Explanation
BACKGROUND: The Department of Development submitted ordinance 2172-2005, passed December 12, 2005, for the establishment of a tax increment financing district in the Short North area. The above legislation falls under Section 5709.40 (C) of the Revised Code.
The Council of the City of Columbus held a public hearing on October 10, 2006, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 5709.40 (C), to notify property owners within the incentive district of their intent to apply for exemption from taxation, Code Section 5709.911, on their behalf. This legislation will confirm the intentions of Ordinance No. 2172-2005, passed December 12, 2005, and allow the Department of Development to initiate the application process for tax exempt status for the owners of real property within the Short North tax incentive district.
Emergency action is requested to allow the Development Department to initiate the tax exemption process in a timely manner.
FISCAL IMPACT: No funding is required for this legislation. The City is forgoing real property tax revenues that it would have received in respect to development within the incentive district. Instead, that revenue will be diverted to the specified TIF Fund to be used for public infrastructure improvements benefiting the incentive district.
Title
To authorize the Director of Development to sign and submit applications for exemptions on behalf of real property owners located in the Short North Incentive District created by Ordinance No. 2172-2005; and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Sections 5709.40, 5709.42 and 5709.43 (collectively, the "TIF Statutes") and Ordinance No. 2172-2005 (the "TIF Ordinance"), the City created an incentive district for parcels of real property located in the City, known as the Short North Incentive District (the "Incentive District"), declared the Improvements (as defined in Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.40(A)) to each parcel of real property within the Incentive District, commencing with the first tax year that begins after the effective date of the TIF Ordinance and in which an Improvement first appears on the tax list and duplicate of real and public utility property, to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation, required the owner of each parcel with the Incentive District to make service payments in lieu of taxes, provided for the distribution of the applicable portion of such service payments to the Columbus City School District (the "School District") in an amount equal to the real property taxes that the School District would have been paid if the Improvements to each Parcel had not been exempted from taxation pursuant to the TIF Ordinance, and made other determinations, authorizations and directives; and
WHEREAS, the City applied or will apply for exemptions from taxation under Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.911 on behalf of owners of real property located within the Incentive District, and the Council conducted a public hearing on October 10, 2006 pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 5709.40(C) for such action and provided notice of the public hearing by first class mail sent not later than September 10, 2006 to every real property owner whose property is located within the boundaries of the Incentive District; and
WHEREAS, this legislation to authorize the Director of Development to submit exemption applications is another in a series of ordinances subsequent to Ordinance No. 2172-2005 necessary to pay for the public improvements such that action hereunder is deemed to be necessary pursuant to Section 55(b) of the Columbus City Charter; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the Department of Development in that it is immediately necessary to take the next step in the process of finalizing the Short North TIF, all for the immediate preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety and welfare; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. The Director of Development or his designee is authorized to prepare, sign and submit real property exemption applications on behalf of real property owners located within the Incentive District and take such other actions as appropriate to implement this ordinance and the TIF
Section 2. The Clerk is hereby directed to deliver, not later than fifteen (15) days after the effective date of this Ordinance, a copy thereof to the Director of Development of the State of Ohio. The Columbus Department of Development is to further deliver to such Director, not later than March 31 of each year during which the tax exemption remains in effect, a status report outlining the progress of the project described in the TIF Ordinance.
Section 3. That 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 days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.