Base year, defined

Base year means the year immediately preceding the year of application, subject to the following exceptions:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this section, if the year of application is 2021, the base year is either 2019 or 2020, whichever year the applicant had the larger number of equivalent employees at the qualified location or locations; and

(2) If the year of application is 2021 or 2022 and the applicant increased the number of equivalent employees at the qualified location or locations in either 2020 or 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the base year is 2019.