Explanation
BACKGROUND: The City of Columbus (“CITY”) entered into a Jobs Growth Incentive Agreement (hereinafter “AGREEMENT”) with Safelite Group, Inc., (also referred to as the “GRANTEE”) effective July 30, 2013. Columbus City Council approved the AGREEMENT by Ordinance Number 0990-2013, adopted May 6, 2013, and granted a financial incentive based on an amount equal to thirty-five percent (35%) of the new Columbus withholding tax paid by the new employees at the project site, to commence on January 1, 2014 for a period of five (5) consecutive taxable years based on an investment of approximately $48.4 million in the renovation and reconfiguration of existing office space, the retention of 1,064 full-time positions and the creation of 350 new permanent full-time positions at its corporate headquarters at 2400/2500 Farmers Drive, Columbus, OH 43235 (the PROJECT SITE). The AGREEMENT was subsequently authorized to be amended for the first time to expand the PROJECT SITE to include two additional addresses, namely 2231 Schrock Road, Columbus, OH 43229 and 760 Dearborn Park Lane, Columbus, OH 43085 (as many of the jobs to be created related to the project were associated with these additional addresses), by Ordinance No. 2120-2014, passed September 22, 2014, with this First Amendment entered into effective as of the date and year first written in the AGREEMENT.
In a letter from the GRANTEE received by the CITY on May 1, 2017, the GRANTEE indicated that “when the agreement was drafted only Safelite Group, Inc., the parent company for Safelite Group, Inc., & Subsidiaries, was included in the scope of the agreement,” that “Safelite Fulfillment, Inc. and Safelite Solutions, LLC are not currently party to the agreement as originally structured,” that “both of these entities have substantial jobs and payroll within the City of Columbus,” that the scope of the project was “intended to include the two entities” and “without these entities being party to the agreement Safel...
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