By 1808Delaware
In a recent meeting, Columbus City Council extended tax increment financing agreements (TIF) originally dating to 1996 to encourage private investment in the Polaris area, as well as in other areas of the city.
In total, the package is aimed at creating $1 billion in new private investment, to create 20,000 jobs, and to generate more than $146 million in new tax revenues.
One of the beneficiaries of this revenue will be Olentangy Local Schools. The TIF agreements do not impact school funding. The local districts will receive due property taxes.
“These agreements will bring the City of Columbus hundreds of new units of workforce housing, substantial commitments to work with women and people of color owned businesses, new flexible dollars for housing assistance, and pay for themselves through thousands of new jobs,” said Council President Shannon Hardin. “These are good deals for Columbus that will grow the economy and provide clear public benefit.”
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a public financing tool that finances infrastructure improvements that support commercial development and residential rehabilitation.
Polaris is one of the area’s significant employment centers with hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue generated annually for the City, Delaware County, the State Ohio and the Olentangy School District. This legislation will sustain and build on this economic engine.
Polaris will extend its current TIF agreement and include minority participation and workforce development components into future capital development projects. Polaris commits to at least 30% (in total value) of construction contracts to qualified minority and women-owned businesses and commits to 20% workforce development apartment units.
“The public-private partnership that has existed for over 25 years continues with the City showing great leadership in recognizing the importance of the Polaris TIF as a funding mechanism for public infrastructure without impacting its capital improvement budget while at the same time sustaining one of the City’s critical employment centers and incentivizing workforce housing for years to come,” said Franz A. Geiger, Managing Director of N.P. Limited Partnership.
The law creating the opportunity for expansion was passed in late 2019 by the Ohio General Assembly, and the window to do so is a short one. During the last two-plus decades, over $40 million in increased property values has been used to pay for public infrastructure improvements.
