English
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Русский
Español
简体中文
हिन्दी
日本語
A dispute between Jerome Township and Union County over how public improvements are financed has risen to the point that the township plans to place an issue on the November ballot aimed at giving it more control over how such money is spent.
The issue revolves around tax-increment financing (TIF) districts, which allow property taxes generated by new development to pay for improvements to the area, including roads and utilities.
Union County officials say the township’s way of spending the money benefits developers more than public needs. Township officials say they want more autonomy to use the economic development tool.
The dispute is playing out as developers seek sites for homes and commercial developments in and near the booming county, putting pressure on communities to handle it.
Jerome Township’s population growth continues to explode. The township’s population in the 2020 census was 9,518, up 27% percent from the 7,501 in 2010.
“Union County is really experiencing growing pains,” county Administrator Bill Narducci said. “Now we’re seeing an influx of growth in certain areas. Development doesn’t pay for itself in terms of infrastructure.”
Home rule referendum sought
In a statement, Wezlynn Davis, a Jerome Township trustee, said the township is putting limited home rule on the November ballot to be more “responsive, nimble, and proactive for our residents,” giving the township flexibility to use those economic development tools that address critical infrastructure needs.
“We are in an optimal location to drive economic development and job creation in the region,” Davis said in the statement.
That includes the township’s Innovation District, 741 acres in the southwest part of the township created in 2020 to attract businesses, including manufacturing, research and development, and offices.
Narducci said he has been concerned about how Jerome Township has spent money raised in tax-increment financing areas.
He specifically cited nearly $13 million in requests from Schottenstein Real Estate Group for TIF money to reimburse the company for costs related to the company’s Jerome Grand apartments and nearby properties, not part of the Innovation District.
Narducci said just $1.1 million of the $13 million is going toward something he considers public: improving the entry to the apartments along busy Hyland-Croy Road. But he said the township also entered into an agreement with the developer to use TIF revenue to reimburse construction costs.
That included engineering and attorney fees, land acquisition, internal construction costs, water and sanitary sewer tap fees to the city of Marysville, and $40,000 to Jerome Township to help pay for a future fire station.
“Legal, yes. Bad policy, yes,” he said. “TIF funds should be used for regional growth. They shouldn’t provide tax funds to build the site.”
Brian Schottenstein, president of the Schottenstein Real Estate Group, declined a request for an interview for this story.
Union County and township fight over district legality
Another tax-increment financing district has also been in play.
In 2020, Jerome Township trustees created a large TIF district bounded by Mitchell-Dewitt Road to the north, portions of Industrial Parkway and Route 33 to the east, the Franklin County line to the south, and the CSX railroad track to the west. Within that sits a FedEx Ground operation.
On May 12, Jerome Township trustees filed legal action in the Ohio Supreme Court to force Union County Treasurer Andrew Smarra to sign a form so the township could begin collecting money from the FedEx site through the tax-increment financing district.
According to the suit, Smarra indicated to Davis that he did not believe that townships should be able to initiate tax-increment financing districts, and that he refused to sign the form.
The filing also said that Union County Commissioner David Burke told Davis and others that he did not believe the tax-increment financing district that includes the FedEx site at 8285 Industrial Parkway was legal, but that if the township entered into a Cooperative Economic Development Agreement with Union County commissioners, that would make it legal.
In a Dispatch interview, Burke said the intent of the county is to generate revenue from development to offset costs of road improvements the developments need. Burke said he’s still willing to work with Jerome Township officials on the TIF.
In a 2019 document, the Texas developer of the FedEx site agreed to pay Union County $7 million for improvements there.
Narducci said $1.5 million of the $7 million is to help to pay for the $48-million project the Ohio Department of Transportation is doing to improve the Route 33-161/Post Road interchange in Jerome Township.
Another $2 million is to go to a new $3 million roundabout at Mitchell-DeWitt Road and Industrial Parkway, he said. Much of the remainder is to go to intersection improvements at Route 42 and Industrial Parkway that is several years away, he said.
Smarra ended up signing the document this week. He said the state tax commissioner still has to sign off.
Earlier, he had expressed reservations to the Dispatch.
“The only improvements made to that parcel were by the county with funds provided by FedEx,” Smarra said. “Why would Jerome Township need a TIF if they haven’t spent any funds.”
Davis called Smarra’s signing good news for the township.
“I would just want to express it is good to see that the treasurer may be recognizing that Jerome Township is a government entity that has the right to use the tools permitted by statute to serve our community,” Davis wrote in a text on Wednesday.
Delays force tax claw backs
So far, the tax-increment financing district has generated $2.65 million for the work on the Jerome Grand site.
But the Union County auditor’s office had to claw back tax money from the Dublin school district and other governmental entities because it took a while for Schottenstein to file the necessary TIF paperwork and Schottenstein challenged the property valuation, Auditor Andrea Weaver said.
That means the auditor had to go back and get the tax money already distributed to those agencies, impacting their budgets. The three biggest totals the auditor had to claw back so far:
- Jerome Township: $889,168
- Dublin schools: $745,797
- Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities: $70,077
Weaver said these claw backs cause hardships.
“All those places don’t get those dollars,” Weaver said. “I think it’s a travesty. I think it’s terrible.”
As to how the money is used under the TIF agreement, Weaver said that the township is in charge.
Davis said the township worked out the tax-increment financing deal with Schottenstein to help keep the Jerome Grand development in the township. She said the township didn’t want Dublin to annex the site.
Davis said the township needs roads to be improved, including the intersections of Route 42 and Industrial Parkway and Mitchell-Dewitt and Industrial Parkway, and work on Warner, Kile, and Hyland-Croy roads.
The township also wants Houchard Road to be extended north from Franklin County into the Innovation District. On May 10, township trustees passed a resolution to share TIF proceeds with the county to extend the road and to share up to $50 million in TIF funds with the county for road improvement projects.
“It’s not so much a power struggle for the township,” Davis told The Dispatch. “We just want to do what’s right, approach things with common sense. We want to move at the speed of business.
“We’re not necessarily interested in overpowering the county in any way,” she said.
@MarkFerenchik
Read the full article here
