The commissioner shall evaluate and rank each application for financial assistance for a project in accordance with the following criteria:

a. Primary criterion:

(1) The number of unemployed persons in the municipality in which the project is to be located.

b. Secondary criteria:

(1) The number of permanent jobs to be created or maintained directly by the project, excluding the period of construction or development;

(2) The number of jobs preserved by the completion of the project in the case of an existing enterprise;

(3) The increase in the valuation of real property in the municipality as a result of the completion of the project;

(4) The percentage of the total eligible project cost to be financed from private resources;

(5) The percentage of total eligible project cost to be financed by federal aid; and

(6) Whether the project will result in the maintenance or provision of at least the same number of housing units at comparable rates as exists prior to the undertaking of the project.

c. Other criteria:

(1) Whether the project will be located in an area targeted for economic development and receiving federal, State or local development incentives under other programs;

(2) The extent to which the project will contribute to an economic revitalization of a municipality or region;

(3) The extent to which the project will promote the rehabilitation of the physical environment of the immediate area in which it is to be located;

(4) The degree to which the project will advance State or regional planning and development strategies;

(5) The extent to which the location of the project is accessible to and promotes the use of public transportation; and

(6) The degree of community support for and participation in the planning of the project.

L.1983, c. 190, s. 6, eff. May 23, 1983.