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AN ORDINANCE DECLARING THE IMPROVEMENT TO CERTAIN PARCELS OF REAL PROPERTY IN THE AREA KNOWN AS THE BUCKLES TRACT TO BE A PUBLIC PURPOSE AND EXEMPT FROM TAXATION; ESTABLISHING A TAX INCREMENT EQUIVALENT FUND AND PROVIDING FOR THE COLLECTION AND DEPOSIT OF SERVICE PAYMENTS INTO THAT FUND; SPECIFYING THE PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS DIRECTLY BENEFITING THE PARCELS; AND APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A REVENUE SHARING AGREEMENT WITH THE GAHANNA-JEFFERSON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT.
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WHEREAS, Ohio Revised Code Sections 5709.40 to 5709.43 (collectively, the "TIF Statutes") authorize the legislative authority of a municipal corporation, by ordinance, to declare the improvement to each parcel of real property located within the municipal corporation to be a public purpose and exempt from taxation, require the owner of each parcel to make service payments in lieu of taxes, establish a municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund for the deposit of those service payments, specify public infrastructure improvements made, to be made or in the process of being made that directly benefit, or that once made will directly benefit those parcels and enter into a mutually agreeable compensation arrangement with each affected school district; and
WHEREAS, this Council has determined to declare the improvements to certain parcels of real property in the area known as the Buckles tract, which parcels are further identified and depicted in Exhibit A attached hereto (each, as currently or subsequently configured, individually, a "Parcel" and collectively, the "Parcels") to be a public purpose; and
WHEREAS, this Council desires to provide for the public infrastructure improvements described in Exhibit B attached hereto (the "Public Infrastructure Improvements"); and
WHEREAS, notice of this proposed Ordinance has been delivered to the Boards of Education of the Gahanna-Jefferson City School District (the "School District") and the Eastland Fairfield Career Center in accordance with and within the time periods prescribed in Ohio Revised Code Sections 5709.40 and 5709.83; and
WHEREAS, the School District has approved the exemption granted by this Ordinance on the condition that the City agree to a Revenue Sharing Agreement, and this Council has determined to approve that agreement and provide for its execution and delivery to the School District;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. This Council hereby finds and determines that 100% of the increase in assessed value of each Parcel subsequent to the effective date of this Ordinance (which increase in assessed value is hereinafter referred to as the "Improvement" as defined in Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.40(A)) is hereby declared to be a public purpose and shall be exempt from taxation for a period commencing with the first tax year that begins after the effective date of this Ordinance and in which an Improvement first appears on the tax list and duplicate of real and public utility property for that Parcel and ending on the earlier of (a) thirty (30) years after such commencement or (b) the date on which the City can no longer require service payments in lieu of taxes, all in accordance with the requirements of the TIF Statutes.
Section 2. That as provided in Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.42, the owner of each Parcel is hereby required to and shall make service payments in lieu of taxes with respect to the Improvement allocable thereto to the Treasurer of Franklin County, Ohio (the "County Treasurer") on or before the final dates for payment of real property taxes. The service payments in lieu of taxes shall be charged and collected in the same manner and in the same amount as the real property taxes that would have been charged and collected against that Improvement if it were not exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 1 of this Ordinance, including any penalties and interest (collectively, the "Service Payments"). The Service Payments, and any other payments with respect to each Improvement that are received by the County Treasurer in connection with the reduction required by Ohio Revised Code Sections 319.302, 321.24, 323.152 and 323.156, as the same may be amended from time to time, or any successor provisions thereto as the same may be amended from time to time (the "Property Tax Rollback Payments"), shall be allocated and distributed in accordance with Section 3 of this Ordinance.
Section 3. That pursuant to the TIF Statutes, the County Treasurer is requested to distribute the Service Payments and the Property Tax Rollback Payments to the City. All distributions required under this Section 3 are requested to be made at the same time and in the same manner as real property tax distributions.
Section 4. This Council hereby establishes, pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.43, the Buckles Municipal Tax Increment Equivalent Fund (the "TIF Fund"). The TIF Fund shall be maintained in the custody of the City and shall receive all distributions to be made to the City pursuant to Section 3 of this Ordinance. Those Service Payments and Property Tax Rollback Payments received by the City with respect to the Improvement of each Parcel and so deposited pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.42 shall be used solely for the purposes authorized in the TIF Statutes or this Ordinance. The TIF Fund shall remain in existence so long as such Service Payments and Property Tax Rollback Payments are collected and used for the aforesaid purposes, after which time the TIF Fund shall be dissolved and any surplus funds remaining therein transferred to the City's General Fund, all in accordance with Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.43.
Amounts deposited in the TIF Fund shall be used as follows:
(a) First, for required payments to the School District pursuant to the Revenue Sharing Agreement as defined in Section 6 of this Ordinance; and
(b) Second, all remaining amounts are to be used to pay costs of the Public Infrastructure Improvements, including payment of debt service on debt (if any) issued to pay those costs.
Section 5. This Council hereby designates the Public Infrastructure Improvements and any other public infrastructure improvements hereafter designated by ordinance as public infrastructure improvements made, to be made or in the process of being made by the City that directly benefit, or that once made will directly benefit, the Parcels.
Section 6. The form of Revenue Sharing Agreement (the "Revenue Sharing Agreement") presently on file with the Clerk of this Council is hereby approved and authorized with changes therein and amendments thereto not inconsistent with this Ordinance and not substantially adverse to this City and which shall be approved by the Mayor. The Mayor, for and in the name of this City, is hereby authorized and directed to execute and deliver the Revenue Sharing Agreement with the School District in substantially that form along with any completions thereto, provided that the approval of such completions thereto by the Mayor, and the character of those completions as not being substantially adverse to this City, shall be evidenced conclusively by the Mayor's execution thereof.
Section 7. This Council hereby authorizes and directs the Mayor or other appropriate officers of the City to make such arrangements as are necessary and proper for collection of the Service Payments. This Council further hereby authorizes and directs Mayor or other appropriate officers of the City to prepare and sign all agreements and instruments and to take any other actions as may be appropriate to implement this Ordinance.
Section 8. The City's Tax Incentive Review Council will review annually all exemptions from real property taxation granted by this Ordinance in accordance with the requirements of Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.85.
Section 9. That pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.40(I), the Director of the Department of Planning and Development is hereby directed to deliver a copy of this Ordinance to the Director of Development of the State of Ohio within fifteen days after its effective date. Further, and on or before March 31 of each year that the exemption set forth in this Ordinance remains in effect, the Director of the Department of Planning and Development or other authorized officer of the City shall prepare and submit to the Director of Development of the State of Ohio the status report required under Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.40(I).
Section 10. This Council finds and determines that all formal actions of this Council and any of its committees concerning and relating to the passage of this Ordinance were taken in an open meeting of this Council or its committees, and that all deliberations of this Council and any of its committees that resulted in those formal actions were in meetings open to the public, all in compliance with the law including Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22.
Section 11. That this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect upon passage by this Council and 30 days after date of signature approval by the Mayor.