City set to approve plan with schools
District would forgo the right to reject certain tax deals for businesses.
The city of Dayton is expected to approve today an agreement that will make it easier to finalize certain tax deals for businesses without the approval of Dayton Public Schools, even though those deals could affect tax revenue for the district.
Dayton schools would still be guaranteed money from those deals, but the district would forgo the right to reject deals if it feels the terms are unfavorable.
The tax abatements — deals that decrease or eliminate property taxes as an incentive to bring businesses or residential properties to the city — are a tool for new commercial investment, but they bring in less than the full value a school district could receive. Dayton’s school board has already agreed to the deal, which would last for 10 years.
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the change is needed because Dayton is competing with other communities for investment, and the approval process for tax-increment financing (TIF) is too slow, which hurts the chances that a project will succeed.
“If you talk to developers, many of them will say, ‘Time kills all deals,’ because they are competing in a very sensitive market with financing,” Dickstein said.
Asked about the wisdom of giving up the school board’s vote on many abatement deals for 10 years, Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli said the city and school district will be partners.
“If the city can’t attract businesses and developers to come in and support the tax base, the school district doesn’t gain by that,” she said.
Dayton City Commission will vote today on the deal, which involves 30-year tax-increment financing (TIF) and Community Reinvestment Areas (CRA) deals. The school district receives roughly two-thirds of all property taxes collected by the city, so an abatement is especially important to DPS.
Under the agreement, property taxes on new commercial projects
University of Toledo students will have a new means of transportation to travel to class this fall.
There will be 125 electric scooters on campus as an alternative transportation service for UT students, faculty, and staff.
“It gives the students a very functional choice and opportunity to move from point A and point B, and have some fun in the process,” said Larry Kelley, UT executive vice president for finance and administration.
UT partnered with a company called Lime, which has brought scooters to several cities and universities across the country, including Columbus.
The lime green electric scooters can travel up to roughly 15 miles per hour, and will be stationed at various spots across UT’s main campus.
Users must first unlock the scooter through the free Lime app. Riders are then charged $1 to start the scooter and an additional 15 cents per minute. Customers can drop the scooters off wherever their ride ends.
Every night, Lime will pick up the GPS-tracked scooters, recharge them and take them to their original stations for the next morning.
The company will be responsible for the maintenance of the scooters and will keep all monies received, Kelley said. The electric scooters will not cost UT anything.
The scooters are equipped safety features including a brake, kickstand, and bell to alert pedestrians. Helmets are not included.
Riders must be at least 18 years old with a valid driver’s license.
Ryan Hieber, a UT senior, said he’s excited about the scooters debuting on campus this fall semester.
“It shows that they’re trying to keep up with the new innovations with technology,” he said. “Not just everyone has scooters.”
In fact, Lime bikes or scooters are only at 19 college campuses, according to their website.
“This pioneering program offers an innovative way to move easily around campus,” UT President Sharon Gaber said in a statement. “It builds on what we started with our Rocket Wheels bike sharing program.”
Kelley said he does not believe the scooters pose a threat to campus safety.