Report, auditor’s online hub focus on Columbus tax incentive results

The Columbus City Council voted in November 2020 to extend the tax increment financing agreement (TIF) it had with Easton Town Center, shown here, until 2056. The TIF, which generates about $7.5 million per year, requires Columbus City Schools and the Gahanna-Jefferson district be reimbursed for all tax revenue it would otherwise get absent the TIF.

Want to know if a development in Franklin County received government tax breaks and whether it actually created the jobs, payroll and investment it promised?

There’s now a quick way to do that via a revamped website —  complete with interactive map — and a new report issued this month by Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano.

“Any member of the public can go out and look across the county at what tax incentives are being made in their community,” Stinziano said. “You can hover, look at a specific project and links to the local jurisdictions’ economic development folks. … We’re doing everything we can to hold folks accountable, that the promises made are being followed.”

Franklin County Auditor Michael Stinziano

As auditor, Stinziano heads the Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC), a panel required under state law and includes officials from county, municipal or township authorities that grant tax exemptions, school boards affected by the agreements and others.

Cities, villages, townships and counties establish and approve tax-exemption agreements. TIRCs meet annually to review whether job creation, payroll, capital investment and other requirements in those deals are being met and to make recommendations whether incentives should be continued, modified or canceled.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/30/report-auditors-online-hub-focus-columbus-tax-incentive-results/6176057001/


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