By Rick Palsgrove
Groveport Editor
City of Groveport officials recently presented Groveport Madison Schools with an income tax revenue sharing check for $1.1 million.
“We started this partnership between the Groveport community and Groveport Madison Schools many years ago,” Groveport Mayor Lance Westcamp stated previously. “It’s a great partnership and it helps the schools. Our community is a great place to live and our schools help us to succeed.”
According to Groveport Finance Director Jason Carr, city has shared $24.2 million in income tax revenue with the school district since the program began in 1999.
Carr said the money is generated from income tax withholdings for companies that may operate within the city’s Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) #1-5 and have active real estate tax abatements. He said the city issues income tax revenue sharing checks to Groveport Madison Schools once per year.
Per the Ohio Department of Development, a CRA is “an economic development tool administered by municipal and county government that provides real property tax exemptions for property owners who renovate existing or construct new buildings. Community Reinvestment Areas are areas of land in which property owners can receive tax incentives for investing in real property improvements.”
Groveport City Administrator B.J. King said the revenue sharing agreement is a necessary partnership to keep Groveport competitive in the economic development arena.
“Any developer of large scale projects will request a tax abatement,” said King. “Without being able to provide an abatement, Groveport would be at a severe disadvantage. In order to grant a tax abatement, the city and the school district must approve. Additionally, the sharing agreement assures that the district continues to receive money, via income tax sharing, during the abatement period. Once the abatement expires, the school begins to collect 100 percent of the property tax that they are due. Essentially, to secure economic development projects, the city and schools must be in agreement of the need for an abatement to remain competitive.”
Groveport Madison Schools Communications Director Ty Debevoise said the money from the income tax revenue sharing check from the city will go directly into Groveport Madison Schools’ general fund.
“The money we received through the income tax revenue sharing allows those funds to go into our district’s general fund for a more short-term or immediate access,” said Debevoise. “This is made possible from the newly created jobs by way of a city’s tax abatement. As per a typical tax abatement, a school district will forgo the property taxes (a main source of revenue) in exchange for the income taxes from new jobs associated with a new building/business coming to the area.”
