Explanation
BACKGROUND: Columbus City Council (Council), by Ordinance 0684-2010, passed May 10, 2010, authorized the City of Columbus (City) to enter into an Enterprise Zone Agreement (the Agreement) with 3MX Partners, LLC (Enterprise) for a tax abatement of seventy-five percent (75%) for a period of ten (10) years in consideration of $2,200,000 in real property investment to renovate a vacant commercial building of approximately 13,000 square feet located at 495 East Main Street in Columbus, Ohio and within the City of Columbus Enterprise Zone (Zone #023). Enterprise was to create seven (7) new permanent full-time jobs within three (3) years following the execution of the agreement with a payroll of $314,900. The project was expected to begin in July 2010 with all real property improvements expected to be completed by December 31, 2010. No exemption or credit was to commence prior to tax year 2012 nor to extend beyond tax year 2021. The Agreement was made and entered into to be effective June 3, 2010 (EZA# 023-10-04).
The 2011 Columbus Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) reviewed the 3MX Partners, LLC Enterprise Zone project on August 18, 2011. It was reported to the TIRC that the project had provided incomplete annual reporting information and so was in a state of non-compliance. Additionally, just prior to the TIRC, it was reported to the City by the Franklin County Auditor that Enterprise was not the owner of record of the project site, as that following the purchase of the project site in April 2010 (date of conveyance April 21, 2010), Enterprise in turn conveyed the site to the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority on May 18, 2010. Being that the execution date of the Agreement was June 3, 2010, the question put forth was (1) is the Agreement valid being that Enterprise was not the owner of the project site at the time of Agreement execution, and (2) would new ownership have an interest in assuming the Agreement should that be a possibility.
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