Explanation
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this legislation is to amend Ordinance No. 3106-96, enacted by Columbus City Council on December 16, 1996. The ordinance established a tax increment financing program to provide funding for infrastructure improvements to the Polaris Centers of Commerce development. This ordinance amends the 1996 ordinance to expand the areas covered by the original Polaris TIF. Columbus City Council approved the creation of the Polaris Tax Increment (TIF) on December 16, 1996. This original ordinance was amended on April 7, 2004, by Ordinance 627-2004, which added 82.45 +/- acres; and on May 16, 2005 a second amendment, Ordinance 1560-2005, which added 22 +/- acres to the Polaris TIF district. The present legislation is the third amendment of Ordinance 3106-96 and the purpose is to add 31.86 +/- acres to the Polaris TIF district. The additional acreage will help provide the revenues necessary to fund the cost of the public infrastructure improvements that benefit the district.
Emergency action is requested to avoid a delay in the commencement of the construction of the public improvements.
FISCAL IMPACT: No funding is required for this legislation.
Title
To amend Ordinance 3106-96 (the Polaris TIF) to declare improvements to certain additional parcels of real property to be a public purpose; to describe public improvements to be made to benefit those parcels; to require the owners thereof to make service payments in lieu of taxes used to pay for the costs of such public improvements; and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, Section 5709.40 of the Ohio Revised Code (R.C) authorizes the legislative authority of a municipal corporation by ordinance to declare improvements to a parcel of real property located in a municipal corporation to be a public purpose; and
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus (the "City") in Ordinance No. 3106-96 (the "Original Ordinance") on December 16, 1996 determined that improvements to the property described on Exhibit A of that Original (the "Original Property") are or, upon completion, will be a public purpose and wish to expand the real property contained in the Original Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the 31.86 +/- acres described in exhibit A-l attached hereto (the "New Property') shall be added to the Original Property and collectively they shall become the current real property (the "Expanded Property"); and
WHEREAS, the New Property is located in the State of Ohio, County of Delaware and the City of Columbus; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that it is necessary and appropriate, and in the best interest of the City to exempt the New Property and proposed improvements from taxation as permitted and provided in RC Section 5709.40 (B); and
WHEREAS, in accordance with R.C. Section 5709.42, the City has elected to direct and require the current and future owners of the New Property and any improvements thereon to make annual service payments in lieu of taxes to the Delaware County Treasurer on or before the final dates for payment of real estate taxes; and
WHEREAS, the City has created a municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund for receipt and deposit H of its portion of the service payments in lieu of taxes; and
WHEREAS, R,C. Section 5709.40(D) provides that the Ordinance shall designate specific public improvements made, to be made or in the process of being made by the municipal corporation that directly benefit or that once made will directly benefit the Expanded Property, and these improvements are described in Exhibit B-1 of this Ordinance (the "Public Improvements"); and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that the proposed improvements to the New Property shall, during construction, and upon completion, place a direct additional demand on the Public Improvements or, to the extent the Public improvements have not been constructed, will place direct additional demand on the Public Improvements when completed; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that the estimated percentage of the incremental demand placed on the Public Improvements that is or will be directly attributable to the proposed improvements on the Expanded Property is or will be one hundred percent(l00%); and
WHEREAS, R.C. Section 5709.40(B) requires the legislative authority of a municipal corporation to specify in the ordinance adopted pursuant to such Section, the percentage of the proposed improvements to be exempted from taxation; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that it is appropriate and in the best interest of the City to exempt one hundred percent (100%) of the New Property and the proposed improvements on the New Property from taxation to the extent permitted by R.C. Section 5709.40; and
WHEREAS, the City had determined that payments in lieu of real property taxes provided for in R.C. Section 5709.42 shall be paid to the Olentangy Local School District and the Delaware County Joint Vocational School District (collectively the "School District") in the amount of the real property taxes that the School District would collectively have been paid if the improvements had mot been exempted from taxation for the Original Property and for the New Property; and
WHEREAS, notice of this proposed Ordinance has been delivered to the Board of Education Of the School District and the Delaware County Joint Vocational School District (Vocational School) on November 17, 2008 in accordance with and within the time period prescribed in R.C. Section 5709.40 (B)(2) and R.C. Section 5907.83; and
