In an effort to achieve better government and transparency for taxpayers and businesses, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Rauner Administration recently announced the online publication of EDGE tax credit incentive agreements.
EDGE agreements are now available on the DCEO website. The portal is still in its early stages and will be updated with more information. Agreements signed prior to the Rauner Administration will also be posted online, including special EDGE deals.
EDGE is an Illinois tax credit program that provides incentives for companies to relocate their business to Illinois or expand their operations within the state—rather than moving out of state to a competing location. For more information on eligibility, visit the DCEO EDGE Program page.
Since its launch, the Rauner Administration has made several reforms to the EDGE program, including awarding incentives to companies for jobs creation, only allowing one EDGE agreement per project site and requiring all companies maintain a statewide employment baseline for the duration of the agreement. Additionally, DCEO no longer supports special EDGE agreements, which guaranteed incentives to companies even when they engaged in significant layoffs.
According to DCEO, following these policy reforms, the average cost per new job created is now $22,000, compared to $68,000 under the previous administration. In addition, businesses in 2016 committed to create over 14,000 new jobs, compared to just 2,000 in 2014.