City officials approve incentives for Multilink

Elyria’s Community Development and Finance committees on May 8 approved an incentive package to Multilink, which would allow expansion and a new facility.

“It’s an agreement that has been a long time coming,” Mayor Holly Brinda said.

Multilink, a high tech telecommunications company, had been contemplating a possible move and or expansion, Brinda said.

“We wanted them to do their expansion in Elyria and not an alternate community,” she said. “Multilink is one of those high tech companies we really want to nurture and encourage to stay in Elyria and grow.”

Multilink’s design is to facilitate an expansion of 5,000 square feet at its existing location at 580 Ternes Lane and to construct of a new 15,000-square-foot production warehouse and research facility at 1154 E. Broad St., a newly acquired property, Brinda said.

It will retain 240 full time jobs and add three new full time jobs by December 2020.

“These new jobs are expected to generate about $175,000 of additional annual payroll for Multilink,” Brinda said.

In exchange, Multilink has requested three different agreements.

The first agreement involves a 15-year municipal income tax reimbursement agreement, infrastructure reimbursement of up to $75,000 and a 50 percent waiver of city permit fees.

“There is a condition built into this municipal income tax agreement that the reduction of the reimbursement amount will drop to zero if the total annual withholding falls below $8,000 in any taxable year,” Brinda said.

The second agreement is an enterprise agreement. Multilink is in a enterprise zone and they have requested and the city has offered 100 percent tax exemptions for 10 years for the new facility, she said.

In order to make that palatable, a third agreement was offered that does not require the city’s action.

“It did require school board action and that is a school compensation agreement,” Brinda said.”It’s being supported by the Board of Education, where Multilink has agreed to make annual payments to the Elyria City School District in the amount of 25 percent of the real property taxes that would have been paid to the school district with respect to the assessed value of the project.”

With all the agreements, Multilink agrees to develop the existing facilities expansion project and the new proposed facilities.

The building and related improvements will cost about $1.5 million, Brinda said.

The construction of the facility expansion will begin on or before Dec. 31, 2017, and be completed by Dec. 31, 2018. The construction of the new facility will commence on or before Jan. 1, 2020, and be completed Dec. 21, 2020.

Council-At-Large Thomas G. Callahan said the deal was a good example of city government and the private sector working together.

“I support it and applaud the administration for their hard work,” Callahan said.