The Legislative Audit Bureau makes 15 recommendations to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

We recommend the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation:

1. provide information on how it awarded all funds under each public health emergency–related program through FY 2020-21. (p. 17)

We recommend the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation:

2. beginning on July 1, 2021, and every six months thereafter, determine the remaining balance and the total amount of past-due repayments for all loans 90 days or more past due; (p. 22)
3. determine the remaining balance for all of these loans that were amended to defer repayments, written off, or forgiven from July 2021 through December 2021, and then during each six-month period thereafter; (p. 22)
4. determine the remaining balance for all of these loans that were no longer 90 days or more past due during each six-month period thereafter because the recipients made loan repayments; (p. 22)
5. determine the payment delinquency rate and the principal delinquency rate on the first and last day of each six-month period; and (p.22)
6. report this information to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by February 3, 2022, for the six-month period from July 2021 through December 2021, and then report this information every six months thereafter. (p. 22)

We recommend the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation:

7. modify its Enterprise Zone program written procedures to require it to award program tax credits only for the wages paid to employees for services performed in an enterprise zone, as is statutorily required; (p. 25)
8. require all recipients of Enterprise Zone program tax credits to provide information on the wages paid to employees for services performed in an enterprise zone; (p. 25)
9. develop written policies that require it to revoke tax credits in a timely manner if a recipient did not meet contractual obligations; (p. 26)
10. ensure that its annual verification of performance measure information determines whether award recipients complied with statutes by offering the same retirement, health, and other benefits to employees in jobs for which the recipients were awarded funds as were offered to other full-time employees; (p. 28)
11. award job creation tax credits only when recipients create jobs according to contractual provisions; (p. 39)
12. work with the Department of Revenue to implement a method for reclaiming after each contract year some or all previously awarded tax credits if recipients do not retain all jobs for which they had been previously awarded job creation tax credits; (p. 39)
13. annually and comprehensively assess awards that ended and use this information to consider changes to its program policies and when making decisions about future awards; (p. 40)
14. improve the accuracy and completeness of its statutorily required annual economic development program report; and (p. 43)
15. report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee by October 29, 2021, on its efforts to implement recommendation 1 and recommendations 7–14.