Explanation
Background: The Department of Development is proposing the establishment of an incentive district, a type of tax increment financing (TIF) district, encompassing certain areas in the Alum Creek Drive-Watkins Road area (the "Alum Creek-Watkins Road" TIF). The Alum Creek-Watkins Road TIF will benefit affordable single family, multifamily and senior housing facilities to be constructed by three developers: Beazer Homes, L&W, and Volunteers of America .This development was prepared and assembled by the Columbus/Franklin County Affordable Housing Trust Corporation. Revenue from the Alum Creek-Watkins Road TIF will be utilized to fund street improvements, and utility improvements within the public right of way, and acquisition of public green space. The Columbus City School District will receive at the same time and in the same manner as usual, all monies that it would receive in real property taxes if this TIF was not created.
Fiscal Impact: The Department has developed a financing plan that will use non-school TIF revenues, and private financing to provide improvements to support affordable single family, multifamily and senior housing facilities. The City is foregoing real property tax revenue it would have received, and instead, the revenue will be diverted to a municipal TIF account in addition to other non-school real property revenue.
Title
An ordinance establishing a Tax Increment Finance incentive district and declaring improvements to certain parcels of real property to be a public purpose, describing the public infrastructure improvements to be made to benefit those parcels, requiring the owners thereof to make service payments in lieu of taxes, establishing a municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund for the deposit of such service payments, protecting the Columbus City School District against any loss of revenue; and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, to carry out its public purpose of encouraging affordable housing, providing essential city services and improving the economic welfare of the people of the City, the City has determined to create an incentive district to facilitate such purposes by passing an Ordinance declaring improvements to certain parcels within the incentive district to be a public purpose under Section 5709.40 of the Ohio Revised Code; and
WHEREAS, the real property shown on Exhibit A hereto is located in the State of Ohio, County of Franklin and City of Columbus (such property, together with any improvements now or hereafter constructed, developed or located thereon, is collectively hereinafter referred to as the "Property"); and
WHEREAS, the City finds the completion of certain public infrastructure improvements will facilitate the development of affordable housing and the provision of essential city services and has determined that it is necessary to pass this Ordinance declaring the development of the project area to be a public purpose under Section 5709.40(C) of the Ohio Revised Code; and
WHEREAS, Exhibit B hereto describes the public improvements made, to be made, or which are in the process of being made by, or on behalf of the City that benefit or serve or, once made, will benefit or serve the Property (collectively, the "Public Improvements"); and
WHEREAS, owner(s) of portions of the Property and others are developing and/or have proposed developing certain improvements on the Property (collectively, the "Private Improvements") including without limitation affordable single family, multifamily and senior housing facilities and related improvements; and
WHEREAS, the Engineer has certified that the development of Private Improvements to the Property are consistent with its current zoning and plan of development, which is a written economic development plan encompassing the Private Improvements, and which was previously adopted by this Council, and that the Private Improvements shall, during construction and upon completion, place direct, additional demand on the Public Improvements, and that the Public Improvements are inadequate to support such development needs; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with Section 5709.42 of the Ohio Revised Code, the City has elected to direct and require the current and future owners of the Property and the Private Improvements to make annual service payments in lieu of taxes to the Franklin County Treasurer on or before the final dates for payment of real property taxes; and
WHEREAS, Section 5709.40, 5709.42 and 5709.43 of the Ohio Revised Code provide that this Council may declare improvements to a parcel of real property located in the City to be a public purpose, thereby exempting those improvements from real property taxation for a period of time, specify public infrastructure improvements to be made to benefit that parcel, provide for the making of service payments in lieu of taxes by the owner thereof, provide for the distribution of the applicable portion of those service payments to the Columbus City School District and establish a municipal public improvement fund into which the remaining portion of such service payments shall be deposited; and
WHEREAS, this Council finds and determines that notice of this proposed Ordinance has been delivered to all affected school districts, in accordance with Sections 5709.40(D)(4) and 5709.83 of the Ohio Revised Code;
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Development in that it is immediately necessary to establish the Alum Creek-Watkins Road Tax Increment Financing Incentive District, thereby preserving the public health, property, peace, safety and welfare, now therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That pursuant to and in accordance with Section 5709.40 of the Ohio Revised Code, this Council hereby finds and determines that the increase in assessed value of the Property subsequent to the effective date of this Ordinance (which increase in assessed value is hereinafter referred to as the "Improvement" as defined in Section 5709.40, Ohio Revised Code) resulting from development, is hereby declared to be a public purpose, and one hundred percent of such increase in assessed value shall be exempt from taxation for a period commencing with the tax year in which the Improvements first appear on the tax list and duplicate of real and public utility property and that begins after the effective date of this Ordinance, and ending with the earlier of twenty (20) years from such effective date or the date on which the City can no longer require semiannual service payments in lieu of taxes, all in accordance with the requirements of Sections 5709.40, 5709.42 and 5709.43, Ohio Revised Code. This ordinance does not apply to any property for any period of time it is otherwise exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 5709.12 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That the Public Infrastructure Improvements set forth in Exhibit B hereto and to be made by the City or on its behalf are hereby designated as "Public Infrastructure Improvements," as defined in Section 5709.40, Ohio Revised Code, that benefit or serve, or that once made will benefit or serve, the Property.
