More than a month after the Cuyahoga County Council objected to a residential tax-increment financing (TIF) agreement in Brooklyn as its new default position, Mayor Ron Van Kirk said the city remains in a holding pattern.
in Brooklyn as its new default position, Mayor Ron Van Kirk said the city remains in a holding pattern. “Residents are upset about it,” Brooklyn Mayor Ron Van Kirk said. “The TIF process is a little complicated, so a lot of people don’t fully understand it, but they do understand the county objecting to something that we’re trying to do.
“The county has reached out to us a few times regarding negotiations, but we’re still internally trying to work through some of that. We did reach out to them to see if they were willing to come off their default position, which would kind of start a negotiation process. That’s where it stands.” The issue is late last year, City Council passed a TIF for Brooklyn Rabbit Run LLC, which is planning to build 62 townhomes spread out across three different properties. The economic development tool provides revenue to fund infrastructure or other related improvements required to support private development while having the property owners share in the cost of the improvements through redirected property taxes, which have been increased to reflect the new property value. The mayor said the project-related infrastructure costs are expected to be more than $600,000, which would be reimbursed over time using TIF proceeds. Currently a Brooklyn resident’s property tax bill finds 68% going toward schools with the county receiving 24% and the city receiving 8%. At stake is what percentage of the county’s 24% can be diverted in the form of increased property taxes with the approval of the Brooklyn Rabbit Run LLC-related TIF.“It’s kind of a complicated formula when you’re doing these TIF districts.” Prior to this fall with a Brecksville project, Cuyahoga County seemingly approved all private residential development TIF agreement. “They told me that they’re doing it because, basically, the county doesn’t have any money,” he said. “So, they’re trying to get money where they can. “I don’t know whether that’s the case or not, that’s on them to figure out, but it’s counter-productive. The county is supposed to be assisting cities. And instead, they seem to be hindering them.”Due to the fact municipalities don’t pay property taxes on vacant land, Cuyahoga County isn’t currently collecting any funds. “The property taxes are like $5,000 divided between all the entities, so the county is getting basically nothing right now from these three parcels,” he said. “Their argument was they’re going to be losing money. “I’m saying, you can’t lose money when you’re not collecting any money. My argument is if these parcels are never developed, they will never be receiving any additional funding. “So they’re not losing money, they’re just delaying the increase, which would never happen if we didn’t do the development.”
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