Jerome Township Trustees agreed Tuesday with a recommendation to continue active tax abatements in the region.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Board heard from Jason Stanford with Union County Economic Development regarding active Enterprise Zone Agreements in Jerome Township.
Every year the Union County Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) meets to review abatements in the county, Stanford explained.
He said the TIRC then reports to various municipalities and recommends whether or not to continue the agreements.
Stanford noted that the information reviewed by the TIRC is always one year behind, so the information he presented Tuesday was based on 2019 data.
The TIRC recommended continuing each of the three Enterprise Zone Agreements in Jerome Township, Stanford said, although there are some concerns.
He said AutoTool, Inc., located on Corporate Boulevard, has two active abatements – one that expires in 2022 and a newer that will expire in 2027.
Stanford said the company has already exceeded pledged numbers for the older abatement and the TIRC is confident in continuing that agreement.
However, a document from Economic Development Director Eric Phillips indicates the company “continues to struggle to satisfy pledged levels associated with its second EZA.”
Stanford said, regarding the second abatement, AutoTool has created only five new jobs of the 35 it pledged and its reported payroll is just under $206,000 of the $1.8 million pledged.
He said companies do have 36 months to fulfill pledged numbers and the current reports are “normal for a growing company.”
AutoTool also reported the loss of 17 employees during 2019, which Stanford said was associated with the loss of a large client who has since been replaced.
“We are concerned about the trajectory of AutoTool,” Stanford said, but not enough to renegotiate or retract the current abatement.
Stanford said the TIRC is “a little less concerned” about the second company with an active abatement, KTH Parts Industries.
He said the company, located on Business Way, has exceeded every pledged number aside from jobs created.
KTH Industries has created 19 of the 26 jobs pledged and its reported payroll is nearly $1.9 million, surpassing the approximately $1.4 pledged.
Stanford said the TIRC is “pretty comfortable with continuing the abatement,” which is set to expire in 2024.
Trustees agreed with the TIRC’s assessment and unanimously approved their recommendation to continue all three agreements.
Stanford said after a resolution is passed by each municipality with an active abatement, he will bring the recommendations to the Union County Commissioners for approval.
If approved by the commissioners, the report will be submitted to the Ohio Development Services Agency.
In other business:
-The Board appointed Trustee C.J. Lovejoy to the Union County 911 planning committee.
Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton was present at the meeting to discuss the statutory requirement for the 911 committee.
According to the Ohio Revised Code, he said the County Commissioners’ Chair, Charles Hall, and a representative from the most populous city and township in the county must sit on the commission.
He said Terry Emery will represent Marysville, alongside Lovejoy.
Now that the commission is formed, Patton said Hall will call a meeting according to each member’s availability.
-Trustee Megan Sloat shared a resident’s request to create a new time capsule for the township.
Sloat said township officials and residents initially created a time capsule that was placed in the Soldier’s Monument in 1913.
When the capsule was opened a century later in 2013, Sloat said most of the items were destroyed or disintegrated because the container was not airtight.
She said the capsule was not replaced, but she would like to work with the community to create a new one that can be added to the monument for future residents to open.
Trustees unanimously approved the creation of a time capsule committee, headed by Sloat.
Sloat said she will work closely with Township Administrative Assistant Debbie Bollinger, but asked any interested residents to reach out to them to collaborate on the project.
– Trustees approved $5,000 to be used for patchwork on Ward Road, based on an estimate from the Union County Engineer’s Office.
Lovejoy said the project will be a “short-term fix” and the township will likely undertake larger repairs next year.
Fiscal Officer Robert Caldwell noted that the amount approved fell within this year’s budget for road improvements.
-Chairman Joe Craft reminded residents there will be a joint meeting between the Trustees and Zoning Commission Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. He said there will be pizza at 6:30, while the actual meeting will begin between 6:45 and 7 p.m.