Section 3. That as provided in Section 5709.42, Ohio Revised Code, the owners from time to time of the Improvement are hereby required to, and shall make, annual service payments in lieu of taxes to the Franklin County Treasurer on or before the final dates for payment of real property taxes, which service payments shall be (a) distributed by the Franklin County Treasurer to the Columbus City School District, or (b) deposited in the Alum Creek-Watkins Road Project Municipal Public Improvement Tax Increment Equivalent Fund established in Section 4 hereof, all pursuant to Sections 5709.40 and 5709.42, Ohio Revised Code, and as provided in Section 4 of this Ordinance. This Council further hereby authorizes and directs the Mayor, the Clerk of Council, the Director of Law, the Director of Finance, or other appropriate officers of the City, to make such arrangements as are necessary and proper for collection from said owners of said service payments in lieu of taxes.
Section 4. That this Council hereby establishes pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of Section 5709.43, Ohio Revised Code, the Alum Creek-Watkins Road Project Municipal Public Improvement Tax Increment Equivalent Fund (the "Fund"). The Fund shall be in the custody of the City and shall receive from the payments in lieu of taxes all amounts not distributed to the Columbus City School District. Those annual service payments in lieu of taxes with respect to the Improvements on the Property, so deposited and distributed pursuant to law as provided in Section 5709.42, Ohio Revised Code, shall be used solely for the purposes authorized in Sections 5709.40, 5709.42 and 5709.43, Ohio Revised Code.
Any expenditures of service payments deposited in the Alum Creek-Watkins Road project Tax Equivalent Fund is subject to the expenditure restrictions and appropriation requirements of Sections 27 through 31 of the Charter of the City.
The Fund shall remain in existence so long as such service payments are collected and used for the aforesaid purposes, after which the Fund shall be dissolved in accordance with said Section 5709.43, Ohio Revised Code. Pursuant to Sections 5709.40 and 5709.42, Ohio Revised Code, the Franklin County Treasurer shall distribute to the Columbus City School District from those payments in lieu of real taxes provided for in Section 3 of this Ordinance, and at the same time and in the same manner as real Property tax payments, amounts equal to the amounts that the Columbus City School District could otherwise receive as real property tax payments derived from the Improvement absent the passage of the Ordinance.
Section 5. That this Council further hereby authorizes and directs the Mayor, the Clerk of Council, the Director of Development, or other appropriate officers of the City to prepare and sign all agreements and instruments and to take any other actions as may be appropriate to implement this Ordinance.
Section 6. That pursuant to Section 5709.40(G), of the Ohio Revised Code, the City of Columbus will deliver a copy of this Ordinance to the Director of the Department of Development of the State of Ohio within 15 days after its passage. On or before March 31 of each year that the exemption set forth in Section 1 hereof remains in effect, the Clerk or other authorized officer of this City shall prepare and submit to the Director of the Department of Development of the State of Ohio the status report required under Section 5709.40(G), Ohio Revised Code.
Section 7. That for reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part of this Ordinance, this Ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.