Explanation
BACKGROUND: Columbus City Council (“COUNCIL”), by Ordinance No. 2877-2019, passed November 25, 2019, authorized the City of Columbus (CITY) to enter into an Enterprise Zone Agreement (the “AGREEMENT”) with McDaniel’s Construction Corp., Inc. and DE Development, Ltd. (collectively, and hereinafter referred to as “ENTERPRISE”) for a tax abatement of seventy-five percent (75%) for a period of ten (10) years in consideration of a $1,000,000.00 investment, which included $800,000.00 in real property improvements (the "Improvements") and $200,000.00 in furniture and fixtures, the retention of eleven (11) full time employees with an associated payroll of $1.42 million and the creation of two (2) net new full-time permanent positions with an annual payroll of approximately $100,000.00 related to the construction of a new corporate headquarters (HQ) consisting of approximately 6,000 square feet at 1069 Woodland Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, 43219, on parcel number 010-019804 (the “PROJECT SITE”), in Columbus Ohio, within the Columbus City School District and within the Columbus Enterprise Zone. The AGREEMENT was made and entered into effective January 8, 2020 (EZA #023-20-01). The AGREEMENT stated that construction of the improvements (the "PROJECT") was expected to begin December 2019 with all Improvements expected to be completed by October 2020, and that no real property exemption was to commence after 2021 nor extend beyond 2030.
The CITY reported the status of the PROJECT to the 2022 Tax Incentive Review Council (“TIRC”) on August 19, 2022. The TIRC noted from the annual report that the net new jobs were below the job creation commitment for the first year of the three-year job creation window. The TIRC was advised that of all the jobs reported, none could be classified as a result of the project (per Section 5709.61(L) of the Ohio Revised Code and Section 2 of the AGREEMENT).
Based on the presentation of the annual report, the TIRC recommend that the AG...
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