Jersey Township has an eye on growth
Officials act to ensure say in tax abatements
Jersey Township officials are being proactive when it comes to future development, and the trustees took a step last week ensuring they will have a say on any potential future tax abatements within the township.
On March 6, the Jersey Township Trustees unanimously approved creating a community reinvestment area, or CRA, which is an area where property owners can receive tax abatements. The trustees will pay a Columbus economic development firm, The Montrose Group, $7,500 to set up the program.
Township Administrator Rob Platte said while answering questions from the trustees and residents during the meeting that the action of creating the CRA does not approve any abatements at this time but just gets the program ready in case a developer requests one in the future.
CRAS are a function of a county or municipality, meaning it’s up to the Licking County Commissioners to create one in Jersey Township. The primary benefit of the township starting the process to create the program, Platte said, is that the township’s approval would be required for any future abatements.
“The idea is if a developer comes in and wants to build in Jersey Township — as it is right now — they can … create this program on their own with the county and the township’s left out,” Platte said. “If the township wants to go ahead and do this and get it in place with the commissioners, then at least that would put you guys at the table.”
Township Trustee Dan Wetzel said the township is getting ahead of any potential future abatements so the county must have Jersey Township’s approval.
“Really the key to it is, is you guys having a seat at the table when tax abatements are offered through the program that right now you don’t have. That’s really what we’re trying to accomplish,” Platte said.
It will take about two months to set up the program, which has to go to the state for approval and then goes to the county commissioners for approval as well.
Creating the CRA is one of the nu
merous steps Jersey Township is taking to prevent further annexation into New Albany as the Intel Corporation and other companies bring developments to western Licking County.
Licking County municipalities of Heath, Hebron, Johnstown, Newark and Pataskala have CRAS in place. Etna Township has three CRAS and Union Township has one as well, according to the Ohio Department of Development website. Platte said Harrison Township has just recently created one.
Similar to the Tax Increment Financing districts, or TIFS, the township approved in September, the CRA will cover the entire remaining unincorporated portion of the township, which currently doesn’t have any CRAS in place. By creating one large CRA instead of a smaller one over a specific area, the township will not need to amend it in the future nor will it need to pay to set up an additional CRA. Economic development firms or lawyers typically set up the programs, Platte said.
Areas of the township, like the residential areas, will not use the CRA, but Platte said it doesn’t hurt to have it cover the remaining unincorporated area.
“Kind of like the TIF, there’s a large area that will never use this but on the other hand, we’re not going back to amend it,” he said.
Part of the reason the township wants to make sure it has a say in any future abatements is because TIFS allow the township to direct a portion of the new property tax toward infrastructure improvements if and when the land develops. With the program in place, Platte said the township can negotiate how much is abated or completely deny an abatement, allowing the township to have a say in how much taxes are collected for improvements.
Platte said the township doesn’t necessarily want to encourage tax abatements but there are situations where the township could support a tax abatement if tax revenue could be generated another way, such as with joint economic development districts (JEDDS) that allow townships to collect income tax on commercial properties within a defined area.
Wetzel said this kind of program will not be used for smaller employers, like restaurants, because they don’t have enough employees to produce income tax revenue through a JEDD.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to give everyone in the world an abatement. The abatement properties, if at all, would be somebody that could justify bringing income into the township to offset whatever the abatement is,” Wetzel said.
The program also sets up targets that businesses have to hit, such as number of people they employee, or they’ll lose their abatement, Wetzel said. Those targets are monitored by the county. mdevito@gannett.com 740-607-2175