Explanation
BACKGROUND: Columbus City Council (COUNCIL), by Ordinance No. 1686-2014, passed July 28, 2014, authorized the City of Columbus (CITY) to enter into an Enterprise Zone Agreement (the AGREEMENT) with Clarus Partners, LLC and Clarus Solutions, LLC (ENTERPRISE) for a tax abatement of seventy-five percent (75%) for a period of ten (10) consecutive taxable years in consideration of a proposed $1.5 million investment in real property improvements, the creation of thirty-three (33) new full-time permanent positions with an associated annual payroll of approximately $1,745,600, and the relocation and retention of thirty-nine existing (39) full-time jobs that were currently within the CITY with an associated retained payroll of approximately $3,232,200 related to the renovation of an existing approximately 20,000 square-foot building at 1233 Dublin Road on parcel number 010-129600 (the PROJECT SITE), in Columbus Ohio, within the Columbus City School District and within the City of Columbus Enterprise Zone (Zone 023). The AGREEMENT was made and entered into effective November 25, 2014 (EZA #023-14-100).
The AGREEMENT was subsequently authorized by COUNCIL to be amended for the first time to add Clarus Ventures LLC as OWNER by Ordinance No. 0614-2017, passed March 27, 2017, executed June 23, 2017 and effective as of the day and year first written in the AGREEMENT. The abatement is active and currently running from 2016 through 2025.
The CITY reported the status of the PROJECT to the 2020 Tax Incentive Review Council (“TIRC”) on August 21, 2020 and the TIRC recommended that the CITY was to “send ENTERPRISE a letter requesting that ENTERPRISE, within 60 days of receipt, send a letter to the City requesting that the AGREEMENT be amended to add any needed additional Clarus-related job creating entities to the AGREEMENT and also to indicate a suitable/attainable end-of-reporting-year new job commitment.”
COUNCIL, by Resolution 0133X-2020, passed September 21, 2020...
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