Explanation
BACKGROUND: The Huntington National Bank Enterprise Zone Agreement (the "EZA") was authorized by City Council on October 21, 2002 and was entered into effective March 5, 2003. The project entailed renovating a 175,000 square foot facility at 2361 Morse Road. The EZA grants a 75%/10-yr tax abatement on real property improvements and new personal property, with no exemption to extend beyond 2014. The investment goal of the EZA is $8 million in real property improvements and $800,000 in personal property and the job goal is 602 jobs retained and 43 jobs created within 1 year of the construction (645 jobs in total). The construction was complete by the end of 2004. The company has invested approximately twice the amount required by the EZA, however job retention and creation have fallen short of the goal. As of August 2007, there were approximately 566 Huntington employees at the facility. In addition to the Huntington employees, there are some non-Huntington workers at the facility who provide services to Huntington under contract, such as housekeeping, security, daycare and food services. The contract jobs currently do not count towards satisfying the EZA requirements.
The Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) recommended on August 21, 2007 to amend the EZA to count the contract jobs. The TIRC also recommended that no reduction be made in the number of jobs required (645 in total) and no time extension be given to attain the job numbers. In addition, the TIRC recommended that we review for extension the time period allowed for use of the 10-year tax abatement since the company has been delayed in filing the necessary form (DTE for 24) to gain approval from the tax commissioner.
This legislation will authorize amendment of the EZA to allow contract workers at the project facility to count towards the EZA jobs requirement, provided the jobs are full-time permanent with benefits and the City receives adequate annual reporting information...
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