electric  generation facility (or) expanding an existing  wind power facility (additional  requirements also apply); and New Utility-Scale solar facility at a designated location in Illinois (additional requirements also apply)
  • Available tax incentives: Similar to Enterprise zone described above: Investment Tax Credit, state sales tax exemption on building materials and/or utilities; state sales tax exemption on purchases of personal property used  or consumed in the manufacturing process or in the  operation of a pollution control facility; also, potential  HIB construction job tax credit. 
  • Availability.  The program is available year round. 

ILDCEO EDGE Tax Credit. The EDGE program provides an incentive to qualifying businesses who can demonstrate that, if not for the Credit, the project would not occur in Illinois. Program provides annual corporate credits to qualifying businesses which support job creation, capital investment and improve the standard of living for Illinois residents. 

Companies may also qualify for a Credit for retained employees associated with the project. This credit is equal to 25% of the amount of state income taxes withheld from the salaries of the retained employees stated in the company’s EDGE agreement. If the project is located in an underserved area, an additional 25%, for a total of 50%, of withholding for retained full-time jobs is available.  

The new job creation element is still required. Companies are not eligible for retention credits without first meeting new job requirements below. 

  • Qualifying Applicants:  Manufacturing, processing, assembling, warehousing and distribution, and corporate headquarters, are qualifying businesses. (Retail, retail food, health, or professional services are excluded.)
  • Funding Levels: 10-year Illinois corporate income tax credit (amount calculated as a percentage = to 50% of the expected income tax withheld from the salaries of employers in newly created jobs. Increases to 75% if project located in an “underserved” area. Additional credits can be gained through reimbursements for the training costs of newly hired full time employees. 
  • Eligibility Requirements: Companies > 100 worldwide employees:

Investment of at least $2,500,000 in capital improvements

(And)

Job creation in Illinois equal to the lesser of (A) 10 % of full-time employment OR (B) 50 new full-time jobs.

  • Eligibility Requirements: Companies <= 100 world-wide employees:

No capital investment requirement

(And)

Job creation in Illinois is equal to the lesser of (A) 5% of full-time employment world-wide (OR)  (B) 50 new full-time jobs.

  • Special Program Requirements: Timing is essential to staying eligible, so interested companies must notify state before a site selection decision is made and before any site limiting activities are undertaken. Applicants cannot receive more in credits than the project investment. Credit is non-refundable and non-saleable . 

Blue Collar Jobs Act (BCJA) Tax Credit Program. The Blue-Collar Jobs Act (BJCA) program supports large-scale economic development activities by providing corporate income tax credits to companies that make substantial capital investments in Illinois.  The tax credits are based on the wages paid to construction workers employed on eligible projects. Eligible companies may receive up to 75 percent income tax withholding credits for construction workers. 

  • Qualifying companies. Has a project located in an Enterprise Zone, approved by the designated Zone administrator,  with a capital investment of $10M; (OR) has a project located in an RERZ with capital investment of at least $1M; (OR) holds a HIB designation with a qualified investment of $10M, (OR) has an existing executed agreement under the EDGE program with a qualified capital investment of $10M. 
  • Funding Levels: Can receive an income tax credit of up to 50% of withholding taxes attributable to wages paid to construction workers employed on the job for qualified projects. If the project is located within an underserved area, the company may receive a credit up to 75% of the withholding tax for the attributable construction wages. 
  • Special  Requirements:  Tax credits will be awarded to the applicant project owner (taxpayer) upon the completion of a project. Out-of-state based contractors/subcontractors should be registered to do business in the state of Illinois. Construction workers do not have to be Illinois residents. Only projects concluded after January 1, 2021, may apply for the tax credits. Project owners and/or their designers may be required to pay prevailing wage as determined by   Illinois Department of Labor.

Research and Development Tax Credit: A non-refundable credit available to different industries that may have qualifying expenses in research and development. 

  • Tax Credit Level: Available credit is equal to 6.5% of the difference between current year’s qualified expenses and the average of prior three years.  Credit can be carried forward for five years.  If business is a pass-through entity, the credit will be passed to the shareholders or partners. 
  • Allowable activities: Developing an innovative product that is new to the market; engineering and designing a new product; designing and evaluating product alternatives; introducing significant modifications to the concept or design of a product; designing, constructing, and testing pre-production protypes.  
  • Qualifying Expenses: Wages paid to an employee who engages in, directly supervises, or directly supports qualified research; amounts paid for supplies used to conduct qualified research; amounts paid to another person for a contract to do research in which the taxpayer owns the rights to research. 

Data Center Investment Tax Exemptions and Credits. ​The Data Center investment program provides owners and operators with exemptions from a variety of state and local taxes for qualifying Illinois data centers. The program also provides data center owners and operators with a tax credit of 20% of wages paid for construction workers for projects located in underserved areas.

  • Eligible Applicants: New and  existing data centers and their tenants who collectively make a capital investment of at least $250 million over a 60-month period. Data center owner/operator and its tenants must also create  (20) full-time or full-time equivalent new jobs associated with the operation or maintenance of the data center. Jobs created must get a wage that  must be equal or exceed 120% of the median wage paid to full-time employees in the county where the data center is located. Data center must also be carbon neutral or attain certification under one or more green building standards.
  • Funding level: Tax exemptions have a 20-year life span, with 5-year increment certificates that are renewable assuming continued compliance with the relevant statutory rule and contractual provisions by the data center.  In order to receive the construction employment tax credit, the project must be located in an underserved area based on certain statutory criteria.
  • Special requirements. Qualifying Illinois data centers must apply to ILDCEO for certification for the program; Certified data centers must enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department containing statutorily required terms and other terms deemed necessary by the Department.

City of Red Bud Sales Tax Rebate Incentive Program. Upon completion of an expansion project, this program allows businesses to earn a rebate on new sales tax levels.  Base salaries tax (the amount of sales tax prior to expansion project) is used to determine what sales tax is eligible for rebate.  Rebate rate is a ¼ of 1%.  The length of the rebate is determined by eligible project costs.  For more information go to Go to Red Bud Waterloo Website economic development link. 

City of Red Bud Property Tax Abatement Program. This program allows businesses who own real estate and expand their facilities to abate the city portion of the property taxes. The amount and length of the abatement are determined by the amount of dollars spent on the project and the number of jobs created and retained in relation to the project. For more information go to the Red Bud Website economic development link.