ALAMOSA — Alamosa City Council unanimously passed Resolution 16-2022 Wednesday, allowing participation in the Rural Jump-Start Program offered by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The vote follows the Alamosa Board of County Commissioners passing a similar resolution in September.

Based on Senate Bill 15-282, and initiated by OEDIT, the Rural Jump-Start program is a collaborative effort by state and local governments, institutes of higher education and economic development organizations to provide economic incentives to businesses to locate or relocate to rural, economically distressed communities (called Rural Jump-Start Zones) and hire new employees.

As a sign of the city’s investment in attracting new businesses, OEDIT first requires local passage of a resolution offering tax relief from the local business personal property tax until the program ends on June 30, 2024.

As City Manager Heather Brooks informed council members, this requirement will have no fiscal impact on Alamosa since the city doesn’t collect business personal property taxes.

Once the resolution is passed, a new business is eligible to receive through grants up to $20,000 on a 3-to-1 reimbursement for business expenses and grants up to $2,500 per each (net) new hire in the program. In terms of tax relief, new businesses are eligible for relief from state sales and use tax and relief from state sales income tax for the employees.

The program is jointly administered through OEDIT, the Colorado EDC and the Colorado Department of Revenue. The Program ends Dec. 31, 2025.

To date, 21 counties in Colorado have passed resolutions to participate in the program.