WHEREAS, the current and future owners of the New Property shall be required to make service payments in lieu of real property tax payments they would have made except for the exemption provided by this Ordinance and the Original Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, (i) current and future owner(s) shall be required to make service payments in lieu of the real property tax payments they would have made except for the exemptions provided by this Ordinance,(ii) N.P. Limited Partnership shall prepare and file with the Delaware County Recorder a declaration against new property owned by it which shall be covenants running with the property and which shall require the current and future owner(s) to make these services payments in lieu of real property tax payments, and(iii) the current and future owner(s) will agree, pursuant to such declaration, that the service payments in lieu of real property taxes shall constitute a lien on the property having the same force and effect as a lien on real property taxes; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Development, in that it is necessary to amend said ordinance to avoid a delay in the commencement of the construction of the public improvements, all for the preservation of the public health, property, safety and welfare; NOW THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. In accordance with R.C. Section 5709.40, the City hereby finds and determines that the increase in the assessed value Of the New Property and improvements thereto subsequent to the effective date of this Ordinance is and shall be a public purpose, which increase in assessed value of the New Property is added to the definition of Improvement in the Original Ordinance.
Section 2. The City hereby exempts one hundred percent (l00%) of the increased real property valuation and the value of the improvements on the New Property from taxation, as and when the improvement is made arid the exemption claimed and allowed in a manner provided by law for the period set forth in this Ordinance.
Section 3. Subject to any real property tax abatement in effect as of the effective date of this Ordinance or granted hereafter, and as provided in Section 5709.42, the City hereby directs and requires the current and future owners of the. New Property to make, on or before the final date for payment of real property taxes, annual service payments in lieu of real property taxes which were abated under this Ordinance.
Section 4. The City hereby directs and requires N.P. Limited Partnership to prepare and file with the Delaware County Recorder a declaration against such property owned by it, constituting part of the new property, which shall be a covenant running with the such property and which shall(i) requires the current and future owner(s) of the such property to make service payments in lieu of the real property tax payments they would have made except for the exemptions provided by this Ordinance, and (ii) make the current and future owner(s) acknowledge and agree that the service payments are payments in lieu of the real property taxes and shall constitute a lien on such property having the same priority and effect as the lien of real property taxes.
Section 5. In accordance with R.C. Section 5709.40 and R.C. Section 5709.42 and this Ordinance, the Delaware County Treasurer shall make payments in lieu of real property taxes to the School District, in an amount equal to the amount of real property taxes foregone by the School District because of the exemptions provided in this Ordinance.
Section 6. In accordance with R.C. Section 5709.42 and this Ordinance, after making each payment in lieu of real property taxes to the School District, the Delaware County Treasurer shall distribute the remainder of the service payments in lieu of these taxes to the City for deposit in the City's municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund.
Section 7. The public improvements described in Exhibit B-1 hereto made, to be made or in the process of being made by the City are hereby designated as part of the public improvements described in the Ordinance that directly benefit or that once made will directly benefit the Expanded Property; and that the service payments in lieu of real property taxes paid to the Delaware County Treasurer less the School Districts share, on the New Property shall be distributed to the City and paid into the municipal public improvement tax equivalent fund established in the Original Ordinance(the "Special Fund') for the purposes described in the Original Ordinance and Exhibit B-1 hereto.
Section 8. That portion of the payments in lieu of real property taxes to be paid to the School District on the New Property pursuant to this Ordinance and R.C. Sections 5709.40 and R.C. 5709.42 shall be paid directly to the Delaware County Treasurer.
Section 9. The exemption granted in this Ordinance shall commence on the effective date of this Ordinance, and shall end on the date provided in the Original Ordinance.
Section 10. Pursuant to R.C. Section 5709.40 the City Clerk is hereby directed to deliver a copy of this Ordinance to the Director of Development of the State of Ohio, the Delaware County Treasurer and the Delaware County Auditor within fifteen (15) days after the effective date of t Ordinance.
Section 11. For the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this Ordinance is declared to be an emergency measure, and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten (10) days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes this Ordinance.